Marijuana Approach Bias Retraining and Neural Response in Youth

Marijuana Approach Bias Retraining and Neural Response in Youth

This study aims to determine if a marijuana (MJ) Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) intervention reduces cannabis use compared to a control condition containing no active components of AAT. Adolescent heavy MJ users (N=40, ages 16-21) will be randomly assigned to MJ-AAT (n=20) or control condition (MJ-Sham, n=20) for three weeks. The MJ-AAT includes six sessions designed to reduce action tendencies to approach marijuana. The MJ-Sham includes six MJ-AAT-sham conditions. Substance use and cognitive assessment will identify changes in MJ use patterns and mechanisms of treatment outcomes. Additionally, using an functional magnetic resonance imaging marijuana cue reactivity task, we will determine differences in neural response in reward regions before and after 3 weeks of either AAT or sham treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• between age 16 and 21
• having >50 lifetime marijuana use episodes and a pattern of at least weekly marijuana use for the past year (>1+/week for 52 weeks) at study entry.

Exclusion Criteria:

• not having a parent to consent (for those under age 18)
• prenatal alcohol (>2 drinks on an occasion or >4 drinks in a week) or any tobacco or illicit drug exposure
• premature birth (<34 weeks gestation), birth weight <5 lbs, or other gestational or perinatal complications
• history of a serious medical or neurological problems that could affect blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response, brain development, or study participation, including diabetes and recurrent migraine
• current severe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) major Axis I psychiatric disorder (i.e., exclude participants with bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder)
• use of any illicit substance (e.g., cocaine, methamphetamines) other than alcohol or marijuana > 100 times
• history of major neurological disorder or head trauma (with loss of consciousness >10 minutes)
• history of learning disability, pervasive developmental disorder, or other condition requiring special education
• current use of medications that affect cerebral blood flow
• non-correctable visual or hearing problems
• non-fluent in English
• MRI contraindications (e.g., braces, claustrophobia, irremovable metal implants or piercings)
• pregnant on day of scan
• intake of psychoactive medication as tested by urine drug screen.