22 days ago

Brain Function Outcomes of Recent and Lifetime Cannabis Use

Featured expert:Dr. Joshua Gowin
ORIGINAL WEBINAR: Friday, November 1147, 2025

Description 
Cannabis use has increased globally, but its effects on brain function are not fully known, highlighting the need to better determine recent and long-term brain activation outcomes of cannabis use. We studied young adults with a range of cannabis use history during 7 tasks during brain MRI. We found that lifetime history of heavy cannabis use was associated with lower brain activation during a working memory task. These findings identify negative outcomes associated with heavy lifetime cannabis use and working memory in healthy young adults that may be long lasting.

Speaker Bio 
Dr. Joshua Gowin is a neuroscientist who studies how substance use affects the brain and how the brain can recover. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the Department of Radiology. He grew up in Colorado and then earned a PhD in neuroscience and behavioral pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas. He completed his training in functional MRI analysis at the University of California San Diego and at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. He has won several awards for his research, including the Daniel W. Hommer Memorial Award for Outstanding Fellow at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Learning Objectives
• What are the short term effects of cannabis use on mental function?
• What are the long term effects of cannabis use on brain activation patterns?
• How does use during adolescence impact brain development?

Questions?
Email Founder & CEO, Laura Stack, at [email protected]