Authors:

Clarisse Nacilla

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About Paper:

Cannabis use disorder (CUD) prevalence continues to rise in the United States with increased accessibility to cannabis and lessened stigma associated with use. Proponents of the allostatic model of addiction suggest that sensitization of reward-related systems to drug-related stimuli maintains harmful substance use. In those with CUD, neurophysiologically-derived event-related potentials that measure sustained, motivated attention (i.e., the Late Positive Potential [LPP]) have previously shown larger amplitudes to cannabis cues relative to neutral cues; however, confounding variables, such as psychodiagnostics status, may influence neurophysiological reactivity. The current study examines the difference in Cannabis-Neutral LPP between women with severe CUD (n=29) and a psychodiagnostically matched control group (n=33). Results showed a significant group (CUD vs. Control)*picture type (i.e., Cannabis vs. Neutral) interaction (F[2,117]=3.07, p = .029, ηp2=.049). Probing of this interaction revealed that the CUD group demonstrated a significantly larger LPP to cannabis cues than the control group. There was no significant difference between the LPP to cannabis and neutral cues in the CUD group, whereas the Control group showed significantly higher LPP amplitudes to neutral compared to cannabis cues. Results suggest that, as predicted, those with CUD demonstrated greater neurophysiological reactivity to cannabis cues compared to a psychiatric control group. Comparable neurophysiological reactivity to cannabis and neutral cues in the CUD group may reflect the influence of sex-specific confounding variables (e.g., menstrual cycle phase, hormonal contraceptive use) on drug cue reactivity in females.

Source:

Auburn University / College of Liberal Arts / 2025

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Co-authors:

Clarisse Nacilla