ArticlePsychopharmacology2014
The link between dopamine function and apathy in cannabis users: an [18F]-DOPA PET imaging study.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and rationale of using psychedelics in the treatment of cannabis use disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- The Behavioral Sequelae of Cannabis Use in Healthy People: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Nonacute effects of cannabis use on motivation and reward sensitivity in humans: A systematic review.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2018Pooled it
- Acute and chronic effects of cannabinoids on effort-related decision-making and reward learning: an evaluation of the cannabis 'amotivational' hypotheses.Psychopharmacology · 2016Trial
- A frontotemporal dementia-like phenotype in schizophrenia: links to striatal dopamine and iron accumulation.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Observational
- Influence of cannabis potency on mental health outcomes among adolescents and young adults: scoping review.BJPsych open · 2026Review
- Brain reward function in people with moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder who tried to cut down or quit: an fMRI study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A Systematic Review: Investigating Biomarkers of Anhedonia and Amotivation in Depression and Cannabis Use.JAACAP open · 2025Review
- Similarities and Differences in Neurobiology.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025Review
- Sex-Dependent Attentional Impairments in a Subchronic Ketamine Mouse Model for Schizophrenia.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Article
- Physical inactivity during adolescence heightens risk for cannabis use disorder in adulthood.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Chronic cannabis use alters dACC-striatal glutamatergic balance.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2023Article
- Methylphenidate as a treatment option for substance use disorder: a transdiagnostic perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Association between Polymorphism rs1799732 ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Δ9-THC reduces reward-related brain activity in healthy adults.Psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Remote detection of Cannabis-related impairments in performance?Psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- A polygenic score indexing a DRD2-related co-expression network is associated with striatal dopamine function.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Investigating repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on cannabis use and cognition in people with schizophrenia.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Cannabis Use and Neuroadaptation: A Call for ΔFrontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Evidence Lacking for Cannabis Users Slacking: A Longitudinal Analysis of Escalating Cannabis Use and Motivation among Adolescents.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleCannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world, and regular use has been associated with reduced motivation, i.e. apathy. Regular long-term cannabis use has been associated with reduced dopamine synthesis capacity. The mesolimbic dopaminergic system mediates the processing of incentive stimuli by modifying their motivational value, which in turn is modulated by endocannabinoid signalling. Thus, it has been proposed that dopaminergic dysfunction underlies the apathy associated with chronic cannabis use.
objectivesThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between dopaminergic function and subjective apathy in cannabis users.
methodsWe measured dopamine synthesis capacity (indexed as the influx rate constant K i(cer)) via 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[(18)F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine positron emission tomography and subjective apathy using the self-rated Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-S) in 14 regular cannabis users.
resultsAll subjects scored in excess of 34 points on the AES-S (median [interquartile range] 59.5 [7.5]), indicative of significant apathy based on normative data. K i (cer) was inversely correlated to AES-S score in the whole striatum and its associative functional subdivision (Spearman's rho = -0.64, p = 0.015 [whole striatum]; rho = -0.69, p = 0.006 [associative]) but not in the limbic or sensorimotor striatal subdivisions. There were no significant relationships between AES-S and current cannabis consumption (rho = 0.28, p = 0.34) or age of first cannabis use (rho = 0.25, p = 0.40).
conclusionsThese findings indicate that the reduction in striatal dopamine synthesis capacity associated with chronic cannabis use may underlie reduced reward sensitivity and a motivation associated with chronic cannabis use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.