Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41995790›Full record

ArticleForensic toxicology2026

Artificial intelligence assisted behavioral profiling of synthetic cannabinoids in planarians.

Jay R Vargas, Laura L Hernandez, Leo H Lai, Helen H Chang

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Article in Forensic toxicology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jay R VargasSchool of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA. jay.vargas86@calstatela.edu.ORCID 0009-0002-6184-7945
Laura L HernandezUpward Bound Program, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
Leo H LaiSchool of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.
Helen H ChangSchool of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeFreshwater planarians provide a rapid and scalable biological model for detecting drug-induced neurobehavioral effects. This study evaluated whether automated behavioral profiling in Dugesia dorotocephala could distinguish phytocannabinoid and synthetic cannabinoid exposure based on organism-level motor responses.

methodsPlanarians were acutely exposed to Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC), AB-PINACA, MA-CHMINACA, A-796,260, or JWH-412 at concentrations of 5–60 µg/mL in artificial spring water containing PEG-400. Locomotion and posture were recorded for 5 min and analyzed using LabGym, a supervised deep-learning–based behavioral classification system that quantified gliding, headshake activity, and sustained C-shaped postures.

resultsDistinct compound-associated behavioral profiles were observed. Δ⁹-THC and JWH-412 produced marked suppression of total locomotion relative to pooled controls. AB-PINACA and MA-CHMINACA preserved overall movement volume but produced severe disruption of coordinated gliding accompanied by frequent abnormal postural states. A-796,260 produced comparatively mild effects on locomotor organization. These findings revealed separable behavioral patterns that were further resolved in a two-dimensional state space by PCA (91.4% variance captured). These results demonstrate that cannabinoid exposures differing in pharmacological class produce separable behavioral patterns defined by both movement magnitude and organization.

conclusionsAutomated planarian behavioral profiling provides a biologically grounded functional assay capable of distinguishing synthetic cannabinoids based on integrated motor signatures. This scalable non-vertebrate platform may support forensic toxicology by enabling early functional characterization of emerging synthetic cannabinoids and other novel psychoactive substances relevant to regulatory monitoring and public health surveillance.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceBehavior, AnimalCannabinoidsPlanariansAnimalsDronabinolIndazolesIndolesLocomotionNaphthalenesPostureCannabinoidsDronabinolIndazolesIndolesNaphthalenesAutomated behavioral analysisBehavioral phenotypingForensic toxicologyNeurobehavioral toxicityPlanarian modelSynthetic cannabinoids

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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.