Effects of THC on Emotional Memory Retrieval

Healthy Clinical Trial

— TARE  

Official title:

The Effects of Δ⁹-Tetrahydrocannabinol on the Retrieval of Emotional Memories

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03471585
• Other study ID #: IRB16-1132
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Start date: February 15, 2017
• Est. completion date: October 4, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: March 2018
• Source: University of Chicago
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of THC on the retrieval of emotional and neutral memories in healthy young adults. Secondary experiments included the effects of THC on the encoding of object and scene stimuli and a novel working memory task.

Description:

Here, the investigators aimed to investigate the effects of THC (15 mg) on the retrieval of negative, neutral, and positive memories. The study used a placebo-controlled, within-subjects, crossover design with 24 participants. In each experimental arm, participants attend a session to encode stimuli, a second session 48 hours later in which their memories are tested for the stimuli from the first session followed by the encoding of object-scene stimuli and a working memory test, and a third session 48 hours later in which memory for the object-scene stimuli is tested. In the second session, two hours prior to memory testing, THC or placebo is administered. On the first and second sessions subjects complete mood questionnaires.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 24
• Est. completion date: October 4, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: October 4, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 35 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 4-100 lifetime cannabis occasions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current Axis I DSM-IV disorder, including substance dependence, current use of >5 cigarettes per day, history of psychosis or mania, less than a high school education, lack of English fluency, a body mass index outside 19-33 kg/m2, high blood pressure (>140/90), abnormal electrocardiogram, daily use of any medication other than birth control, pregnancy, or lactating.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy

Intervention

Drug:
• THC
A capsule that contains 15 mg of THC as well as dextrose filler administered 2 hours prior to memory testing.
• Placebo oral capsule
A capsule that contains only dextrose filler administered 2 hours prior to memory testing.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Chicago	Chicago	Illinois

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Chicago

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Emotional Memory	Hit and false alarm rates for negative, neutral, and positive picture stimuli	Two hours after placebo/THC administration.
Primary	DRM Memory	Hit and false alarm rates for the DRM task	Two and a half hours after placebo/THC administration.
Primary	Object Memory	Hit and false alarm rates for object stimuli on the same or different encoding scenes	48 hours after placebo/THC administration.
Secondary	Addiction Research Centre Inventory Marijuana Scale	The Addiction Research Centre Inventory (ARCI; Martin, Sloan, Sapira, & Jasinski, 1971) measures drug-specific effects on a 56-item true-false questionnaire. For this study, the investigators report the composite score of 12 questions that make up the marijuana scale (Chait, Fischman, & Schuster, 1985).	Assessed just prior to placebo/THC administration and then 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 115 minutes after placebo/THC administration.
Secondary	Visual Analog Scales	The Visual Analog Scales (VAS; Folstein & Luria, 1973) is composed of thirteen adjectives used to assess individual dimensions of subjective mood - anxious, stimulated, sedated, elated, insightful, sociable, confident, lonely, playful, dizzy, loving, friendly, and restless, rated on a sliding scale from 'not at all' to 'extremely.'	Assessed just prior to placebo/THC administration and then 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 115 minutes after placebo/THC administration.
Secondary	Drug Effects Questionnaire	The Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ; Morean et al., 2013) is composed of five questions concerning current drug effects - how much participants feel a drug effect, like the effect, dislike the effect, feel high, and want more of the drug, rated on a sliding scale from 'not at all/neutral' to 'very much.'	Assessed just prior to placebo/THC administration and then 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 115 minutes after placebo/THC administration.
Secondary	Physiological Measure 1	Heart rate	Assessed just prior to placebo/THC administration and then 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 115 minutes after placebo/THC administration.
Secondary	Physiological Measure 2	Blood pressure	Assessed just prior to placebo/THC administration and then 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 115 minutes after placebo/THC administration.