Risky Decision-making in College-aged Cannabis Users: A Preliminary FMRI Analysis
Presenter Status
Graduate Student, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Presentation Type
Exhibition
Session
A
Location
Chan Shun 108
Start Date
18-5-2017 10:55 AM
End Date
18-5-2017 11:15 AM
Presentation Abstract
Decision-making has been shown to differ in drug users compared to drug-naive controls (Bechara et al., 2002). Specifically, risky decision-making has been found to have a strong association to substance use disorders (SUDs). Participants comprised 17 current cannabis users (CB) and 13 healthy and age-matched controls (HC), aged 18-30. Participants completed the balloon analog risk task (BART)--a task designed to examine risky decision-making--during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The CB group showed a slower reaction time, but otherwise showed no behavioral differences from the HC group. Our neuroimaging results indicate a replication of regional brain effects in the right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) found initially by Fukunaga et al., 2012. Furthermore, a regression analysis found that activity in the precuneus (PCUN) was modulated by cannabis use severity based on the cannabis use disorder identification test (CUDIT-R). Additionally, cannabis users showed greater neural activity than healthy, aged-matched control during balloon explosions in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (L.IFG). Taken together, these findings suggest that chronic cannabis users may experience increased sensitivity to negative outcomes.
Biographical Sketch
Adrian Paneto is a graduate student in the cognitive neuroimaging lab in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University-Bloomington. His research interests include understanding the role of executive functions(e.g. working memory) in problem-solving in both clinical and non-clinical populations, with a special interest in utilizing brain imaging techniques (i.e. fMRI & EEG).
Risky Decision-making in College-aged Cannabis Users: A Preliminary FMRI Analysis
Chan Shun 108
Decision-making has been shown to differ in drug users compared to drug-naive controls (Bechara et al., 2002). Specifically, risky decision-making has been found to have a strong association to substance use disorders (SUDs). Participants comprised 17 current cannabis users (CB) and 13 healthy and age-matched controls (HC), aged 18-30. Participants completed the balloon analog risk task (BART)--a task designed to examine risky decision-making--during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The CB group showed a slower reaction time, but otherwise showed no behavioral differences from the HC group. Our neuroimaging results indicate a replication of regional brain effects in the right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) found initially by Fukunaga et al., 2012. Furthermore, a regression analysis found that activity in the precuneus (PCUN) was modulated by cannabis use severity based on the cannabis use disorder identification test (CUDIT-R). Additionally, cannabis users showed greater neural activity than healthy, aged-matched control during balloon explosions in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (L.IFG). Taken together, these findings suggest that chronic cannabis users may experience increased sensitivity to negative outcomes.