Acute effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in rhesus monkeys as measured by performance in a battery of complex operant tests.

Acute effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were assessed using a battery of food-reinforced complex operant tasks that included responding under delayed matching to sample (DMTS, n = 6), conditioned position response (CPR, n = 8) progressive ratio (PR, n = 8), temporal response differentiation (TRD, n = 3) and incremental repeated acquisition (IRA, n = 9) tasks. THC (0.003-0.3 mg/kg i.v.) given 15-min presession produced dose-dependent decreases in the number of reinforcers obtained in each task. TRD accuracy was decreased significantly at doses as low as 0.03 mg/kg, making TRD accuracy the most sensitive parameter measured. For PR, the break-point (number of responses emitted for the last reinforcer earned) was decreased significantly only at 0.3 mg/kg. Significant disruptions of performance in schedules other than PR were evident at doses of 0.1 mg/kg and above: response rates decreased or latencies to respond increased. Accuracy of responding was not altered in the IRA, DMTS or CPR tests at doses less than those that decreased response rates. The relative sensitivities of these tests for detecting THC behavioral effects were thus TRD greater than IRA = DMTS = CPR greater than PR. These results indicate that THC, at doses that produce plasma levels similar to those noted in humans after marijuana smoke exposure, produce acute behavioral effects on temporal differentiation in monkeys analogous to some effects reported in humans.