Cannabis, Cognition, and Life’s Course
Meet Danielle Haley, Recipient of Emerging Scholars Pilot Grant
As cannabis use rises among older adults, a BU researcher is exploring what long-term use means for the aging brain.
In a study published by the NIH, researchers found that “More older adults are choosing to use cannabis, especially as treatment for prevalent physical and mental health concerns with aging, and yet a thorough profile of possible harms and benefits has not been established.” With increasing rates of use, it is important for us to understand what it means for brain health.
Danielle Haley, PhD, assistant professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, is working to change that with a BU-SHARP Emerging Scholars pilot grant. She studies the social determinants of health and how features of the social and built environment, namely health policies, create disparities in health and healthcare use. Her pilot project, “Cannabis Use and Dementia in Older U.S. Adults: Results from NLSY79,” will characterize sequences of cannabis use in different life courses and examine links between use and cognitive function via the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
Using sequence analysis, she will describe patterns of use from early to working-age adulthood, including differences for different demographic (racial and ethnic minority groups and rural residents) groups, and hypothesize how these patterns relate to midlife cognitive outcomes. Her findings will lay the foundation for an R01 proposal on the prevalence, life course patterns, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias as consequences of cannabis use.
Older adults are the fastest-growing demographic of cannabis users, yet few studies have truly examined how cannabis affects cognition in aging. The evidence so far points in different directions. A study conducted in 2025 revealed that in a cohort study of 6 million individuals aged 45 years or older with no history of dementia, those who required acute care due to cannabis use had a higher risk of a dementia diagnosis within five years than comparison groups. However, a 2026 study found no evidence of a causal relationship between cannabis use and dementia risk or declining cognitive performance.
Given this gap, reviewers and researchers want further high-quality research to utilize standardized measures of cannabis exposure and cognitive outcomes. Haley’s focus on life course patterns of use speaks directly to that gap.
Are you our next BU-SHARP Emerging Scholar?
The Request for Applications for the 2027-28 round of Emerging Scholars Pilot Grants is now open. Click here for more information.
post by BU-SHARP Writing Fellow Lindsay Griesman