Journal article
Cerebellar white-matter changes in cannabis users with and without schizophrenia
N Solowij, M Yücel, C Respondek, S Whittle, E Lindsay, C Pantelis, DI Lubman
Psychological Medicine | Published : 2011
Abstract
Background The cerebellum is rich in cannabinoid receptors and implicated in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Long-term cannabis use is associated with functional and structural brain changes similar to those evident in schizophrenia, yet its impact on cerebellar structure has not been determined. We examined cerebellar grey and white matter in cannabis users with and without schizophrenia. Method Seventeen patients with schizophrenia and 31 healthy controls were recruited; 48% of the healthy group and 47% of the patients were long-term heavy cannabis users (mean 19.7 and 17.9 years near daily use respectively). Cerebellar measures were extracted from structural 3-T magnetic resonance im..
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Grants
Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia
Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundation, the Schizophrenia Research Institute utilizing infrastructure funding from NSW Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Grant 459111) and the University of Wollongong. The study was also supported by the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB), which is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Pratt Foundation, Ramsay Health Care, the Viertel Charitable Foundation and the Schizophrenia Research Institute. Dr Yucel is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Career Development Award (Grant 509345). Dr Whittle is supported by an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship (DP0878136). Dr Lubman is supported by the Colonial Foundation. Scans were performed at the Symbion Clinical Research Imaging Centre, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, under the supervision of Dr R. Shnier. Neuroimaging analysis was facilitated by the Neuropsychiatry Imaging Laboratory managed by B. Soulsby at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and supported by Neurosciences Victoria. Portions of this work were presented at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Melbourne, June 2008.