Heavy marijuana use could threaten the brain in this specific way: new research
This is your brain on drugs — and it’s not good.
A new study billed as the “largest of its kind” used brain imaging technology to examine the effects of recent and lifetime cannabis use on 1,000 adults.
The smokers, who were between 22 and 36, were tested on their “working memory,” which is the ability to retain and use information to perform tasks, like solving a math problem.
Neural response was measured through seven cognitive tests — probing working memory, reward, emotion, language and motor skills — such as “tapping a finger to map brain control, relational assessment and theory of mind.”
The results, published recently in the journal JAMA Open Network, showed that 63% of heavy lifetime cannabis users demonstrated reduced brain activity during a working memory task.
Sixty-eight percent of recent cannabis users had similar troubles.
The researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus determined that cannabis had a “statistically significant effect” on brain function during working memory tasks but less of an effect on other assignments.
There was reduced brain activity in areas involved in important cognitive functions like decision-making, memory, attention and emotional processing.
Lead study author Joshua Gowin, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, stressed the importance of studying the health effects of cannabis as it continues to “grow globally.”
“By doing so, we can provide a well-rounded understanding of both the benefits and risks of cannabis use, empowering people to make informed decisions and fully comprehend the potential consequences,” he said in a statement.
Refraining from cannabis use before a cognitive task could help improve performance, Gowin said.
“People need to be aware of their relationship with cannabis, since abstaining cold turkey could disrupt their cognition as well,” he added. “For example, heavy users may need to be more cautious.”
“There are a lot of questions … regarding how cannabis impacts the brain,” he noted.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Saphier pointed out that the overall study sample size is large, but only about 8% of participants were deemed “heavy” users.
“While the study appears to be designed well … I’d like to see a larger sample size of heavy users compared to either moderate or non-users to draw any definitive data,” Saphier, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
Saphier, founder of Coaxial Neurosurgical Specialists in New Jersey, noted that he is “not surprised” by the study findings.
“Heavy use of cannabis over one’s lifetime may ultimately lead to decreased cognitive/memory tasks,” he said.
“This also supports a relatively common and well-articulated lifestyle mantra of ‘everything in moderation,’ with the obvious exceptions of in-arguably deleterious activities/lifestyle choices,” Saphier continued.
He added that he looks forward to a “more well-rounded and higher enrollment study of heavy and moderate users, so I can offer more definitive data to my own patients.”
With Fox News
