Study Finds Cannabis Stimulates Brain Growth
A new study published in this month’s issue of the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology has found that cannabidiol (CBD)
– one of the primary compounds of cannabis – can actually help your brain grow.
During the study researchers examined the effect of CBD on the hippocampus, which is a portion of the brain that plays a key role in regulating emotion and memory. It’s actually the only part of the brain that can grow after adolescence.
According to researchers, this study (and those like it) opens the door for cannabidiol being used to “manage psychiatric symptoms in disorders such as ageing, stress and neuroinflammation.”
This study is one of the most comprehensive of its type, and confirms a past study from 2005 that found similar results (which can be found in its entirety by clicking here).
– TheJointBlog
Andrew D. Ford
Question is since the hippo-campus is ONLY in control of Emotion and memory is that a good thing or bad thing. For example: Emotions get heightened to where all people use like a Post-traumatic Vet patient who is out-of-control and “night terrors”…food for thought.
Jim
There’s always one… Andrew, the hippocampus continues to grow in adults to accommodate further expansion of memory, like a computer’s memory stack (not literally, but figuratively). Quite the opposite of the claim that pot kills short-termed memory, this implies that long-termed memory might potentially be enhanced by cannabis use. Continuing… the hippocampus also regulates (controls) emotions, key word here – ‘controls’. A growing hippocampus (after reaching physical adulthood) allows for the further ability to control ones emotions (emotionally growing up in most normal adult humans). Therefore, by promoting further growth of the hippocampus, the anticipated outcome would be an increased measure of emotional control (which correlates to the short-termed calming effect often cited in cannabis use). What other psychiatric chemical compound currently handed out by the bottle-full can make such a claim? None of them that I am aware of. This article is potentially good news, although I’m certain that further studies of causation and studies to determine proof of positive outcome are required.