Study: Low-Doses of THC May Reverse Cognitive Impairment in Aging Humans
According to an important new study published by the journal Neurobiology of Aging has found that low-doses of THC “may provide a safe and effective treatment for cognitive decline in aging humans”.
“This study was designed to test our hypothesis that an ultra-low dose of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reverses age-dependent cognitive impairments in old mice and to examine the possible biological mechanisms that underlie this behavioral effect”, states the study’s abstract. “Old female mice aged 24 months that had been injected once with 0.002 mg/kg THC (3-4 orders of magnitudes lower than doses that induce the conventional cannabinoid effects in mice) performed significantly better than vehicle-treated old mice and performed similarly to naive young mice aged 2 months, in 6 different behavioral assays that measured various aspects of memory and learning.” The beneficial effect of THC lasted for at least 7 weeks.
The study states that; “The single injection of THC increased the level of Sirtuin1, an enzyme that has been previously shown to be involved in neuroprotection and neuroplasticity, in the hippocampus and in the frontal cortex of old mice”.
The study concludes by stating that; “These findings suggest that extremely low doses of THC that are devoid of any psychotropic effect and do not induce desensitization may provide a safe and effective treatment for cognitive decline in aging humans.”
The study, epublished ahead of print by the U.S. National Institute of Health, can be found by clicking here.
