Reward and Drug Effects on Mood and Brain Response

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2025-06-30
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

The goal of the study is to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the rewarding, reinforcing properties of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, among healthy young adults.

• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago
• Collaborator: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Treatments: Dronabinol

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• must be able to give informed consent

• high school education

• fluency in English

• body mass index of 19-26 (normal/overweight but not obese due to limitations of MRI)

• negative urine drug screen (UDS) for all substances except THC (THC allowed)

• must be medically and neurologically healthy

• must not be taking psychoactive medications that would interfere with dronabinol and/or interpretation of fMRI data, including but not limited to the following classes of psychotropics: antidepressants, anxiolytics, sedative hypnotics, stimulants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizer

• have used cannabis at least 10 times in their life, but report current and past lifetime cannabis use less than 7 days/week (daily)

Exclusion Criteria:

• any current medical condition requiring psychoactive/psychotropic medication or medication that would interact with dronabinol, interpretation of fMRI data, and/or interfere with study procedures

• current or past allergic or adverse reaction or known sensitivity to cannabinoid-like substances (Dronabinol/Marijuana/Cannabis/THC, cannabinoid oil, sesame oil, gelatin, glycerin, and titanium dioxide.)

• current Axis-I Diagnostic Statistical Manual-5 diagnosis (although mild Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) and mild Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are allowed)

• lifetime moderate-to-severe CUD or AUD or any other lifetime Substance Use Disorder

• lifetime psychosis, mania, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive disorder, Feeding and Eating disorder, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• score >7 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale or score >7 on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale

• less than a high school education

• lack of fluency in English

• night shift work

• currently pregnant confirmed by urine pregnancy test or planning pregnancy or lactating (women)

• unwilling/unable to sign informed consent document

• inability to tolerate small, enclosed spaces without anxiety (e.g. claustrophobia), as determined by self-report

• left-handed

• presence of ferrous-containing metals within the body (e.g., aneurysm clips, shrapnel/retained particles)

• positive UDS for any drug except THC

• positive breathalyzer for acute alcohol intoxication

• heavy alcohol use (>4 days week) in the past month

• heavy nicotine use (>20 cigarettes per week) in the past month