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posted by chromas on Friday June 21 2019, @08:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFh71YwZ4Y dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Early and regular cannabis use by youth is associated with alteration in brain circuits that support cognitive control

The development of neural circuits in youth, at a particularly important time in their lives, can be heavily influenced by external factors -- specifically the frequent and regular use of cannabis. A new study [...] reports that alterations in cognitive control -- an ensemble of processes by which the mind governs, regulates and guides behaviors, impulses, and decision-making based on goals are directly affected.

[...] The findings are based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from 28 adolescents and young adults (aged 14-23 years) with significant cannabis use and 32 age and sex-matched non-using healthy controls. Participants were scanned during their performance of a Simon Spatial Incompatibility Task, a cognitive control task that requires resolving cognitive conflict to respond accurately.

Compared to their healthy counterparts, the adolescents and young adults with significant cannabis use showed reduced activation in the frontostriatal circuits that support cognitive control and conflict resolution.

The authors also examined the degree to which fluctuations in activity in relation to conflict resolution is synchronized across the different regions comprised in this frontostriatal circuit (that is, to what extent are regions functionally connected with each other). Although circuit connectivity did not differ between cannabis-using and non-using youth, the research team found an association between how early individuals began regularly using cannabis and the extent to which frontostriatal regions were disrupted, suggesting that earlier chronic use may have a larger impact on circuit development than use of later onset.

Deficient Functioning of Frontostriatal Circuits During the Resolution of Cognitive Conflict in Cannabis-Using Youth (DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.09.436)


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @02:51AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @02:51AM (#858745)

    Using intoxicants before then is not recommended for very obvious and medically sound reasons.

    Really? Well, that is the establishment line - complete with the sizzling fried egg TV spots.

    I'm not saying it was a for-sure good thing for me, and I'm not saying it's a for-sure good thing for anybody, but, anecdotally, I had a f-ing miserable childhood with serious stress issues that left me literally shaking almost all the time. The self-imposed stress issues continued through into college, until I experimented with a little LSD and I do believe I experienced a pretty significant change at that point, around age 18. I still shake when I'm stressed out, but I found it a whole lot easier to just not get wound up about "the little shit," and in the words at least quoted by, if not of David Lee Roth: "it's all little shit." My shaking hands are 98% better now, and I'm generally happier with all of life. Could have been simple maturity, but I do think that the LSD played significant a role an certainly was coincident with a sharp change in the symptoms.

    Does that mean I think dosing all 18 year olds with LSD is a good idea? No, not at all. Did I think LSD was going to help me before I took it? No, not at all. Do I now think that LSD can help some people change their brain chemistry/structure somehow and improve their quality of life? Yes, I do. Do I have a f-ing clue who it will help and who it will hurt? Or how it even works? No, I do not - but I believe that if the government would get out of the way and let researchers study it, they could come up with a diagnostic profile of people it could help. Native American rituals with psychedelics embody more knowledge/wisdom on this topic than modern science is even allowed to speculate about, which is a spectacular failing of the government/scientific community symbiote.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @04:04AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @04:04AM (#858764)

    > if the government would get out of the way and let researchers study it

    You don't mention it, but I'm assuming you have read about some of the research done before LSD was outlawed? Leary was in on some of it and he was one smart guy (I had a chance to meet him in the mid-1980s, very together and quick thinking).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 23 2019, @11:39AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 23 2019, @11:39AM (#859050)

      I don't know how together I am, but quick thinking has been my blessing/curse both before and after LSD use.