Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Communication breakdown: delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol effects on pre-speech neural coherence

Molecular Psychiatry volume 17, pages 568–569 (2012)Cite this article

Synchronised neural oscillations preceding speech generation are reduced in patients with schizophrenia, this deficit being implicated in symptom formation. We measured synchronisation of neural oscillations preceding vocalisation in the presence of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and found they were significantly disrupted. Furthermore, the degree of disruption was related to THC-induced symptoms, suggesting THC may modulate a similar neural substrate to schizophrenia.

Self-generated actions are preceded by synchronised neural oscillations thought to be associated with preparation for movement.1, 2 These oscillations may be involved in forming an internal representation (efference copy) of the actions, allowing subsequent sensory inputs to be correctly identified as originating from the self.2, 3 This process may be impaired in patients with schizophrenia, leading to a failure to generate a sense of agency, and giving rise to delusions and hallucinations.3, 4 For example, patients with schizophrenia do not display the normal pattern of frontal neural oscillatory synchronisation (intertrial coherence; ITC) in the 150 ms preceding the onset of self-generated speech as measured by electroencephalography.2 This disruption of ITC is related to auditory hallucinations.2

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Nicolelis MA, Baccala LA, Lin RC, Chapin JK . Science 1995; 268: 1353–1358.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ford JM, Roach BJ, Faustman WO, Mathalon DH . Am J Psychiat 2007; 164: 458–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Feinberg I . Schizophrenia bull 1978; 4: 636–640.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Frith CD, Done DJ . Br J Psychiatry 1988; 153: 437–443.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. DSouza DC, Perry E, MacDougall L, Ammerman Y, Cooper T, Wu YT et al. Neuropsychopharmacol 2004; 29: 1558–1572.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Morrison PD, Zois V, McKeown DA, Lee TD, Holt DW, Powell JF et al. Psychol Med 2009; 39: 1607–1616.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bhattacharyya S, Fusar-Poli P, Borgwardt S, Martin-Santos R, Nosarti C, O'Carroll C et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009; 66: 442–451.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London, UK

    J M Stone, P D Morrison, S Brugger, J Nottage, S Bhattacharyya, A Sumich, D Wilson, N Tunstall, P McGuire, R M Murray & D H ffytche

  2. Imperial College London, London, UK

    J M Stone

  3. St George's University of London, London, UK

    S Brugger

  4. Division of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    A Sumich & D Wilson

  5. The Beckley Foundation, Oxford, UK

    A Feilding

  6. Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    R Brenneisen

Authors
  1. J M Stone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P D Morrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S Brugger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J Nottage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S Bhattacharyya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A Sumich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. D Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. N Tunstall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. A Feilding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. R Brenneisen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. P McGuire
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. R M Murray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. D H ffytche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J M Stone.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website

Supplementary information

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stone, J., Morrison, P., Brugger, S. et al. Communication breakdown: delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol effects on pre-speech neural coherence. Mol Psychiatry 17, 568–569 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.141

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.141

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links