This PhD project will ask:
Can we isolate the relationships between cannabis use, tobacco use and psychiatric disease through triangulation of data from cohort studies and brain imaging studies, and across statistical methods that differ in their ability to make causal links?
Background:
Cannabis is gaining increasing acceptance as a medicinal and recreational drug and prevalence of use is rising worldwide. There are concerns about the association between cannabis and tobacco with risk of psychiatric disease, including severe and chronic disorders such as psychosis. The association between cannabis and psychiatric disease may be confounded by tobacco-use.
We propose an innovative approach to explore the impact of single- and combined-use of tobacco and cannabis on brain function and structure, between people with and without psychiatric illness (anxiety, depression, psychosis).
International impact:
Understanding the impact of single and combined use on brain regions will inform conclusions about the influence of these substances on psychiatric disease, and will have important policy implications, in the UK and around the globe.