Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:613-617
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Impaired speed of visual information processing in marijuana intoxication
DL Braff, L Silverton, DP Saccuzzo and DS Janowsky
The authors conducted a double-blind crossover study to investigate the
effects of marijuana on visual information processing. The authors used a
tachistoscopic paradigm, and the results show no marijuana effect on the
critical stimulus duration, a measure of stimulus intake. The visual
backward masking data are compatible with a marijuana-induced slowness of
information processing from labile unconscious iconic memory to more
permanent memory processes. These results are discussed in relation to
reports of marijuana's effects on perception and early information
processing.
