Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Series

2015

Cannabis

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Education

Are Cannabis Expectancies Related To Subjective Drug Experiences And Schizotypy?, Emma Barkus, Tahlia Muddle, John Stirling, Shon Lewis Jan 2015

Are Cannabis Expectancies Related To Subjective Drug Experiences And Schizotypy?, Emma Barkus, Tahlia Muddle, John Stirling, Shon Lewis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: There is an established literature on cannabis expectancies and how these relate to patterns of cannabis use and clinical outcomes. However increasingly we are becoming interested in how cannabis expectancies shape the subjective experiences people have during drug use, and vice versa. Here we present data reporting how cannabis expectancies relate to subjective experiences after cannabis. Additionally we will determine whether an index of psychosis proneness (schizotypy) is related to cannabis expectancies. Method: A sample of recreational cannabis users (n=137) completed the brief Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, the Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire and the Marijuana Effects Expectancy Questionnaire. Results: Cannabis expectancies …


Gross Morphological Brain Changes With Chronic, Heavy Cannabis Use, Valentina Lorenzetti, Nadia Solowij, Sarah Whittle, Alex Fornito, Daniel Lubman, Christos Pantelis, Murat Yücel Jan 2015

Gross Morphological Brain Changes With Chronic, Heavy Cannabis Use, Valentina Lorenzetti, Nadia Solowij, Sarah Whittle, Alex Fornito, Daniel Lubman, Christos Pantelis, Murat Yücel

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

We investigated the morphology of multiple brain regions in a rare sample of 15 very heavy cannabis users with minimal psychiatric comorbidity or significant exposure to other substances (compared with 15 age- and IQ-matched non-cannabis-using controls) using manual techniques. Heavy cannabis users demonstrated smaller hippocampus and amygdala volumes, but no alterations of the orbitofrontal and anterior- and paracingulate cortices, or the pituitary gland. These findings indicate that chronic cannabis use has a selective and detrimental impact on the morphology of the mediotemporal lobe.