Acute effects of THC on time perception in frequent and infrequent cannabis users
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ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Acute effects of THC on time perception in frequent and infrequent cannabis users R. Andrew Sewell & Ashley Schnakenberg & Jacqueline Elander & Rajiv Radhakrishnan & Ashley Williams & Patrick D. Skosnik & Brian Pittman & Mohini Ranganathan & D. Cyril D’Souza Received: 14 May 2012 / Accepted: 25 October 2012 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (outside the USA) 2012
Abstract Rationale Cannabinoids have been shown to alter time perception, but existing literature has several limitations. Few studies have included both time estimation and production tasks, few control for subvocal counting, most had small sample sizes, some did not record subjects’ cannabis use, many tested only one dose, and used either oral or inhaled administration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), leading to variable pharmacokinetics, and some used whole-plant cannabis containing cannabinoids other than THC. Our study attempted to address these limitations. Objectives This study aims to characterize the acute effects of THC and frequent cannabis use on seconds-range time perception. THC was hypothesized to produce transient, dose-related time overestimation and underproduction. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2915-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. R. A. Sewell : A. Schnakenberg : J. Elander : R. Radhakrishnan : A. Williams : P. D. Skosnik : B. Pittman : M. Ranganathan : D. C. D’Souza Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA R. A. Sewell (*) : A. Schnakenberg : J. Elander : R. Radhakrishnan : A. Williams : P. D. Skosnik : M. Ranganathan : D. C. D’Souza VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 116A, 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516, USA e-mail: [email protected] R. A. Sewell : A. Schnakenberg : J. Elander : R. Radhakrishnan : A. Williams : P. D. Skosnik : B. Pittman : M. Ranganathan : D. C. D’Souza Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Frequent cannabis smokers were hypothesized to show blunted responses to these alterations. Methods IV THC was administered at doses from 0.015 to 0.05 mg/kg to 44 subjects who participated in several double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, crossover, placebo-controlled studies. Visual time estimation and production tasks in the seconds range were presented to subjects three times on each test day. Results All doses induced time overestimation and underproduction. Chronic cannabis use had no effect on baseline time perception. While infrequent/nonsmokers showed temporal overestimation at medium and high doses and temporal underproduction at all doses, frequent cannabis users showed no differences. THC effects on time perception were not dose related. Conclusions A psychoactive dose of THC increases internal clock speed as indicated by time overestimation and underproduction. This effect is not dose related and is blunted in chronic cannabis smokers who did not otherwise have a
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