The study will be led by professor Brian O’Donnell and associate professor Sharlene Newman in the IU-Bloomington Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, according to an IU release.
The study will examine how marijuana affects specific regions of the brain as well as brain networks in current and former users of the drug.
It will be the first to apply network analysis to the study of marijuana’s effects on the brain.
“Given the recent decriminalization of marijuana in several states and its widespread use, there is an urgent need to determine how marijuana affects the brain and whether such changes are related to those observed in psychotic disorders,” O’Donnell said in the release.
A pilot study published by the research group found that the brain networks of users were less organized than the networks of non-users.
Cannabis affects a number of brain functions, including pain and time perception and working ?memory.
The researchers are preparing to recruit three groups of 30 subjects ages 18 to 40, according to the University.
One group will be current users, one will be former users and one will be people who have never ?used marijuana.
A challenge the researchers face will be finding current users who do not use alcohol or other drugs.
The research team includes IU computational neuroscientist Olaf Sporns, whose work focuses heavily on brain networks, IU neuroscientist Ken Mackie, schizophrenia researcher William Hetrick and chair of the IU Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and brain imaging experts Dai-Jin Kim and Aina Puce.
Anna Hyzy
