A new study published on January 28th suggests that heavy cannabis use, particularly in young adults, can negatively affect working memory. Brain scans revealed reduced activation in regions associated with working memory among heavy cannabis users compared to those who did not use cannabis frequently.
A new study suggests that heavy cannabis use may impair the brains of young adults , particularly affecting their short-term working memory . Brain scans revealed decreased activation in heavy cannabis users when performing tasks that assessed their ability to temporarily hold a limited amount of information for immediate use, according to findings published on January 28th.
'Lifetime heavy cannabis use history was associated with lower brain activation related to working memory, with a small to medium effect size,' concluded the research team led by Joshua Gowin, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Previous studies have linked cannabis use to reduced memory, planning, decision-making, and social abilities, but these studies typically involved a small number of participants who were regular or heavy cannabis users. This study involved brain scans and cognitive tests conducted on over 1,000 young adults as part of a large-scale project to comprehensively map the human brain. Participants underwent brain MRI scans while performing seven tasks associated with brain function. Researchers categorized approximately 9% of the participants as heavy cannabis users based on their responses to a questionnaire indicating they had used cannabis 1,000 or more times. Another 18% were classified as moderate users who reported using cannabis between 10 and 999 times. The remaining participants were considered non-users.The results demonstrated lower activation in specific brain regions during the working memory task among heavy cannabis users. These regions included the anterior insula, associated with emotional processing, and the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, linked to higher-level functions such as planning, decision-making, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. 'These are regions that have a relatively high density of (cannabinoid) receptors,' the researchers wrote, 'and thus could be impacted by heavy cannabis use.' The study also found that recent cannabis use was associated with poorer performance and reduced brain activation during working memory tests, although these associations were not statistically significant. 'The association we observed between recent use and working memory task activation and performance suggests that abstaining from cannabis prior to cognitively demanding situations will likely help with performance,' the researchers stated. 'The exact duration of this period of abstinence is unclear, but studies suggest that residual cognitive effects of cannabis may remain for 2 to 4 weeks after abstinence,' they continued. In the meantime, 'our findings highlight the need to educate cannabis users about the consequences of recent and heavy lifetime cannabis use on cognitively demanding working memory tasks,' they concluded
Cannabis Heavy Use Working Memory Brain Scans Young Adults
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