Abstract
The effect of cannabis on emotional processing was investigated using event-related potential paradigms (ERPs). ERPs associated with emotional processing of cannabis users, and non-using controls, were recorded and compared during an implicit and explicit emotional expression recognition and empathy task. Comparisons in P3 component mean amplitudes were made between cannabis users and controls. Results showed a significant decrease in the P3 amplitude in cannabis users compared to controls. Specifically, cannabis users showed reduced P3 amplitudes for implicit compared to explicit processing over centro-parietal sites which reversed, and was enhanced, at fronto-central sites. Cannabis users also showed a decreased P3 to happy faces, with an increase to angry faces, compared to controls. These effects appear to increase with those participants that self-reported the highest levels of cannabis consumption. Those cannabis users with the greatest consumption rates showed the largest P3 deficits for explicit processing and negative emotions. These data suggest that there is a complex relationship between cannabis consumption and emotion processing that appears to be modulated by attention.
Highlights
Emotion ProcessingThere are a variety of explanations of how the brain processes emotion emphasizing differing levels at which an explanation is focused
Overall differences in behavioral measures were consistent with differences in event-related potential paradigms (ERPs) in relation to task, and emotion
In the emotion processing task we examined the effect of cannabis use grouping and emotional expression on participants’ reaction time (RT) in milliseconds and response scores in a repeated measures analysis of variance
Summary
There are a variety of explanations of how the brain processes emotion emphasizing differing levels at which an explanation is focused. Some approaches emphasize a physiological structural account, others are based on a higher, more “cognitive” level of understanding, with less emphasis on the underlying structures [1, 2, 3]. A recent meta-analysis of a decade’s worth of data addressed two possible accounts for how emotion is processed in the brain: a “locationalist” account, where a specific brain location is responsible for eliciting a particular emotion, and a “psychological constructionist” account, which suggests that processing of emotion is distributed across brain structures [4]. Recent research investigating the temporal processing of emotion suggests that early processing of emotional stimuli, measured electrophysiologically, were modulated by task [5,6, 7]. Rellecke et al asked participants to either, explicitly identify the emotional expression of a face stimulus, or implicitly process emotional expression in a PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0149764 February 29, 2016
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
