title: Cue reactivity in cannabis-dependent adolescents.
abstract: The authors measured event-related potentials with a craving manipulation to investigate the neural correlates of drug cue reactivity in 13 adolescents who are cannabis dependent (CD; ages 14-17). The P300 responses to marijuana (MJ) pictures (MJ-P300) and control pictures (C-P300) were assessed after handling neutral objects and again after handling MJ paraphernalia (MJP). Self-reported drug craving and heart rates also were measured. MJ-P300 were larger than C-P300 (p < .001), and both the MJ-P300 and craving increased significantly after handling MJP (p = .002 and p = .003, respectively), with no association between the magnitude of craving and MJ-P300. Heart rates were not affected by handling MJP. The results showed that adolescents who are CD have an attentional bias to MJ stimuli that increases after handling marijuana paraphernalia. Generally, the results are consistent with what has been reported for adult heavy chronic cannabis smokers, although there were some differences that require further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478-9106, USA. lisa_nickerson@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Lisa D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Nickerson
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ravichandran
authors.forename: Leslie H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Lundahl
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodolico
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dunlap
authors.forename: George H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Trksak
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lukas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003463:Cues; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires