Cannabis Users and Premorbid Intellectual Quotient (IQ)\u200f

\u2022 The chapter focuses on premorbid Intellectual Quotient (IQ) in cannabis users, one of the most controversial topics in studies on the harmful effects of cannabis use on cognition. \u2022 Several studies have ascertained acute and residual effects of cannabis use in the memory domain, but only a minimal general cognitive effect after a long-term period of abstinence. \u2022 A number of longitudinal studies were able to obtain IQ measures before and after cannabis consumption, but they yielded discordant findings. \u2022 Authors, however, observed a relationship between higher premorbid IQ and recreational or discontinued use while a lower premorbid IQ resulted as a predictor for regular or heavy cannabis use. \u2022 Studies on cannabis use and cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia paradoxically found better IQ among patients with cannabis use lifetime. \u2022 At the end of the chapter, authors proposed a conceptual table to summarize the complex relationship between premorbid IQ and cannabis use in determining different outcomes, by sustaining the hypothesis of a shared genetic vulnerability to psychosis and cannabis use,which is reflected on premorbid IQ and able to influence the contact with the substance. \u2022 In turn, cannabis may be a trigger for psychosis towards this continuum of a neurodevelopmental vulnerability