Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jul 1;116(1-3):110-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.11.020. Epub 2010 Dec 31.

Failure to sustain prepulse inhibition in adolescent marijuana users

Charles W Mathias  1 , Terry D Blumenthal, Michael A Dawes, Anthony Liguori, Dawn M Richard, Bethany Bray, Weiqun Tong, Donald M Dougherty
Affiliations

Failure to sustain prepulse inhibition in adolescent marijuana users

Charles W Mathias et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Marijuana use is typically initiated during adolescence, which is a critical period for neural development. Studies have reported reductions in prepulse inhibition (PPI) among adults who use marijuana chronically, although no human studies have been conducted during the critical adolescent period.

Methods: This study tested PPI of acoustic startle among adolescents who were either frequent marijuana users or naïve to the drug (Controls). Adolescents were tested using two intensities of prepulses (70 and 85 dB) combined with a 105 dB startle stimulus, delivered across two testing blocks.

Results: There was a significant interaction of group by block for PPI; marijuana users experienced a greater decline in the PPI across the testing session than Controls. The change in PPI of response magnitude for users was predicted by change in urine THC/creatinine after at least 18 h of abstinence, the number of joints used during the previous week before testing, as well as self-reported DSM-IV symptoms of marijuana tolerance, and time spent using marijuana rather than participating in other activities.

Conclusions: These outcomes suggest that adolescents who are frequent marijuana users have problems maintaining prepulse inhibition, possibly due to lower quality of information processing or sustained attention, both of may contribute to continued marijuana use as well as attrition from marijuana treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Startle Magnitude (top panel) and Probability (bottom panel) for Marijuana Users and Controls. Data are presented by Block and there was a significant reduction in Magnitude and Probability across the two Blocks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prepulse Inhibition of Startle Magnitude (top panel) and Probability (bottom panel) for Marijuana Users and Controls. Data are presented by Block and there was a significant interaction of Group by Block for Prepulse Inhibition of Magnitude and Probability.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aharonovich E, Brooks AC, Nunes EV, Hasin DS. Cognitive deficits in marijuana users: Effects on motivational enhancement therapy plus cognitive behavioral therapy treatment outcome. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008;95:279–283. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andréasson S, Allebeck P, Engström A, Rydberg U. Cannabis and schizophrenia. A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet. 1987;2:1483–1486. - PubMed
    1. Blumenthal TD. Signal attenuation as a function of integrator time constant and signal duration. Psychophysiology. 1994;31:201–203. - PubMed
    1. Blumenthal TD. Prepulse inhibition of the startle eyeblink as an indicator of temporal summation. Percept Psychophys. 1995;57:487–494. - PubMed
    1. Blumenthal TD. Prepulse inhibition decreases as startle reactivity habituates. Psychophysiology. 1997;34:446–450. - PubMed

Publication types