Ari Kirshenbaum, a psychology professor at Saint Michael's College, wants to know how cannabis affects your brain. The Vermont professor has developed a free mobile app that measures the effects of cannabis on a user's neurocognitive function, including reaction time, perception of time and concentration - all affected by THC, through a series of 'neuro games'.
“The app we developed gives people instant feedback on specific neurocognitive skills, such as reaction time, time perception and concentration, all of which are affected by THC,” he said. The app does this in part by using what it calls "neurogames" or "brain games," which have proven successful in distinguishing THC effects from disorders such as alcohol or other drugs or dementia.
The app, called 'Indicator,' was developed with the help of a US $ 224.000 (about € 190k) grant from the National Science Foundation that Kirshenbaum received last September, the school announced in a recent report. press release.
The app will be available to iPhone users later this month and will be coming to Android devices soon.
Kirshenbaum is lead investigator of a project entitled “Neurocognitive Function and Behavioral Detection of THC Disorders,” which was funded early last fall for a year of research and development through an NSF Seed Fund, a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant. Kirshenbaum said he also has partners in the Burlington area and some private investments behind his project.
Why the app to measure neurocognitive functions?
Although his initial motivation for the work was “as a concerned father of a teenager who wanted to make the roads safer,” his interest expanded further when he developed cancer in 2019 and “realized that many people are getting such a huge therapeutic benefit from hemp. Many of those who use it are concerned about how certain products and doses affect their daily skills and abilities in a positive and negative sense. ”
He also points out that other concerns arise with largely untested levels of THC concentrations in cannabis products such as vapes and edibles, and how inexperienced users may not know how these will affect their skills and abilities. While everyone experiences cannabis differently, the patent-pending app can help cannabis users better understand how different doses and products affect them individually. The app tries to solve this problem by helping to determine how dose effects of THC affect cognitive, perceptual and motor skills. Ultimately, he and his team hope to create a standard for cannabis products that are comparable to ABV (alcohol by volume) or the alcohol content in alcoholic drinks.
The professor said the funding he and his partners have received so far is to develop the app through partnerships with software developers and to run proof-of-concept and usability testing that has shown encouraging results.
“We are well on track to meet the phase 1 target of the SBIR program now, and we will soon be applying for phase 2, which has a cap of $ 1 million,” he said. "Phase 2, if successful, would allow us to conduct research with students from Saint Michael's and elsewhere to test the basic functionality and validity of the app by compiling large normative datasets in a controlled environment."
The app is free, says Kirshenbaum, which allows us to "get it into the hands of people who use cannabis and see if it is useful for concerned, thoughtful consumers."
The overarching interest and mission of Kirshenbaum and its partners is public health and safety, the researcher said. He hopes the app will at least help educate cannabis users about how different products and doses affect them. The ultimate goal is to gain a better ability to 'quantify high' and to work with all interested parties to promote safe and informed cannabis use.
The app will soon be available for free download via Indicator.app
Sources include DrugCaucus (EN), St. Mike's College (EN), TheGrowthOP (EN)
