http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201007/maintaining-memories-marijuana
I just came across an article by a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics at Ohio State University who is doing research on marijuana's effect on the brain. In some of his recent research he has been analyzing the effects marijuana has on the brain as it ages. Although marijuana impairs our memory and cognitive functioning while under the influence, there is evidence that it may help our brains later in life. Studies have shown that stimulating marijuana receptors in the brain will decrease inflammation and neurogenesis of the brain later in life. As we age our brains naturally increase in inflammation and decrease in the production of new neurons, so maybe marijuana will be the answer to preventing this in the future. Currently this professor is also suggesting that it takes an extremely small amount of marijuana in your lifetime to reek these benefits.
I would like to see more research done on this because it seems odd to me that the immediate effects of marijuana are opposite the later effects. I also question that it only takes a small amount to reek the benefits of a better aging brain. Would too much marijuana use cause different effects, such as aging your brain faster, or would it have a greater benefit to your again brain than only a small amount? Is there an optimal period in life to use marijuana to have the best result of these benefits? This is very interesting research, but it seems like there is much more that needs to be done on it. Maybe in the future this research will lead to determining if a certain compound needs to be extracted from marijuana or its use as a whole is best; which in turn could possibly become a topic for its legalization?
I agree that pharmacologists would have to find the exact compound that acts on body to produce the deneurogenesis effects of aging to reduce the negative side effects. You cant just have granny rollin around smoking on a joint when she goes to bingo.
ReplyDeletePatrick Ryan
I too am curious if it could age your brain faster. I would think there isn't necessarily an optimal time to use it, but rather and bad time to use it, like during significant brain development in adolescence - too bad kids nowadays have easier access to marijuana than alcohol.
ReplyDeleteAs for immediate effects, I found this article (below) that suggests the brain was left unchanged except for the tumor it rid from brains of rats:
"... 'neither biochemical parameters nor markers of tissue damage changed substantially during the 7-day delivery period or for at least 2 months after cannabinoid treatment ended.'" - Dr. Guzman
I think that our scope of "immediate effects" are too narrow for something so foreign to most people. So to say the immediate effects are opposite later effects is not completely correct considering many personal accounts (that people have reported - see the erowid link below the article) claim increased cognition in
subjects of philosophy and abstract thought.
article:
http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/pot_shrinks_tumors%3B_government_knew_in_%2774
erowid:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_effects.shtml
Yeah, i agree. They need to find the exact compound that acts on the body to stop the negative side effects. That's really cool though how marijuana could help you later in life, but couldn't it also help early in your life as well? Sure, marijuana has many negative side effects on the body if you use it at an early age, but doesn't it stimulate abstract thinking? Think of all of the great geniuses especially musicians of our time. A lot of them used marijuana to gain their inspiration and they even admit so. So could an overexpose of marijuana at a young age somehow change the chemical makeup of the brain and enhance our thinking?
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine that marijuana use in developmental stages would be bad for your brain health. This is very interesting though. I would have to agree with everyone on the fact that there must be a certain compound that can be extracted from the plant that would provide the benefits. I do not think that it would be especially necessary for the plants to be smoked in order for the benefits this professor is researching. I wonder if the professor is trying to single out the specific element in the drug that would benefit the brain. And then I wonder if the element could be replicated or artificially created.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, it states that one of the compounds used in marijuana is anandamide. This compound interacts with specific receptor proteins in the brian. Stimulating these receptors, according to the article, may offer protection from the consequences of stroke, chronic back pain and neuroinflammation. It has been seen throughout years of research that marijuana reduces inflammation in target areas in the body so is it really surprising that marijuana can also reduce inflammation in the brain? It also restores neurogensis in the brain. Although heavy use may not be ideal, it is clear that marijuana can be used pharmacologically to help the body and the mind. Whether it becomes legal to use is an even bigger question given these recent findings. Even though it has become legal in 2 states, it is still considered an illicit drug with no beneficial effects. Either synthetic forms of the compounds found to be beneficial in marijuana must be created or marijuana will at least have to become regulated as it has been in states such as California and Washington.
ReplyDeleteI kind of love when articles like this are published that contain findings and actual data that contradicts what people think they know about something. Journalists and other contributors are always trying to say that marijuana use is quite detrimental to your brain, memory, and body. Although, I never expected there to be any findings that say that it could actually be beneficial for people's brain. I think that it's a known fact that a lot of things should be avoided when the brain is young and in development, one of those things being marijuana. The fact that a compound in marijuana may stimulate neurogenesis is really exciting and will hopefully open the door for more research into this so called "drug". The benefits that this could lead to are very promising and hopefully has changed the view point some people have that people who smoke weed are less intelligent, forgetting, brain damaged people.
ReplyDelete