Abstract

Introduction

Cannabis use is prevalent among individuals living with HIV for medicinal purposes, including pain management. The insular cortex plays a critical role in interoceptive function and the sensory-discriminative and affective-motivational aspects of pain. Whereas insular-cortical alterations have been independently linked with CB use and HIV infection in neurocircuits associated with higher-level cognitive functions, the combined impact of CB and HIV in resting-state functional connectivity remains to be clarified. Study purpose: [1] Characterize alterations in insular connectivity linked to HIV infection and further exasperated by chronic cannabis use. [2] Explore associations between this aberrant connectivity and psychological constructs using meta-analytic functional decoding methods.