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Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife
Open accessAbstract
Recent reports show that fewer adolescents believe that regular cannabis use is harmful to health. Concomitantly, adolescents are initiating cannabis use at younger ages, and more adolescents are using cannabis on a daily basis. The purpose of the present study was to test the association between persistent cannabis use and neuropsychological decline and determine whether decline is concentrated among adolescent-onset cannabis users. Participants were members of the Dunedin Study, a prospective study of a birth cohort of 1,037 individuals followed from birth (1972/1973) to age 38 y. Cannabis use was ascertained in interviews at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, and 38 y. Neuropsychological testing was conducted at age 13 y, before initiation of cannabis use, and again at age 38 y, after a pattern of persistent cannabis use had developed. Persistent cannabis use was associated with neuropsychological decline broadly across domains of functioning, even after controlling for years of education. Informants also reported noticing more cognitive problems for persistent cannabis users. Impairment was concentrated among adolescent-onset cannabis users, with more persistent use associated with greater decline. Further, cessation of cannabis use did not fully restore neuropsychological functioning among adolescent-onset cannabis users. Findings are suggestive of a neurotoxic effect of cannabis on the adolescent brain and highlight the importance of prevention and policy efforts targeting adolescents.
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“In humans, studies have reported effects of ACE on academic achievement [144], IQ [145], and performance on specific cognitive tasks [146, 147] (but see also [148]).”
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“Whilst cognitive deficits have also been shown to be associated with cannabis use (63) these studies suffer from the same issues as discussed above regarding establishing whether association from observational studies are causal or not.”
From Association Between Cannabis and Psychosis: Epidemiologic Evidence (2016) · cites this paper as [63]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Meier, M. H., Caspi, A., Ambler, A., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Keefe, R. S. E., McDonald, K., Ward, A., Poulton, R., & Moffitt, T. E.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2012-08-27
- Volume
- 109
- Issue
- 40
- Pages
- E2657-64
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3479587
- OpenAlex
- W2153739923
- Cited by
- 1,523
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 48 · 2025: 69 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 103 · 2022: 86 · 2021: 112 · 2020: 144 · 2019: 139 · 2018: 119 · 2017: 149 · 2016: 152 · 2015: 130 · 2014: 114 · 2013: 83 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 80.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Jacobs Foundation (AG032282)
- Medical Research Council (MR/K00381X, MR/K00381X/1, AG032282, G0100527)
- National Institute on Aging (AG-032282, R01AG032282)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-077874, R01MH077874)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30DA023026)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD065563, R24HD065563)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
- Keywords
- cannabis use, neuropsychological decline, cognitive impairment, adolescent brain development, neurotoxicity, cannabis cessation, Dunedin Study, birth cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Marijuana Smoking, Mental Processes, Neuropsychological Tests, Prospective Studies, Regression Analysis, Cohort Studies, Least-Squares Analysis
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