Abstract

  Adolescence is a development stage characterized by multiple neuro-cognitive and psychosocial changes and therefore considered a critical phase of human development. At this stage, is when young adults start consuming substances, consequently the addiction process begins. Several studies show that chronic cannabis abuse can cause neurofunctional and neuro-cognitive changes. Particularly it would negatively impact on divided attention, short-term verbal memory and working memory performance. In this study we investigate how abuse of cannabis can affect global cognitive functioning, also through the evaluation of executive functions. Sample population that took part in this study was grouped by the frequency of use of cannabinoid substances (chronic, occasional, and absent consumption). Statistical analysis showed a significant decrease in performance in working memory tasks by subjects who used chronic cannabis (group 1) compared to subjects who did not use it at all (group 3). Future studies could verify the extent of the neuro cognitive alterations through re-evaluations with controlled follow-ups.

Keywords: Working Memory; Executive Functions; Adolescents; Cannabis; Cognition

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Citation

Citation: Frolli A., et al. “Executive Functions and Cannabis Use in Adolescents". Acta Scientific Neurology 3.11 (2020): 54-62.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Frolli A., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.