Neural Correlates of Driving and Cannabis

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Driving is a set of complex tasks and requires use of multiple cognitive domains, including attention, planning, and memory. In laboratory studies, the main psychoactive component in cannabis, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was shown to impair short-term memory, attention, reaction time, tracking, and coordination, resulting, for instance, in significantly more deviations from the lane and increased break latency. Surveys and epidemiological studies suggest that cannabis consumption is associated with increased risks of collision. The current study aims to evaluate individual driving behavior and performance on various neurocognitive tests and their correlated neural networks while under the influence of cannabis and while sober. The investigators will use the STISIM driving simulator, which is fully MRI compatible, to study brain activation, while participants are performing various driving maneuvers. The goals of the study are: identify driving performance and patterns in brain activation associated with cannabis exposure and compare them to brain patterns of the same participants while sober; compare participant's performance on cognitive tasks while under the influence of cannabis and sober; look for correlations between concentration of cannabinoids in the participants' blood and their driving performance and performance on cognitive tasks; correlate demographic variables and personal history (e.g. tolerance to drug) with performance and brain activation while driving under the influence of cannabis.

Official Title
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Investigating the Neural Correlates of Driving After Medical Cannabis Exposure

Conditions
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Cannabis Use, Driving Impaired

Intervention / Treatment
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* Drug: Cannabis


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: valid driver's license have normal or corrected-to-normal vision have had prior experience consuming cannabis are currently not and have not been regular users in the past 5 years (regular use is defined as at least 1 time per week for at least 1 month) prescribed medical cannabis Exclusion Criteria: not fluent in English do not meet MRI screening criteria use 50 mg/day of morphine equivalents history of neurological, neurodegenerative or psychiatric diseases any serious sensory or motor impairments pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding serious lung, liver, kidney, and heart problems, including angina, coronary artery disease, and arrhythmia, and Peripheral Vascular Disease personal or family history of mental disorders or alcohol or drug abuse or dependence

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 25 Years
Maximum Age: 59 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Cannabis - Jean Guy<br>A participant will be administered 1g of Jean Guy strain of cannabis. | Drug: Cannabis<br>* Participants will be assigned to consume one of the cannabis strains and will complete testing immediately after consumption.<br>* Other names: Marijuana;|
| Experimental: Cannabis - Churchill<br>A participant will be administered 1g of Churchill strain of cannabis. | Drug: Cannabis<br>* Participants will be assigned to consume one of the cannabis strains and will complete testing immediately after consumption.<br>* Other names: Marijuana;|
| No Intervention: Sober<br>All participants will complete same tasks sober. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in neural activation on fMRI during driving simulation | Neural activation, based on BOLD signal, while completing driving tasks under the influence of cannabis and sober. | 30-60 min after cannabis intake vs sober | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance on driving simulator | Number of errors while completing driving tasks (e.g. turning, driving straight, speed maintenance, missed stop signs, etc.) under the influence of cannabis and sober. | 30-60 min after cannabis intake vs sober | 
| Performance on cognitive tasks | Cognitive test battery to assess various driving-related cognitive functions: attention, working memory, visual-spatial processing, processing speed, etc. | 60-90 min after cannabis intake vs sober | 
| Blood plasma concentration levels of cannabinoids | Concentration levels of THC and CBD throughout the session duration | 10 min and 60 min after cannabis intake | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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MRI, Cannabis, Driving