Cannabis Dampens the Effects of Music in Brain Regions Sensitive to Reward and Emotion
Tom P. Freeman, Rebecca Pope, Matthew B. Wall, James A. Bisby, Maartje Luijten, Chandni Hindocha, Claire Mokrysz, Will Lawn, Abigail Moss, Michael Bloomfield, Celia J. A. Morgan, David Nutt, H. Valerie Curran
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology August 30, 2017 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyx082 via OpenAlex
Summary
Cannabis dampens the brain's response to music in regions involved in reward and emotion, including the auditory cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and ventral striatum. However, when cannabis also contains cannabidiol, these dampening effects are offset, and brain activity does not differ from placebo. Despite reduced neural responses, both types of cannabis increased participants' self-reported desire to listen to music and enhanced sound perception. The findings suggest that cannabidiol may mitigate some of cannabis's effects on brain reward systems.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 16 |
| Population | Cannabis users |
| Interventions | Cannabis with cannabidiol cannabis without cannabidiol placebo |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Psychology Neuroscience Ventral striatum Audiology |
| Citations | 67 |
| Key finding | Cannabis without cannabidiol dampened music-evoked brain activity in reward and emotion regions, but cannabidiol offset these effects. |
Abstract
Background: Despite the current shift towards permissive cannabis policies, few studies have investigated the pleasurable effects users seek. Here, we investigate the effects of cannabis on listening to music, a rewarding activity that frequently occurs in the context of recreational cannabis use. We additionally tested how these effects are influenced by cannabidiol, which may offset cannabis-related harms. Methods: Across 3 sessions, 16 cannabis users inhaled cannabis with cannabidiol, cannabis without cannabidiol, and placebo. We compared their response to music relative to control excerpts of scrambled sound during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging within regions identified in a meta-analysis of music-evoked reward and emotion. All results were False Discovery Rate corrected (P<.05). Results: Compared with placebo, cannabis without cannabidiol dampened response to music in bilateral auditory cortex (right: P=.005, left: P=.008), right hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus (P=.025), right amygdala (P=.025), and right ventral striatum (P=.033). Across all sessions, the effects of music in this ventral striatal region correlated with pleasure ratings (P=.002) and increased functional connectivity with auditory cortex (right: P< .001, left: P< .001), supporting its involvement in music reward. Functional connectivity between right ventral striatum and auditory cortex was increased by cannabidiol (right: P=.003, left: P=.030), and cannabis with cannabidiol did not differ from placebo on any functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging measures. Both types of cannabis increased ratings of wanting to listen to music (P<.002) and enhanced sound perception (P<.001). Conclusions: Cannabis dampens the effects of music in brain regions sensitive to reward and emotion. These effects were offset by a key cannabis constituent, cannabidol.