Tag: brain

When it comes to cannabis politics, you will be hardpressed to find a talking point that is more popular among cannabis opponents than the ‘what about the children’ talking point.

Opposing cannabis reform in the context of politics is almost entirely based on fear-mongering and incorporating scare tactics, and using the thought of children in hypothetical doomsday scenarios is a common strategy for cannabis opponents.

One specific talking point relating to youth that cannabis opponents go to early and often relates to youth cannabis use and the young person’s brain. Cannabis opponents act as if one puff off of a joint will cause brain damage to the youth for the rest of the youth’s life.

To be clear, cannabis should be kept away from young people unless it’s for medical use approved by the youth’s doctor(s). With that being said, it’s an obvious fact that some young people will try cannabis, and according to a recent study out of Australia, such use will not result in changes in brain morphology.

Below is more information about it via a news release from NORML:

Canberra, Australia: Cannabis exposure is not associated with significant changes in brain morphology in young adults, according to a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

A team of Australian researchers reviewed sixteen studies in order to assess whether cannabis exposure is associated with changes in brain volume. The review samples included 830 participants with a mean age of 22.5 years old. Of these, 386 were marijuana users (with cannabis use onset at 15-19 years) and 444 were controls.

Researchers identified no significant differences between youth cannabis users and controls in global and regional brain volumes.

“This meta-analysis of structural MRI findings specific to youth regular cannabis users suggests no volume alterations, and no effect of age and cannabis use level on group differences in volumetry,” authors concluded. “Important areas for future work include measuring and embracing the role of cannabis potency, pubertal stage, and personal (and parental) education, to identify which brain maturation stage is most vulnerable to cannabis-related brain and mental health/wellbeing. New knowledge will be necessary to provide clear recommendations for preventive interventions targeting youth at risk and update addiction theory with novel mechanistic insights into neurodevelopment.”

Full text of the study, “Brain anatomical alterations in young cannabis users: A meta-analysis of structural neuroimaging studies,” appears in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Additional information is available from the NORML fact sheet, ‘Marijuana Exposure and Cognitive Performance.’

Cannabis is well-known to influence eating habits. Why and how this works is still not understood

How natural cannabinoids – also known as endocannabinoids – work to stimulate hunger is not well researched or understood.

A new investigation by Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi, a research assistant professor of molecular physiology, biophysics and pharmacology at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery in Nashville, Tennessee may change that.

The research by Professor Ghamari-Langroudi has revealed how endocannabinoids modulate “feeding cells” in the brain to regulate body weight.

The study expands on his previous work regarding MC4 receptors – which are crucial in regulating energy homeostasis – the balance of energy intake and expenditure in the body. MC4 receptors are implicated in a variety of disordered behaviours, including both anorexia and obesity.

To study the same, he used a variety of techniques including behavioural studies, gene expression analysis, hormone assays and electrophysiology to map brain circuits associated with both cannabinoids and eating behaviour.

Got The Munchies?

Beyond the stereotypes about the “Munchies” – the desire to eat after smoking cannabis – not all users get hungry. There is also not much research on why this might be. Cannabis is frequently used by patients to stimulate appetite – particularly if they are AIDS or cannabis patients and suffer from chronic and ongoing pain and nausea.

However, outside of this group, ingesting cannabis is not necessarily associated with hunger stimulation. Chronic pain patients with movement disorders, for example, routinely report that ingesting cannabis does not stimulate an urge to eat. While some studies have suggested that externally ingested cannabis may only cause the urge to eat based on dosage, this is also clearly not the case with long term chronic pain patients who also have higher tolerances for the drug and use more than the average recreational user or even new patients.

Beyond this, there is some evidence that certain strains tend to stimulate hunger more than others. For example, sativas tend to provoke hunger less than indica strains. Indica strains are usually used to control chronic pain and are often used as a sleep aid. This is also the kind of cannabis most associated with “couch-lock” – the term used to describe the relaxed immobility that unfortunately has long been associated with negative stereotypes about cannabis users.

There is also anecdotal evidence that smoked cannabis tends to stimulate appetite more than other forms of ingestion, including edibles and oral ingestion of extracts.

Beyond this, there are also theories that cannabis users can have their appetite increase because their senses are far more attuned to sensations.