Modulation of cognitive and emotional processing by cannabidiol: the role of the anterior cingulate cortex

[...]it may be assumed that the presence of THC-dominated cannabis plants on the market leads to the risk of more severe consequences of abuse, since THC has been associated with induction of psychotic symptoms both in an acute intoxicated state (D'Souza et al., 2004), as well as in the long-term (Kuepper et al., 2010). [...]in the current paper we propose that cannabidiol (CBD), another abundant compound of cannabis, might have an impact on cognition and emotional processing, which is opposite to the effect of THC. [...]we suggest that the effects of CBD would be worth investigating in regard to the modulatory role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)—a brain region where both affective and cognitive information converge (Bush et al., 2000; Botvinick et al., 2001; Paus, 2001). [...]it would be worthwhile to examine how the impact of CBD on ACC activity may extend to the domain of cognitive performance. Since modulation of ACC activity is assumed to be the mechanism through which CBD affects brain connectivity during emotional processing (Fusar-Poli et al., 2010), it might be suspected that the ACC is also the main target for CBD in terms of potential cognition-altering effects of the compound. In line with that, positron emission tomography (PET) and fMRI studies reliably show ACC activation in tasks in which subjects need to override automatic, but otherwise task-irrelevant responses, such as the Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT; Pardo et al., 1990; Carter et al., 1995; Bush et al., 1998) and go/no-go tasks (Kawashima et al., 1996; Casey et al., 1997). Since CBD has been shown to decrease activity in the ACC (Fusar-Poli et al., 2009, 2010), it may be suspected that individuals treated with CBD are less likely to suppress their dominant response (Casey et al., 1997), or become aware of committing a mistake (Holroyd and Coles, 2002).