“Disturbances in the regulation of reward and aversion in the brain may underlie disorders such as obesity and eating disorders.
We previously showed that the cannabis receptor (CB1) inverse agonist rimonabant, an anti-obesity drug withdrawn due to depressogenic side effects, diminished neural reward responses yet increased aversive responses. Unlike rimonabant, tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv) is a neutral CB1 receptor antagonist and may therefore produce different modulations of the neural reward system…
Conclusions: Our findings are the first to show that treatment with the CB1 neutral antagonist THCv increases neural responding to rewarding and aversive stimuli.
This effect profile suggests therapeutic activity in obesity, perhaps with a lowered risk of depressive side effects.”