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. 2025 Mar 18.
doi: 10.1007/s00406-025-01983-4. Online ahead of print.

Cannabidiol attenuates precuneus activation during appetitive cue exposure in individuals with alcohol use disorder

Tristan Hurzeler  1   2 , Warren Logge  1   2 , Joshua Watt  1   2 , I S McGregor  3   4 , Anastasia Suraev  3   4 , Paul S Haber  1   2 , Kirsten C Morley  5   6
Affiliations

Cannabidiol attenuates precuneus activation during appetitive cue exposure in individuals with alcohol use disorder

Tristan Hurzeler et al. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. .

Abstract

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition characterised by problematic alcohol consumption and craving, necessitating the exploration of novel therapeutic interventions. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, has shown potential in modulating neural processes associated with substance use disorders including AUD. This study aimed to investigate the effect of CBD on alcohol cue-induced activation of neurocircuitry associated with alcohol craving, and impact on mood, craving, and cognitive functioning in individuals with AUD. In a cross-over, double-blind, randomized trial, 22 non-treatment seeking individuals (M = 29 years) diagnosed with AUD (DSM-V) received either 800 mg of CBD or a matched placebo, completing two respective fMRI sessions. The primary outcome was neural activation in response to alcohol versus control visual cues, measured using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) alcohol cue reactivity task. Secondary outcomes included assessments of mood, craving, and cognitive functioning. Region of interest analyses showed no differences in alcohol cue-elicited activation between the CBD and placebo conditions. However, exploratory whole-brain analysis indicated a significant treatment effect of CBD in the precuneus which was independent of cue specificity. There were no significant treatment effects of CBD compared to placebo on acute craving, mood, or cognitive functioning. In non treatment seeking individuals with AUD, CBD modulates precuneus activity during alcohol cue exposure. Further studies examining the effect of CBD on treatment-seeking AUD individuals are warranted.

Keywords: Alcohol use disorder; Cannabidiol; Cue reactivity; Neuroimaging; Pharmacotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: T.H., W.L., J.W., P.H., and K.M.have no competing interests to disclose. ISM is Academic Director of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, a philanthropically funded research program at the University of Sydney. He has served as an expert witness in various medicolegal cases involving cannabis and has received consulting fees from Medical Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) and Janssen. He currently acts as an advisor/consultant to Kinoxis Therapeutics, Psylo and Emyria. He reports research grants and salary support from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and from Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics. He is an inventor on patents WO2018107216A1 and WO2017004674A1, licensed to Kinoxis Therapeutics involving use of novel small molecules (non-cannabinoid) to treat addictions and social deficits. ISM also has patents WO2020102857A1 and WO2021042178A1 related to use of small molecules (non-cannabinoid) for treating weight gain and opioid withdrawal, as well as patents WO2019227167 and WO2019071302 issued, which relate to cannabinoid therapeutics. AS has received consulting fees from the Medical Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) and Haleon (consumer healthcare subsidiary of Glaxo Smith-Kline).

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