Divergent effects of oral cannabis oil extracts marketed as C. indica or C. sativa on exertion of cognitive effort in rats.
The main psychoactive compound within the cannabis plant, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is thought to drive both the sensation of high and the cognitive impairments associated with cannabis consumption. Researchers keen to understand how cannabis impairs cognition have, therefore, studied the behavioral effects of systemic injections of THC in animal models. However, cannabis contains multiple other cannabinoids which may critically modulate the resulting cognitive effects. Users also typically eat or smoke cannabis, leading to concern over the translational validity of pure THC injections. We, therefore, tested whether acute oral administration of two different commercially available cannabis extracts, marketed as