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The Cognitive and Psychological Effects of Cannabis
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Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years and is now one of the most popular medications available on the market today. A number of nations allow the prescription or use of the drug, which has been shown to have positive benefits on mood and relaxation.
However, how does taking this medicine effect one’s mental state? Studies published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology, Neuropsychopharmacology and the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology reveal that it may alter a range of cognitive and psychological processes.
More than 192 million individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 throughout the globe used cannabis recreationally in 2018, according to UNODC. Only 10% of those over the age of 26 use it, compared to 35% of young adults aged 18 to 25 who are avid users of the platform..
The Cognitive and Psychological Effects of Cannabis
As a result of this, we may conclude that the majority of users are teens and young adults, who are still developing their brains. Therefore, they may be more sensitive to the long-term consequences of cannabis usage on the brain than others.
Cannabidiol (CBD) contains the primary psychoactive component, THC. It affects the “endocannabinoid system” of the brain, which is a group of receptors that react to the cannabinoids in marijuana. In the brain’s prefrontal and limbic regions, which are involved in rewarding and motivating behavior, there are a high number of cannabis receptors. Their function is to control the signaling of the brain chemicals GABA, dopamine, and glutamate.
Motivation, reward, and learning all have a role in dopamine’s role. The neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate have a role in cognitive functions such as memory and learning.
Cognitive effects
Cannabis usage has been shown to impair cognition, particularly in those with cannabis use disorder.. When a person’s everyday activities, like as work or school, are disrupted, this is a sign of drug abuse. Approximately 10% of cannabis users match the diagnostic criteria for this disease, according to estimates.
On the day of the testing, all participants were requested to abstain from cannabis, and the results were compared to those of 20 persons who had never or seldom used the drug. Memory tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) found that persons with the condition performed considerably worse than those who had never or very seldom used cannabis. Additionally, their “executive functions,” which include mental processes such as flexible thinking, were significantly damaged. It seems that the younger a person was when they began using the medication, the worse their executive functioning became.
Mild cannabis users have also been shown to suffer from cognitive deficits. These consumers tend to make more risky judgments and have a harder time preparing ahead of time.
Sexist variations in cognitive consequences of cannabis usage may exist, despite the fact that most research have been done on men. We found that whereas male cannabis users had a weaker recall for visual recognition, female users had a greater difficulty with attention and executive functioning.. Even after taking into account factors such as age, IQ, alcohol and nicotine usage, symptoms of depression and anxiety, emotional stability, and impulsive behavior, these sex effects remained.
Motivation, Mental Health, and Reward
The way we feel as a result of cannabis usage might also have an impact on our thoughts. For example, past studies have shown that cannabis use may affect reward and motivation, as well as the brain circuits that are involved in these processes. As a result, our ability to do well in school or the workplace may be harmed, as we may be less inclined to put up the effort and get the praise we deserve.
At one point, individuals were put within a scanner and shown either orange or blue squares. If the participant responded to the orange squares, they would get a monetary incentive after a period of time. We were able to better understand how the brain reacts to incentives because to this setup. We focused on the ventral striatum, a major element of the brain’s reward system, in our investigation. The ventral striatum did not directly experience any impacts from cannabis on the brain’s reward system, according to our research. Participants in our research, on the other hand, were light to moderate consumers of the drug. As with cannabis use disorder, the consequences may be more evident in individuals with more severe and persistent usage.
Cannabis has also been linked to signs of mental health issues. We’ve found that it’s associated with greater levels of teenage “anhedonia,” or the inability to enjoy one’s own company. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were especially notable for this impact.
Adolescent cannabis usage has been linked to both the emergence of psychotic symptoms and the development of schizophrenia. According to one research, cannabis use in young individuals is associated with an increased risk of psychotic symptoms, but the impact is considerably more pronounced in those who already have a history of mental illness (scoring highly on a symptom checklist of paranoid ideas and psychoticism).
A six-point increase in the likelihood of psychotic symptoms among cannabis users without a predisposition to psychosis was found in a study of 2,437 adolescents and young adults (aged 14 to 24). However, the probability of psychotic symptoms increased by 26 percentage points (from 25% to 51%) among cannabis users who had a propensity to psychosis. Hypotheses imply that dopamine and glutamate may have a role in the neurobiology of psychotic episodes, but we don’t know for sure.
The “uncus,” a brain area studied in another research including 780 youths, was likewise implicated in the relationship between cannabis usage and psychotic symptoms. The parahippocampus and olfactory bulb, both of which are important in memory and smell processing, have a significant number of cannabinoid receptors in this area. Schizophrenia and psychosis have previously been linked to it.
Dosage (frequency, duration, and strength), sex, genetic vulnerabilities, and age of beginning are all factors that may influence the cognitive and psychosocial consequences of cannabis usage. Although these effects may be transient, we need to evaluate if they are lasting. The effects of moderate cannabis usage may diminish following periods of abstinence, according to a report summarizing multiple research.
Even if that’s the case, it’s still important to examine the long-term consequences of cannabis usage on our minds, especially for those who are still growing their brains.
Summary
Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years and is now one of the most popular medications available on the market. Studies show that it may alter a range of cognitive and psychological processes. Cannabis usage has been shown to impair cognition, particularly in those with cannabis use disorder. Sexist variations in cognitive consequences of cannabis usage may exist, despite the fact that most research have been done on men. Cannabis use may affect reward and motivation, as well as the brain circuits involved in these processes.
As a result, our ability to do well in school or the workplace may be harmed. Cannabis has been linked to greater levels of teenage “anhedonia,” or the inability to enjoy one’s own company. Cannabis use in young individuals is associated with an increased risk of psychotic symptoms, but the impact is more pronounced in those who already have a history of mental illness.
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