Teenagers under 14 who have smoked marijuana even only once are at risk of adverse brain changes, researchers at the University of Vermont warn. The greatest changes were observed in the region of the brain responsible for emotions.
Researchers have shown that people who have smoked marijuana once or twice before the age of 14 have more gray matter in the parts of the brain that contain cannabinoid receptors (cannabinoid receptors are proteins of the cell membrane – their function is, among other things, to receive chemical signals that affect the activity of cells) than those who have never had contact with this substance.
The greatest changes were observed in the area of the amygdala closely related to emotions (it is located in the temporal lobe) and in the hippocampus (the structure under the cerebral cortex that participates in the consolidation of memory and spatial navigation).
The researchers emphasize that the long-term nature of the study suggests that the increase in gray matter volume is a consequence of smoking marijuana. – It seems that the inflammation of one or two turns causes changes in the volume of gray matter in the brain in adolescents – comments Prof. Hugh Garavan, one of the authors of the work.
For the time being, it is not known what the increase in gray matter volume in their brains has on the behavior and functioning of young people. It is suspected that it may interfere with the brain’s specialization process consisting in the disappearance of some nerve connections, which is characteristic of this age (in simplified terms, it can be said that reducing the amount of gray matter and increasing the amount of white matter indicate brain maturation and better adaptation to the environment; in a properly developing brain, unnecessary connections and nerve cells are removed, and those that are used most often are strengthened.)
Comp. on the basis of focus.pl; science.pap.com.pl