In a recent study, researchers examined brain functional connectivity in 54 adult cannabis users and 90 controls during a cannabis cue exposure task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. Changes in dynamic connectivity were analyzed and compared for main effects of task conditions and group (users vs. controls). They were then correlated with pre- and during- scan subjective craving. The following regions were examined: 1) connectivity weights of the default mode, the central executive, the salience networks, and two reward loci: (amygdalae and nuclei accumbens), and 2) topological indexes of the whole brain (global efficiency, modularity and network resilience). The variability of connectivity weights between the central executive network and nuclei accumbens was increased in users throughout the cue exposure task, and, was positively correlated with during-scan craving for cannabis. The results suggest that the variability of dynamic connectivity during cannabis cue exposure between the central executive network and the nucleus accumbens may be associated with underlying neural mechanisms of cannabis use and subjective craving.
Reference:
Yoo HB et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2020; Epub ahead of print. Abstract
For more information: