Δ⁹-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) impairs visual working memory performance: a randomized crossover trial.

ABSTRACT: With the increasing prevalence of legal cannabis use and availability, there is an urgent need to identify cognitive impairments related to its use. It is widely believed that cannabis, or its main psychoactive component Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), impairs working memory, i.e., the ability to temporarily hold information in mind. However, our review of the literature yielded surprisingly little empirical support for an effect of THC or cannabis on working memory. We thus conducted a study with three main goals: (1) quantify the effect of THC on visual working memory in a well-powered sample, (2) test the potential role of cognitive effects (mind wandering and metacognition) in disrupting working memory, and (3) demonstrate how insufficient sample size and task duration reduce

SUBMITTER: Adam KCS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7608353 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature