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. 2022 Jun;100(6):1347-1358.
doi: 10.1002/jnr.25041. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

The role of sex in the association between cannabis use and working memory-related brain activity

Emese Kroon  1   2 , Lauren N Kuhns  1   2 , Anne Marije Kaag  2   3 , Francesca Filbey  4 , Janna Cousijn  1   2   5
Affiliations

The role of sex in the association between cannabis use and working memory-related brain activity

Emese Kroon et al. J Neurosci Res. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Although cannabis use patterns differ between men and women, studies on sex differences on the effects of cannabis on the brain and cognitive control are largely lacking. Working memory (WM) is a component of cognitive control believed to be involved in the development and maintenance of addiction. In this study, we evaluated the association between cannabis use and WM (load) related brain activity in a large sample, enabling us to assess sex effects in this association. The brain activity of 104 frequent cannabis users (63% men) and 85 controls (53% men) was recorded during an N-back WM task. Behavioral results showed a significant interaction between WM load and group for both accuracy and reaction time, with cannabis users showing a relatively larger decrease in performance with increasing WM load. Cannabis users compared to controls showed a relatively smaller reduction in WM (load) related activity in the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex at higher WM load. This WM (load) related activity was not associated with performance nor cannabis use and related problems. An exploratory analysis showed higher WM-related activity in the superior frontal gyrus in men compared to women. While cannabis users showed higher WM (load) related activity in central nodes of the default mode network, this was not directly attributable to group specific worsening of performance under higher cognitive load. Further research is necessary to assess whether observed group differences increase with higher cognitive load, how group differences relate to measures of cannabis use, and how sex affects these group differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
N‐back task performance. (a) No group differences in mean accuracy on 0‐back, 1‐back, and 2‐back trials. Accuracy decreased with increasing working memory load and an interaction between group and working memory load was found. (b) No group differences in mean reaction times on 0‐back, 1‐back, and 2‐back trials. Reaction time increased with increasing working memory load and an interaction between group and working memory load was found. Error bars reflect standard error (SE) of the mean
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
fMRI results. (a) WM related activation (2 > 0) across groups; (b) WM load‐related activation (2 > 1) across groups; (c) group differences (Can > Con) in WM (2 > 0) and WM load related (2 > 1) activation. (d) Mean WM related activation (2 > 0) extracted from the group difference cluster (e) mean WM load‐related activation (2 > 1) extracted from the group difference cluster. Error bars reflect standard error (SE) of the mean. Can, cannabis group; Con, control group; WM, working memory; 0: 0‐back, 1: 1‐back, 2: 2‐back
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