Cannabis Use Linked to Altered Functional Connectivity of the Visual Attentional Connectivity in Patients With Psychosis and Controls
Schizophrenia Bulletin Open January 1, 2020 M. Sami, R. Mccutcheon, U. Ettinger et al.
Both chronic cannabis use and psychotic disorders are linked to abnormalities in how the brain processes visual attention. Using resting-state fMRI, connectivity was measured in the visual and dorsal attention networks of people with early psychosis who did or did not use cannabis, and healthy controls who did or did not use cannabis. Patients with a history of cannabis use showed increased connectivity in the dorsal attention network (134%) and between the visual and dorsal attention networks (285%) compared to non-using controls. In patients who used cannabis, connectivity in these networks correlated with visual hallucinations and with severity of cannabis dependence. The findings suggest that disrupted connectivity in these networks may play different roles depending on cannabis use.