The formation of habitual consumption leads to cannabis addiction

According to a study published in January 2002, the shift from brain systems that control reward-driven use to habit-based use differentiates large drug-dependent users of cannabis from drugs. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. The results help explain how the brain becomes dependent on cannabis and why not all cannabis users develop an addiction, even with regular long-term use.

In this study, researchers from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and the University of Bonn, Germany, used brain imaging to monitor neural activity when the Cannabis users saw images associated with cannabis use, called drug signals. Although all cannabis users participating in the study reported high consumption, only a few were dependent on it. Dependent and non-addicted cannabis users have had exaggerated reactions in a region of the brain that deals with the reward – the ventral striatum – compared to people who have not used cannabis. Interestingly, dependent users also had larger responses in an area of ​​the brain that forms habits – the dorsal striatum.

"Current results show that significant cannabis use is favored by changes in the brain's reward system, but these changes may not be enough to fully explain the addiction. brain systems that promote habitual, automatic use, which may also explain the fact that drug users continue to consume despite the lack of beneficial effects of the drug.As such, their behavior is now under the control of drug signals, rather than the actual expectation of reward, "said lead author Benjamin Becker, Ph.D.

Dependent users have also had an increase in responses in other areas of the brain, including regions that attribute importance to things, for example, drug signals. This suggests that the development of cannabis addiction integrates other areas of the brain that may enhance a person's desire to search for the drug.

"Cannabis is now legal for medical and recreational use in many parts of the United States and the health impacts of this development are still understood," said Cameron Carter, MD, editor-in-chief of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and neuroimaging. "These findings are important information that can help us better understand why some people are more likely to become addicted to cannabis," he added.

Differentiating the unique brain circuits behind dependent cannabis use could also be helpful in understanding how to combat the problem of cannabis addiction. "The identification of the dorsal striatum and habitual behavior as a factor of dependence could allow to develop more specific treatment approaches to increase the success of the treatment," said the first author, Xinqi Zhou.