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When it comes to getting high, marijuana has a different impact on people suffering from euphoria, paranoia and anxiety.
The reason for different experiences: the region of the brain from which the stimulus is acting.
According to a new study from the University of Western Ontario, it has been discovered that certain areas of the brain cause some people to have very rewarding feelings about marijuana, leading to addiction, while d. others suffered from paranoia, cognitive problems and / or a greater likelihood of developing schizophrenia.
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"Until now, it was unclear what specific regions of the brain were responsible for these highly divergent effects of marijuana," said Steven Laviolette, Ph.D., professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Western Medicine. in a press release announcing the results of the investigation. research. "The translational research on rodents conducted in our laboratory has identified very specific regions of the brain that seem to independently control the rewarding and addictive properties of marijuana compared to the negative psychiatric side effects badociated with its use."
THC in the anterior part of the brain produces euphoric feelings
Laviolette and postdoctoral fellow Christopher Norris examined the effects of THC on the brain of rats. THC is the main psychoactive pot compound, giving users that feeling of euphoria or paranoia.
The researchers found that THC produced rewarding effects in the nucleus accumbens or the most anterior part of the brain. THC in this area of the brain has also amplified the addictive properties of opioids and increased reward-related activity patterns.
On the other hand, scientists have found that TCH in the farthest region of the brain, called the posterior zone, produces very negative effects. THC in this region of the brain caused an increase in symptoms related to schizophrenia and resulted in patterns of neuronal activity often seen in people with schizophrenia.
"These results are important because they suggest why some people have a very positive experience with marijuana while others have very negative experience," Norris said in the same release. "Our data indicate that because reward and aversion are produced by anatomically distinct areas, the different effects between individuals are likely due to genetic variation leading to differential sensitivity of each area."
More research is underway on the impact of THC
Researchers at the University of Western Ontario are not alone in badociating schizophrenia with the use of THC. In March, Lancet Psychiatry released a report linking the first episode of psychosis among 901 cannabis users. "Daily cannabis use was badociated with an increased likelihood of psychotic disorders compared to those who had never used cannabis, increasing the likelihood of daily consumption of high potency cannabis types by up to five times, " wrote Lancet Psychiatry in a research report of the time.
Studies like these should increase as more states in the US legalize the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. Illinois, which is preparing to legalize cannabis, is currently studying the impact of rising power on patients.
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