Person:
Gruber, Staci

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Gruber

First Name

Staci

Name

Gruber, Staci
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.4396a80f-a681-4bfa-8740-55918635f406

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    The Grass Might Be Greener: Medical Marijuana Patients Exhibit Altered Brain Activity and Improved Executive Function after 3 Months of Treatment
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2018) Gruber, Staci; Sagar, Kelly; Dahlgren, Mary K.; Gonenc, Atilla; Smith, Rosemary T.; Lambros, Ashley M.; Cabrera, Korine B.; Lukas, Scott
    The vast majority of states have enacted full or partial medical marijuana (MMJ) programs, causing the number of patients seeking certification for MMJ use to increase dramatically in recent years. Despite increased use of MMJ across the nation, no studies thus far have examined the specific impact of MMJ on cognitive function and related brain activation. In the present study, MMJ patients seeking treatment for a variety of documented medical conditions were assessed prior to initiating MMJ treatment and after 3 months of treatment as part of a larger longitudinal study. In order to examine the effect of MMJ treatment on task-related brain activation, MMJ patients completed the Multi-Source Interference Test (MSIT) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also collected data regarding conventional medication use, clinical state, and health-related measures at each visit. Following 3 months of treatment, MMJ patients demonstrated improved task performance accompanied by changes in brain activation patterns within the cingulate cortex and frontal regions. Interestingly, after MMJ treatment, brain activation patterns appeared more similar to those exhibited by healthy controls from previous studies than at pre-treatment, suggestive of a potential normalization of brain function relative to baseline. These findings suggest that MMJ use may result in different effects relative to recreational marijuana (MJ) use, as recreational consumers have been shown to exhibit decrements in task performance accompanied by altered brain activation. Moreover, patients in the current study also reported improvements in clinical state and health-related measures as well as notable decreases in prescription medication use, particularly opioids and benzodiapezines after 3 months of treatment. Further research is needed to clarify the specific neurobiologic impact, clinical efficacy, and unique effects of MMJ for a range of indications and how it compares to recreational MJ use.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Worth the wait: effects of age of onset of marijuana use on white matter and impulsivity
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) Gruber, Staci; Dahlgren, Mary Kathryn; Sagar, Kelly A.; Gonenc, Atilla; Lukas, Scott
    Rationale: Marijuana (MJ) use continues to rise, and as the perceived risk of using MJ approaches an all-time historic low, initiation of MJ use is occurring at even younger ages. As adolescence is a critical period of neuromaturation, teens and emerging adults are at greater risk for experiencing the negative effects of MJ on the brain. In particular, MJ use has been shown to be associated with alterations in frontal white matter microstructure, which may be related to reports of increased levels of impulsivity in this population. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between age of onset of MJ use, white matter microstructure, and reported impulsivity in chronic, heavy MJ smokers. Methods: Twenty-five MJ smokers and 18 healthy controls underwent diffusion tensor imaging and completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. MJ smokers were also divided into early onset (regular use prior to age 16) and late onset (age 16 or later) groups in order to clarify the impact of age of onset of MJ use on these variables. Results: MJ smokers exhibited significantly reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) relative to controls, as well as higher levels of impulsivity. Earlier MJ onset was also associated with lower levels of FA. Interestingly, within the early onset group, higher impulsivity scores were correlated with lower FA, a relationship that was not observed in the late onset smokers. Conclusions: MJ use is associated with white matter development and reported impulsivity, particularly in early onset smokers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Elevated Preattentive Affective Processing in Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary fMRI Study
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2015) Baskin-Sommers, Arielle R.; Hooley, Jill; Dahlgren, Mary K.; Gonenc, Atilla; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah A.; Gruber, Staci
    Background: Emotion dysregulation is central to the clinical conceptualization of borderline personality disorder (BPD), with individuals often displaying instability in mood and intense feelings of negative affect. Although existing data suggest important neural and behavioral differences in the emotion processing of individuals with BPD, studies thus far have only explored reactions to overt emotional information. Therefore, it is unclear if BPD-related emotional hypersensitivity extends to stimuli presented below the level of conscious awareness (preattentively). Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure neural responses to happy, angry, fearful, and neutral faces presented preattentively, using a backward masked affect paradigm. Given their tendency toward emotional hyperreactivity and altered amygdala and frontal activation, we hypothesized that individuals with BPD would demonstrate a distinct pattern of fMRI responses relative to those without BPD during the viewing of masked affective versus neutral faces in specific regions of interests (ROIs). Results: Results indicated that individuals with BPD demonstrated increases in frontal, cingulate, and amygdalar activation represented by number of voxels activated and demonstrated a different pattern of activity within the ROIs relative to those without BPD while viewing masked affective versus neutral faces. Conclusion: These findings suggest that in addition to the previously documented heightened responses to overt displays of emotion, individuals with BPD also demonstrate differential responses to positive and negative emotions, early in the processing stream, even before conscious awareness.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Citicoline Treatment Improves Measures of Impulsivity and Task Performance in Chronic Marijuana Smokers: A Pilot BOLD fMRI Study
    (2015) Gruber, Staci; Sagar, Kelly A.; Dahlgren, Mary Kathryn; Gonenc, Atilla; Conn, Nina A.; Winer, Jeffrey P.; Penetar, David; Lukas, Scott
    Objective: Citicoline is an endogenous nucleotide that has historically been used to treat stroke, traumatic brain injury, and cognitive dysfunction. Research has also shown that citicoline treatment is associated with improved cognitive performance in substance-abusing populations. We hypothesized that marijuana (MJ) smokers who received citicoline would demonstrate improvement in cognitive performance as well as increased neural efficiency during tasks of cognitive control relative to those who received placebo. Method The current study tested this hypothesis by examining the effects of citicoline in treatment-seeking chronic MJ smokers. In an 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 19 MJ smokers were randomly assigned via a double-blind procedure to the citicoline (8 Males, 2 Females) or placebo group (9 Males, 0 Females). All participants completed fMRI scanning at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment during two cognitive measures of inhibitory processing, the Multi Source Interference Test (MSIT) and Stroop Color Word Test, and also completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), a self-report measure of impulsivity. Results: Following the 8 week trial, MJ smokers treated with citicoline demonstrated significantly lower levels of behavioral impulsivity, improved task accuracy on both the MSIT and Stroop tasks, and exhibited significantly different patterns of brain activation relative to baseline levels and relative to those who received placebo. Conclusions: Findings suggest that citicoline may facilitate the treatment of MJ use disorders by improving the cognitive skills necessary to fully engage in comprehensive treatment programs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Splendor in the Grass? A Pilot Study Assessing the Impact of Medical Marijuana on Executive Function
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2016) Gruber, Staci; Sagar, Kelly; Dahlgren, Mary K.; Racine, Megan T.; Smith, Rosemary T.; Lukas, Scott
    Currently, 25 states and Washington DC have enacted full medical marijuana (MMJ) programs while 18 states allow limited access to MMJ products. Limited access states permit low (or zero) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and high cannabidiol (CBD) products to treat specified conditions such as uncontrolled epilepsy. Although MMJ products are derived from the same plant species as recreational MJ, they are often selected for their unique cannabinoid constituents and ratios, not typically sought by recreational users, which may impact neurocognitive outcomes. To date, few studies have investigated the potential impact of MMJ use on cognitive performance, despite a well-documented association between recreational marijuana (MJ) use and executive dysfunction. The current study assessed the impact of 3 months of MMJ treatment on executive function, exploring whether MMJ patients would experience improvement in cognitive functioning, perhaps related to primary symptom alleviation. As part of a larger longitudinal study, 24 patients certified for MMJ use completed baseline executive function assessments and 11 of these so far have returned for their first follow-up visit 3 months after initiating treatment. Results suggest that in general, MMJ patients experienced some improvement on measures of executive functioning, including the Stroop Color Word Test and Trail Making Test, mostly reflected as increased speed in completing tasks without a loss of accuracy. On self-report questionnaires, patients also indicated moderate improvements in clinical state, including reduced sleep disturbance, decreased symptoms of depression, attenuated impulsivity, and positive changes in some aspects of quality of life. Additionally, patients reported a notable decrease in their use of conventional pharmaceutical agents from baseline, with opiate use declining more than 42%. While intriguing, these findings are preliminary and warrant further investigation at additional time points and in larger sample sizes. Given the likelihood of increased MMJ use across the country, it is imperative to determine the potential impact of short- and long-term treatment on cognitive performance as well as the efficacy of MMJ treatment itself.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Joint Effects: A Pilot Investigation of the Impact of Bipolar Disorder and Marijuana Use on Cognitive Function and Mood
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Sagar, Kelly; Dahlgren, M. Kathryn; Racine, Megan T.; Dreman, Meredith W.; Olson, David; Gruber, Staci
    Marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance in those diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. However, there is conflicting evidence as to whether marijuana may alleviate or exacerbate mood symptomatology. As bipolar disorder and marijuana use are individually associated with cognitive impairment, it also remains unclear whether there is an additive effect on cognition when bipolar patients use marijuana. The current study aimed to determine the impact of marijuana on mood in bipolar patients and to examine whether marijuana confers an additional negative impact on cognitive function. Twelve patients with bipolar disorder who smoke marijuana (MJBP), 18 bipolar patients who do not smoke (BP), 23 marijuana smokers without other Axis 1 pathology (MJ), and 21 healthy controls (HC) completed a neuropsychological battery. Further, using ecological momentary assessment, participants rated their mood three times daily as well as after each instance of marijuana use over a four-week period. Results revealed that although the MJ, BP, and MJBP groups each exhibited some degree of cognitive impairment relative to HCs, no significant differences between the BP and MJBP groups were apparent, providing no evidence of an additive negative impact of BPD and MJ use on cognition. Additionally, ecological momentary assessment analyses indicated alleviation of mood symptoms in the MJBP group after marijuana use; MJBP participants experienced a substantial decrease in a composite measure of mood symptoms. Findings suggest that for some bipolar patients, marijuana may result in partial alleviation of clinical symptoms. Moreover, this improvement is not at the expense of additional cognitive impairment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Affective Neutral Reactivity to Criticism in Individuals High and Low on Perceived Criticism
    (Public Library of Science, 2012) Hooley, Jill; Siegle, Greg; Gruber, Staci
    People who have remitted from depression are at increased risk for relapse if they rate their relatives as being critical of them on a simple self-report measure of Perceived Criticism (PC). To explore neural mechanisms associated with this we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how people with different levels of PC responded to hearing criticism from their own mothers. To maximize variability in affective reactivity, depressed, recovered depressed, and healthy control participants (n = 33) were classified as high or low in PC based on a median split. They were then exposed to personally-relevant critical and praising comments from their mothers. Perceived Criticism levels were unrelated to depression status and to negative mood change after hearing criticism. However, compared to low PC participants, those who scored high on PC showed differential activation in a network of regions associated with emotion reactivity and regulation, including increased amygdala activity and decreased reactions in prefrontal regulatory regions when they heard criticism. This was not the case for praise. Criticism may be a risk factor for relapse because it helps to "train" pathways characteristic of depressive information processing. The Perceived Criticism measure may help identify people who are more susceptible to this vulnerability.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Affective and Neural Reactivity to Criticism in Individuals High and Low on Perceived Criticism
    (Public Library of Science, 2012) Hooley, Jill; Siegle, Greg; Gruber, Staci
    People who have remitted from depression are at increased risk for relapse if they rate their relatives as being critical of them on a simple self-report measure of Perceived Criticism (PC). To explore neural mechanisms associated with this we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how people with different levels of PC responded to hearing criticism from their own mothers. To maximize variability in affective reactivity, depressed, recovered depressed, and healthy control participants (n = 33) were classified as high or low in PC based on a median split. They were then exposed to personally-relevant critical and praising comments from their mothers. Perceived Criticism levels were unrelated to depression status and to negative mood change after hearing criticism. However, compared to low PC participants, those who scored high on PC showed differential activation in a network of regions associated with emotion reactivity and regulation, including increased amygdala activity and decreased reactions in prefrontal regulatory regions when they heard criticism. This was not the case for praise. Criticism may be a risk factor for relapse because it helps to “train” pathways characteristic of depressive information processing. The Perceived Criticism measure may help identify people who are more susceptible to this vulnerability.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Cortico-Limbic Response to Personally Challenging Emotional Stimuli After Complete Recovery from Depression
    (Elsevier, 2009) Hooley, Jill; Parker, Holly; Gruber, Staci; Rogowska, Jadwiga; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah; Guillaumot, Julien
    People vulnerable to depression are at increased risk of relapse if they live in highly critical family environments. To explore this link, we used neuroimaging methods to examine cortico-limbic responding to personal criticisms in healthy participants and participants with known vulnerability to major depression. Healthy controls and fully recovered participants with a past history of major depression were scanned while they heard praising, critical, and neutral comments from their own mothers. Prior to scanning, the formerly depressed and the control participants were indistinguishable with respect to self-reported positive, negative, or anxious mood. They also reported similar mood changes after being praised or criticized. However, formerly depressed participants responded to criticism with greater activation in the amygdala and less activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than did controls. During praise and neutral commentary, amygdala activation was comparable in both groups, although lower levels of activation in the DLPFC and ACC still characterized formerly depressed participants. Vulnerability to depression may be associated with abnormalities in cortico-limbic activation that are independent of mood state and that remain even after full recovery. Criticism may be a risk factor for relapse because it activates the amygdala and perturbs the affective circuitry that underlies depression.