Freeman, D;
Dunn, G;
Murray, RM;
Evans, N;
Lister, R;
Antley, A;
Slater, M;
... Morrison, PD; + view all
(2015)
How Cannabis Causes Paranoia: Using the Intravenous Administration of ∆^{9}-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to Identify Key Cognitive Mechanisms Leading to Paranoia.
Schizophrenia Bulletin
, 41
(2)
pp. 391-399.
10.1093/schbul/sbu098.
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Abstract
Paranoia is receiving increasing attention in its own right, since it is a central experience of psychotic disorders and a marker of the health of a society. Paranoia is associated with use of the most commonly taken illicit drug, cannabis. The objective was to determine whether the principal psychoactive ingredient of cannabis—∆ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—causes paranoia and to use the drug as a probe to identify key cognitive mechanisms underlying paranoia. A randomized, placebo-controlled, between-groups test of the effects of intravenous THC was conducted. A total of 121 individuals with paranoid ideation were randomized to receive placebo, THC, or THC preceded by a cognitive awareness condition. Paranoia was assessed extensively via a real social situation, an immersive virtual reality experiment, and standard self-report and interviewer measures. Putative causal factors were assessed. Principal components analysis was used to create a composite paranoia score and composite causal variables to be tested in a mediation analysis. THC significantly increased paranoia, negative affect (anxiety, worry, depression, negative thoughts about the self), and a range of anomalous experiences, and reduced working memory capacity. The increase in negative affect and in anomalous experiences fully accounted for the increase in paranoia. Working memory changes did not lead to paranoia. Making participants aware of the effects of THC had little impact. In this largest study of intravenous THC, it was definitively demonstrated that the drug triggers paranoid thoughts in vulnerable individuals. The most likely mechanism of action causing paranoia was the generation of negative affect and anomalous experiences.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | How Cannabis Causes Paranoia: Using the Intravenous Administration of ∆^{9}-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to Identify Key Cognitive Mechanisms Leading to Paranoia |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/schbul/sbu098 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbu098 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
| Keywords: | paranoia, delusions, cannabis, THC, cognitive |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10073442 |
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