3-(2-hydroxy-4-(1-1-dimethylheptyl)phenyl)-4-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexanol and Cognition-Disorders

During cerebral development, adolescence is a critical phase in which the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in regulating various neurotransmitters. Moreover, evidence from both human and animal studies suggests that chronic cannabinoid exposure during this vulnerable period can induce persistent brain and behavioural alterations.. The aim of this study was to compare the long-term cognitive consequences of chronic adolescence cannabinoid exposure between Lister Hooded rats and Wistar rats.. Rats of both strains were injected daily throughout their adolescent or adult periods with vehicle or with incremental doses of the synthetic cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist CP55,940 (CP). Short-term and spatial working memories were assessed using the object recognition and object location, tasks respectively. For both tasks, the effect of a 30- or 120-min delay between the learning and the testing phase was investigated.. In the object recognition task, adolescent CP exposure impaired short-term memory after both delays in both strains. In contrast, in the object location task, adolescent CP exposure impaired spatial working memory in the Wistar rats after a 30-min delay, whereas the Lister Hooded rats exhibited a similar effect only after a 120-min delay. In these tests, no long-term deleterious effects were found following adult CP exposure in either strain.. Our results confirm that adolescence is a critical period for the deleterious effects of cannabinoids on cognition and that these deleterious effects on spatial working memory are more strain-dependent than the effects observed on short-term memory.

Topics: Age Factors; Animals; Cannabinoids; Cognition Disorders; Cyclohexanols; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Spatial Behavior; Species Specificity; Time Factors

There is mounting evidence that chronic cannabis use might result in lasting neurobehavioural changes, although it remains unclear whether vulnerability diminishes with age. The current study compared the effects of cannabinoid exposure at three developmental periods on subsequent measures of memory and anxiety. Male rats aged 4 days (perinatal), 30 days (adolescent) and 56 days (young adult) were injected with vehicle or incremental doses of the cannabinoid receptor agonist CP 55940, daily for 21 consecutive days (0.15, 0.20 or 0.30 mg/kg for 7 days per dose, respectively). Following a 28-day drug-free period, working memory was assessed in an object recognition task. One week later, social anxiety was assessed in a social interaction test. Two days later, generalized anxiety was assessed in an emergence test. Results revealed that CP 55940 impaired working memory and social interaction similarly at all three ages. CP 55940 had no effects in five of six emergence test measures, but a modest but significant reduction in anxiety was noted in one measure following adolescent exposure. We conclude that chronic cannabinoid exposure leads to long-term memory impairments and increased anxiety, irrespective of the age at which drug exposure occurrs.

Topics: Aging; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Anxiety; Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists; Cannabinoids; Cognition Disorders; Cyclohexanols; Exploratory Behavior; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Memory; Memory, Short-Term; Motor Activity; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Recognition, Psychology