Effects of Cannabis on Neurocognitive Functioning: Recent Advances, Neurodevelopmental Influences, and Sex Differences
Neuropsychol Rev
DOI 10.1007/s11065-012-9222-1
Natania A. Crane & Randi Melissa Schuster & Paolo Fusar-Poli & Raul Gonzalez
Introduction
In the last 5 years, significant advances have been made in understanding the endogenous cannabinoid system and how cannabis may affect its functioning, particularly as it per- tains to the brain. The abundance of cannabinoid receptors in the hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia, and prefrontal cortex (Mackie 2005; Piomelli 2003) suggests that disrup- tion of the cannabinergic system by administration of exog- enous cannabinoids, like delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; the main psychoactive compound in cannabis), may have important implications for various neurobehavioral processes, including mood and anxiety regulation (Crippa et al. 2011, 2009), learning, memory, motivation, motor control, reward processing, and executive functions (Crean et al. 2011; Gonzalez 2007; Solowij and Pesa 2010).
