Frequent cannabis use was associated with a two point decline in IQ. The decline was primarily related to verbal IQ.
People who use cannabis as a form of pain management report sleeplessness, nausea, and changes in mood or behavior when they go a significant time without using the drug.
Female rats exposed to vaporized cannabis for 30 days developed a blunted response to stress. The effect was not seen in male rats. Findings shed light on how chronic cannabis use affects males and females differently.
People with OCD reported a reduction in the symptoms within four hours of smoking cannabis, a new study reports.
Children whose mothers' used cannabis while pregnant are more likely to have an elevated risk of psychopathology during middle-school. Researchers found those exposed to cannabis in utero were more likely to experience depression, anxiety, attention problems, social-behavioral problems, and sleep disturbances. Additionally, the children showed signs of lower cognitive performance, lower indices of global brain structure, and were more likely to have a lower birth weight.
Unlike long-term opioid use, frequent cannabis use does not increase sensitivity to pain.
Sibling study reveals moderate cannabis use during adolescence has adverse effects on cognitive function that cannot be explained by genetics or other environmental factors.
Staphylococcal enterotoxin, a bacterial toxin implicated in some ARDS cases, can be prevented by treatment with the cannabis compound THC. Findings also suggest a potential role for using cannabinoids to treat ARDS caused by COVID-19.
Women who use cannabis during pregnancy are at increased risk of their child being diagnosed with autism.
High school aged girls who use marijuana experience a greater impact on their working memory and academic success than their male peers.
Exposing mice to THC, researchers noted persistent activation of mitochondrial cannabinoid receptors located within astrocytes resulted in a cascade of molecular processing that led to dysfunctional glucose metabolism. The ability of astrocytes to transform glucose into "food" for neurons was reduced. The reduction resulted in a compromise in neural function, with a harmful impact on behavior. Specifically, social interactions were reduced for 24 hours post cannabis exposure.
Examining the brains of frequent cannabis users, researchers have identified a pattern of connectivity related to craving the substance. The findings add weight to the idea that brain regions do not work in isolation, but via the connectivity of multiple networks that signal to each other depending on state and need. Brain connectivity during cannabis cravings is not static but has fluctuations in connection patterns between the central executive network and nucleus accumbens.
