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endocannabinoids

·September 22, 2025·3 min read

Prenatal Endocannabinoid Disruption Impacts Brain Wiring, Behavior

A new study shows that prenatal disruption of the endocannabinoid system can have long-lasting effects on brain structure and behavior. When scientists lowered the activity of an endocannabinoid receptor in the developing mouse brain, neurons failed to migrate properly, and key genes involved in brain development were altered.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 20, 2025·4 min read

Body’s Own Cannabinoids May Help Control Trauma-Linked Fear

A new study reveals that a natural cannabinoid in the body, 2-AG, plays a crucial role in regulating fear responses, particularly in individuals with PTSD and anxiety. Researchers found that lower levels of 2-AG in both mice and humans were linked to exaggerated or overgeneralized fear reactions to non-threatening stimuli. This suggests that 2-AG helps the brain distinguish real threats from harmless cues, acting as a natural filter for fear.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·May 17, 2025·4 min read

Tylenol Targets Pain Through Unexpected Endocannabinoid Pathway

A new study reveals that acetaminophen (Tylenol) relieves pain by reducing levels of an endocannabinoid called 2-AG, rather than increasing it as previously thought. This discovery challenges decades-old assumptions about how pain relief works and may open the door to designing safer, more targeted medications.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 15, 2024·5 min read

How Stressful Events Alter Memories

Researchers have discovered how stress disrupts memory specificity, leading to generalized aversive memories—a hallmark of PTSD. Stress increases endocannabinoid release, enlarging memory engrams in the brain, which triggers fearful responses to unrelated, safe situations.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 29, 2024·5 min read

Endocannabinoids Play Role in Spatial Navigation

Researchers made a new discovery about how we navigate our environments, pinpointing a brain cell mechanism crucial for spatial orientation. This research reveals that place cells in the hippocampus, essential for creating mental maps of our surroundings, activate and release endocannabinoids to communicate position information.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·October 25, 2023·3 min read

How Sleep Loss Amplifies Pain

Researchers discovered how sleep deprivation can exacerbate pain. Their study demonstrates that a neurotransmitter, N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA), decreases in a brain region called the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) due to sleep loss.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 13, 2023·4 min read

Brain’s Own THC: Endocannabinoids Are Nature’s Way to Combat Stress

A recent study illuminates the brain's unique response to stress: releasing its own cannabinoid molecules akin to THC from cannabis plants. Centered in the amygdala, these molecules counteract stress alarms originating from the hippocampus, an integral memory and emotion region.

This shows a young person drinking at the side of a road

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 19, 2023·4 min read

Heavy Drinking in Young Adults Tied to Endocannabinoid Pathway

Brain levels of FAAH, an enzyme that degrades a neurotransmitter that activates the cannabinoid 1 receptor, may contribute to the maintenance of excessive drinking and susceptibility to alcohol use disorder.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 14, 2022·4 min read

Gut Microbes Can Boost the Motivation to Exercise

Researchers have identified two gut bacterial species that produce fatty acid amides, stimulating CB1 endocannabinoid receptors in the gut which causes an increase in dopamine in the ventral striatum during exercise.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 17, 2021·3 min read

Exercise Increases the Body’s Own ‘Cannabis’ Which Reduces Chronic Inflammation

For people with arthritis, exercise reduces pain and lowers levels of inflammatory cytokines. Exercise also increases the production of natural endocannabinoids. Researchers found the way exercise promotes these changes was due to altered gut microbes.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 4, 2021·5 min read

How Endocannabinoids Keep the Brain in Balance

Endocannabinoids actively balance neural connections, allowing cells to either activate or inhibit each other. The findings shed light on the role endocannabinoids play in learning and some psychiatric disorders.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 4, 2021·6 min read

Marijuana-Like Brain Substance Calms Seizures but Increases After-Effects

The release of 2-AG, a natural endocannabinoid that is suggested to be the brain's equivalent to THC, dampens down seizure activity but increases post-seizure oxygen deprivation in the brain.