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4 HIV Status and Cannabis Use: A Rigorous Examination of Between Group Differences in Neurocognitive Functioning
- Ashley R Adams, Sarah M Lehman, Erin L Thompson, Brenda Lerner, Raul Gonzalez
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 684-685
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Objective:
A recent review called for a more robust assessment of cannabis use (CU), including amount and timing of recent use to assess neurocognitive effects of CU among people living with HIV (PWH) (Ellis et al., 2021). The current study addresses some issues raised by investigating between group neurocognitive differences among healthy controls and PWH who differ on their cannabis use histories, using strict inclusion criteria, robust classification of CU, and administration of an established neurocognitive test battery.
Participants and Methods:Among this community sample of adults (N=309), 58 were classified as CU+/HIV+ group (84.5% Male), 76 as CU-/HIV+ (57.9% M), 86 as CU+/HIV- (58.1% M), and 89 as CU-/HIV- (53.9% M). Exclusion criteria included history of past 12-month dependence and extensive lifetime dependence or significant use of illicit substances other than cannabis, severe or current mood or thought disorder, and other medical conditions that adversely impact neurocognitive functioning. Inclusion criteria for CU+ groups included <30-days since last CU, >10 times of CU in last month, 3 times of CU per month in last 12 months, > 1 year of CU, and > 500 times used in lifetime. CU parameters did not statistically differ between HIV+/CU+ and HIV-/CU+. CU- groups’ inclusion criteria required no CU in last 6 months, 196 lifetime number of times used, and no history of CU dependance. Lifetime CU did not statistically differ between CU-/HIV+ and CU-/HIV- groups. HIV+ groups did not differ significantly on HIV viral load in plasma or nadir CD4+ counts. Significant between group differences included age, sex, years of education, and amount of alcohol and nicotine use within 12 months. The aforementioned sociodemographic and substance use variables that differed between groups were covariates in analyses. A battery of 10 neurocognitive measures, two measures per each domain of learning, memory, motor, executive functioning, and processing speed. Global composite summary scores for overall neurocognitive performance were calculated by averaging M T-scores for each neurocognitive domain. Data transformations were used to address any violations of statistical assumptions.
Results:To facilitate data reduction, neurocognitive task scores were standardized to T-scores using the M and SD of the CU-/HIV-group. An omnibus model of between-group comparisons on global neurocognitive task performance revealed no significant differences, F(3) = .16, p = .923. Subsequent Tukey’s post hoc test revealed no significant differences among the four groups. Results also revealed nonsignificant differences between groups in neurocognitive performance within each domain. However, the CU-/HIV- group performed significantly worse than the CU-/HIV+ group on the Executive Functioning domain, based on Tukey’s post hoc test.
Conclusions:We found no significant global neurocognitive differences among groups; however, there was some evidence for domain-specific neurocognitive differences in executive functioning. This contrasts somewhat with existing literature on HIV and cannabis-associated neurocognitive deficits. Several factors may have contributed to this, including our relatively healthy PWH sample. Future analyses will examine interactive effects of HIV severity and severity of CU on neurocognition. This analysis will better determine who, among PWH, are most at-risk for cannabis-associated neurocognitive effects and what factors may exacerbate them.
Cannabis use and episodic memory performance among adolescents: Moderating effects of depression symptoms and sex
- Sarah M. Lehman, Erin L. Thompson, Ileana Pacheco-Colón, Samuel W. Hawes, Ashley R. Adams, Karen Granja, William J. Pulido, Raul Gonzalez
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue 8 / October 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 13 February 2023, pp. 715-723
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Objective:
Cannabis use has been linked to poorer episodic memory. However, little is known about whether depression and sex may interact as potential moderators of this association, particularly among adolescents. The current study addresses this by examining interactions between depression symptoms and sex on the association between cannabis use and episodic memory in a large sample of adolescents.
Method:Cross-sectional data from 360 adolescents (Mage = 17.38, SD = .75) were analyzed at the final assessment wave of a two-year longitudinal study. We used the Drug Use History Questionnaire to assess for lifetime cannabis use, and the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, Fourth edition to assess the number of depression symptoms in the past year. Subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale, Fourth Edition and the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition were used to assess episodic memory performance.
Results:The effect of the three-way interaction among cannabis use, depression symptoms, and sex did not have a significant impact on episodic memory performance. However, follow-up analyses revealed a significant effect of the two-way interaction of cannabis use and depression symptoms on episodic memory, such that associations between cannabis use and episodic memory were only significant at lower and average levels of depression symptoms.
Conclusions:Contrary to our hypotheses, we found that as depression symptoms increased, the negative association between cannabis use and episodic memory diminished. Given the use of a predominantly subsyndromic sample, future studies should attempt to replicate findings among individuals with more severe depression.
Contributors
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- By Krista Adamek, Ana Luisa K. Albernaz, J. Marcio Ayres†, Andrew J. Baker, Karen L. Bales, Adrian A. Barnett, Christopher Barton, John M. Bates, Jennie Becker, Bruna M. Bezerra, Júlio César Bicca-Marques, Richard Bodmer, Jean P. Boubli, Mark Bowler, Sarah A. Boyle, Christini Barbosa Caselli, Janice Chism, Elena P. Cunningham, José Maria C. da Silva, Lesa C. Davies, Nayara de Alcântara Cardoso, Manuella A. de Souza, Stella de la Torre, Ana Gabriela de Luna, Thomas R. Defler, Anthony Di Fiore, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Stephen F. Ferrari, Wilsea M.B. Figueiredo-Ready, Tracy Frampton, Paul A. Garber, Brian W. Grafton, L. Tremaine Gregory, Maria L. Harada, Amy Harrison-Levine, Walter C. Hartwig, Stefanie Heiduck, Eckhard W. Heymann, André Hirsch, Leandro Jerusalinsky, Gareth Jones, Richard F. Kay, Martin M. Kowalewski, Shawn M. Lehman, Laura Marsh, Jesús Martinez, William A. Mason, Hope Matthews, Wynlyn McBride, Shona McCann-Wood, W. Scott McGraw, D. Jeffrey Meldrum, Sally P. Mendoza, Nohelia Mercado, Russell A. Mittermeier, Mirjam N. Nadjafzadeh, Marilyn A. Norconk, Robert Gary Norman, Marcela Oliveira, Marcelo M. Oliveira, Maria Juliana Ospina Rodríguez, Erwin Palacios, Suzanne Palminteri, Liliam P. Pinto, Marcio Port-Carvalho, Leila Porter, Carlos Portillo-Quintero, George Powell, Ghillean T. Prance, Rodrigo C. Printes, Pablo Puertas, P. Kirsten Pullen, Helder L. Queiroz, Luis Reginaldo R. Rodrigues, Adriana Rodríguez, Alfred L. Rosenberger, Anthony B. Rylands, Ricardo R. Santos, Horacio Schneider, Eleonore Z.F. Setz, Suleima S.B. Silva, José S. Silva Júnior, Andrew T. Smith, Marcelo C. Sousa, Antonio S. Souto, Wilson R. Spironello, Masanaru Takai, Marcelo F. Tejedor, Cynthia L. Thompson, Diego G. Tirira, Raul Tupayachi, Bernardo Urbani, Liza M. Veiga, Marianela Velilla, João Valsecchi, Jean-Christophe Vié, Tatiana M. Vieira, Suzanne E. Walker-Pacheco, Rob Wallace, Patricia C. Wright, Charles E. Zartman
- Edited by Liza M. Veiga, Universidade Federal do Pará, Brazil, Adrian A. Barnett, Roehampton University, London, Stephen F. Ferrari, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil, Marilyn A. Norconk, Kent State University, Ohio
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- Book:
- Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Titis, Sakis and Uacaris
- Published online:
- 05 April 2013
- Print publication:
- 11 April 2013, pp xii-xv
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