Cannabis induced increase in striatal glutamate associated with loss of functional corticostriatal connectivity.
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology December 1, 2019 Natasha L Mason, Eef L Theunissen, Nadia R P W Hutten et al.
THC increases striatal glutamate concentrations and reduces functional connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and cortical areas, indicating increased dopaminergic activity. These changes were dose dependent, occurring in the full dose group where THC serum concentrations exceeded 2 ng/ml at T-max. Average glutamate changes correlated strongly with functional connectivity alterations. THC-induced changes in functional connectivity correlated with feelings of subjective high and decreased performance on an attention task. The findings suggest THC elicits subjective and cognitive alterations via increased striatal dopaminergic activity and loss of corticostriatal connectivity, associated with increased striatal glutamate.