Residual Effects of Cannabis Use on Effort-Based Decision-Making

J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2021 Jul;27(6):559-569. doi: 10.1017/S1355617721000473.

Abstract

Objective: Acute Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) administration in humans (Lawn etal., 2016) and rats (Silveira, Adams, Morena, Hill, & Winstanley, 2016) has been associated with decreased effort allocation that may explain amotivation during acute cannabis intoxication. To date, however, whether residual effects of cannabis use on effort-based decision-making are present and observable in humans have not yet been determined. The goal of this study was to test whether prolonged cannabis use has residual effects on effort-based decision-making in 24-hr abstinent cannabis using adults.

Method: We evaluated performance on the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task (EEfRT) in 41 adult cannabis users (mean age = 24.63 years, 21 males) and 45 nonusers (mean age = 23.90 years, 19 males). A mixed 2x3x3 ANOVA with age as a covariate was performed to examine the effect of group, probability of winning, and reward amount on EEfRT performance. EEfRT performance was operationalized as % of trials for which the hard (vs. easy) condition was chosen. Pearson's correlations were conducted to test the relationship between EEfRT performance and measures of cannabis use, anhedonia and motivation.

Results: We found that cannabis users selected hard trials significantly more than nonusers regardless of win probability or reward level. Frequency of cannabis use was positively correlated with amount of % hard trials chosen. There were no significant correlations between % hard trials chosen, self-reported anhedonia, or motivation.

Conclusions: These results suggest that unlike acute effects, residual effects of cannabis following 24 hrs of abstinence are associated with greater effort allocation during effort-based decision-making.

Keywords: Addictive behavior; Cannabis use disorder; Decision-making; Executive function; Motivation; Physical effort.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anhedonia
  • Animals
  • Cannabis*
  • Decision Making
  • Humans
  • Motivation
  • Rats
  • Reward