Simple DIY kit will show mental health dangers of cannabis - Independent Online Edition > Health
A 10-year study, published last month, revealed that people who start using cannabis as teenagers are more likely than drinkers to suffer from mental illness and also more likely to develop relationship problems.
The findings from Australian researchers were based on the experiences of 1,900 schoolchildren. Experts have now discovered that cannabis can disrupt brain function.
Tests on human volunteers given THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, had significantly reduced activity in the frontal lobe - a part of the brain responsible for co-ordination and emotional behaviour.
It is still unclear exactly how cannabis can trigger psychosis but it is thought that the drug raises the brain's levels of dopamine - a chemical that transmits signals between nerve cells and is associated with schizophrenia.
This is interesting to me. I love how dopamine becomes a bugaboo. If it increases dopamine- it makes you schizophrenic, it triggers addicion! Stay away from dopamine! Too bad exercise, human touch, omega3's, coffee, and many other good things also increase dopamine. Also, try to forget that dopamin deficieny is behind things like Parkinson's and ADD/ADHD. But, this is a news story, so there's not a ton of depth, just a search for villians and heroes. I am still interested in this, however, especially the angle about frontal lobe problems and cannabis. Dopamine, again, is not on or off like a light switch. It is one of the most common neurotransmitters in the brain, used in many different pathways. Dopamine here is not the same as dopamine there. It's also present outside the brain, in various organs. So, like serotonin, it's something that comes up again and again, but we still have much to learn.
A 10-year study, published last month, revealed that people who start using cannabis as teenagers are more likely than drinkers to suffer from mental illness and also more likely to develop relationship problems.
The findings from Australian researchers were based on the experiences of 1,900 schoolchildren. Experts have now discovered that cannabis can disrupt brain function.
Tests on human volunteers given THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, had significantly reduced activity in the frontal lobe - a part of the brain responsible for co-ordination and emotional behaviour.
It is still unclear exactly how cannabis can trigger psychosis but it is thought that the drug raises the brain's levels of dopamine - a chemical that transmits signals between nerve cells and is associated with schizophrenia.
This is interesting to me. I love how dopamine becomes a bugaboo. If it increases dopamine- it makes you schizophrenic, it triggers addicion! Stay away from dopamine! Too bad exercise, human touch, omega3's, coffee, and many other good things also increase dopamine. Also, try to forget that dopamin deficieny is behind things like Parkinson's and ADD/ADHD. But, this is a news story, so there's not a ton of depth, just a search for villians and heroes. I am still interested in this, however, especially the angle about frontal lobe problems and cannabis. Dopamine, again, is not on or off like a light switch. It is one of the most common neurotransmitters in the brain, used in many different pathways. Dopamine here is not the same as dopamine there. It's also present outside the brain, in various organs. So, like serotonin, it's something that comes up again and again, but we still have much to learn.
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