Faculty Collaboration Database

Gender effects on amygdala morphometry in adolescent marijuana users. Behav Brain Res 2011 Oct 10;224(1):128-34

Date

06/15/2011

Pubmed ID

21664935

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3139567

DOI

10.1016/j.bbr.2011.05.031

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-79959534689 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   111 Citations

Abstract

Adolescent developments in limbic structures and the endogenous cannabinoid system suggest that teenagers may be more vulnerable to the negative consequences of marijuana use. This study examined the relationships between amygdala volume and internalizing symptoms in teenaged chronic marijuana users. Participants were 35 marijuana users and 47 controls ages 16-19 years. Exclusions included psychiatric (e.g., mood and anxiety) or neurologic disorders. Substance use, internalizing (anxiety/depression) symptoms and brain scans were collected after 28 days of monitored abstinence. Reliable raters manually traced amygdala and intracranial volumes on high-resolution magnetic resonance images. Female marijuana users had larger right amygdala volumes and more internalizing symptoms than female controls, after covarying head size, alcohol, nicotine and other substance use (p<0.05), while male users had similar volumes as male controls. For female controls and males, worse mood/anxiety was linked to smaller right amygdala volume (p<0.05), whereas more internalizing problems was associated with bigger right amygdala in female marijuana users. Gender interactions may reflect marijuana-related interruptions to sex-specific neuromaturational processes and staging. Subtle amygdala development abnormalities may underlie particular vulnerabilities to sub-diagnostic depression and anxiety in teenage female marijuana users.

Author List

McQueeny T, Padula CB, Price J, Medina KL, Logan P, Tapert SF

Authors

Krista Lisdahl PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Jenessa Price PhD Associate Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Amygdala
Analysis of Variance
Brain Mapping
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Marijuana Smoking
Neuropsychological Tests
Sex Characteristics
Statistics, Nonparametric
Verbal Behavior