Trial reportPsychopharmacology2015
Further human evidence for striatal dopamine release induced by administration of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): selectivity to limbic striatum.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.
- Are cannabis-using and non-using patients different groups? Towards understanding the neurobiology of cannabis use in psychotic disorders.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2018Pooled it
- ΔBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Trial
- Reduced responsiveness of the reward system is associated with tolerance to cannabis impairment in chronic users.Addiction biology · 2021Trial
- Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol increases striatal glutamate levels in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis.Molecular psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Highs and lows of cannabinoid-dopamine interactions: effects of genetic variability and pharmacological modulation of catechol-O-methyl transferase on the acute response to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in humans.Psychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Cannabis Dampens the Effects of Music in Brain Regions Sensitive to Reward and Emotion.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Acute and chronic effects of cannabinoids on effort-related decision-making and reward learning: an evaluation of the cannabis 'amotivational' hypotheses.Psychopharmacology · 2016Trial
- The role of subcortical brain tissue iron as an indicator of dopamine neurophysiology in adolescent cannabis use.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Positive Emotion Regulation in Addiction: A New Frontier for Recovery Science.Current addiction reports · 2026Review
- Chronic cannabis use in people with bipolar disorder is associated with comparable decision-making and functional outcome to healthy participants.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Cannabinoids and ADHD: a New Frontier in Neuropharmacology?Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2025Review
- Novel substance, same old problems: admissions of psychosis precipitated by hexahydrocannabinol, a widely available semi-synthetic cannabinoid.BJPsych bulletin · 2025Article
- ABHD6 loss-of-function in mesoaccumbens postsynaptic but not presynaptic neurons prevents diet-induced obesity in male mice.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Associations between mesolimbic connectivity, and alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2024Article
- Exploring causal mechanisms of psychosis risk.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- The Use of Compounds Derived fromInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Unveiling the link between chronic pain and misuse of opioids and cannabis.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
- Unique Challenges in Biomarkers for Psychotic Disorders.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Tetrahydrocannabinol and dopamine D1 receptor.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleElevated dopamine function is thought to play a key role in both the rewarding effects of addictive drugs and the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Accumulating epidemiological evidence indicates that cannabis use is a risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. However, human neurochemical imaging studies that examined the impact of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component in cannabis, on striatal dopamine release have provided inconsistent results.
objectivesThe objective of this study is to assess the effect of a THC challenge on human striatal dopamine release in a large sample of healthy participants.
methodsWe combined human neurochemical imaging data from two previous studies that used [(11)C]raclopride positron emission tomography (PET) (n = 7 and n = 13, respectively) to examine the effect of THC on striatal dopamine neurotransmission in humans. PET images were re-analysed to overcome differences in PET data analysis.
resultsTHC administration induced a significant reduction in [(11)C]raclopride binding in the limbic striatum (-3.65 %, from 2.39 ± 0.26 to 2.30 ± 0.23, p = 0.023). This is consistent with increased dopamine levels in this region. No significant differences between THC and placebo were found in other striatal subdivisions.
conclusionsIn the largest data set of healthy participants so far, we provide evidence for a modest increase in human striatal dopamine transmission after administration of THC compared to other drugs of abuse. This finding suggests limited involvement of the endocannabinoid system in regulating human striatal dopamine release and thereby challenges the hypothesis that an increase in striatal dopamine levels after cannabis use is the primary biological mechanism underlying the associated higher risk of schizophrenia.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.