Cannabis Use Linked to Altered Functional Connectivity of the Visual Attentional Connectivity in Patients With Psychosis and Controls

Sami, Musa Basseer; McCutcheon, Robert A.; Ettinger, Ulrich; Williams, Steve; Lythgoe, Dave; McGuire, Philip; Bhattacharyya, Sagnik

Abstract

Background: Both chronic cannabis use and psychotic disorders are associated with abnormalities in visual atten-tional processing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we sought to determine whether there would be a difference in functional connectivity in patients and controls with and without a history of cannabis use in the visual and dorsal attention networks. Methods: Resting-state fMRI data were acquired in patients with early psy-chosis with (EPC = 29) and without (EPNC = 25); and controls with (HCC = 16) and without (HCNC = 22) cannabis use. Results: There was a patient effect in both Visual-Dorsal Attention Internetwork (F(1,87) = 5.326, P = .023) and the Visual Network (F(1,87) = 4.044, P = .047) and a cannabis effect in the Dorsal Attention Network (F(1,87) = 4.773, P = .032). These effects were specific to the networks examined with no evidence for significant patient or cannabis effects in other canonical networks. Patients with a history of cannabis use showed increased connec-tivity in the Dorsal Attention Network (134%, P = .019) and Visual Dorsal Attention Internetwork (285%, P = .036) compared to non-using controls. In the EPC group con-nectivity of the Visual Network (ρ = 0.379, P = .042) and Visual-Dorsal Attention Internetwork (ρ = 0.421, P = .023) correlated with visual hallucinations which were significantly different from EPNC (P = .011). Dorsal attention network strength correlated with severity of dependence for cannabis (ρ = 0.215, P = .04). Conclusion: We demonstrate specific cannabis and patient effects in networks associated with visual attentional processing. There is a differential association with hallucinatory symptoms in patients with and without a history of cannabis use. This may indicate that dysconnectivity in these networks serves different roles in the context of cannabis use.

Citation

Sami, M. B., McCutcheon, R. A., Ettinger, U., Williams, S., Lythgoe, D., McGuire, P., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2020). Cannabis Use Linked to Altered Functional Connectivity of the Visual Attentional Connectivity in Patients With Psychosis and Controls. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, 1(1), https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgaa018

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 20, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Apr 20, 2020
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 6, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 6, 2020
• Journal: Schizophrenia Bulletin Open
• Electronic ISSN: 2632-7899
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgaa018
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4752980
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/schizbullopen/article/1/1/sgaa018/5822619