Many claims have been made regarding the relation between cannabis use and psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. The idea that frequent use of potent cannabis can elicit detrimental effects on cognition, learning & memory, & executive function is generally accepted. But how does THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, produce changes in brain function that ultimately manifest as symptoms like psychosis that resemble that chief features of schizophrenia? And which brain regions & connections are primarily involved in mediating these effects?

In this episode, Bryan Jenkins - Neuroscience PhD Candidate from the University of Guelph - joins us to discuss how a single exposure to vaporized THC can elicit long-term changes in brain waves (oscillatory activity) such as delta, theta, & gamma waves that strikingly resemble the changes observed in patients with schizophrenia. This work has vast implications for our understanding of recreational cannabis use & cannabis use disorder, & how they relate to brain changes that underlie the onset of schizophrenia and related disorders. These results may also inform on public health regarding the increased rates of vaping seen in youth and adolescents in recent years.

Manuscript: Published in the Canadian Journal of Addiction: https://journals.lww.com/cja/Abstract/2019/09000/Extended_Attenuation_of_Corticostriatal_Power_and.9.aspx

Produced by Roger Hudson, PhDc

Directed by Dr. Mina Nashed, PhD

Visual Effects by Dr. Stephen Daniels, PhD

Audio Mixing by Dr. Paul Sheppard, PhD

Digital Marketing by Bryan Jenkins, PhDc

Theme music: MegaDisko by Navigator Black & the Indighost