SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the snuff-ignorance-before-it-spreads dept.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), reports at AlterNet:
A new study identifying minor differences in the brain imaging of habitual marijuana consumers compared to non-users may be ideal for stimulating sensational headlines (e.g., "Regular pot smokers have shrunken brains, study says," Los Angeles Times, November 10), but tells us little in regard to whether pot poses actual health risks.
Specifically, an MRI scan revealed less gray matter in the orbital frontal cortex of pot-smoking subjects compared to those who had never used the drug. Researchers also identified increased connectivity between certain regions of the brain in regular marijuana users compared with non-users.
So precisely what do these findings tell us in regard to pot use and health? Not much. Since the study design is not longitudinal, investigators cannot determine whether these differences are caused by subject's cannabis use, whether these differences existed prior to subjects' ever trying cannabis, or whether these differences persist when users' cannabis consumption ceases.
Most importantly, investigators in this study failed to determine whether any of these differences are positively associated with any measurable adverse performance outcomes, such as cognitive performance or quality of life. It may be that these cannabis users are functioning in their daily lives in a manner that is indistinguishable from controls, in which case the imaging differences may hold little if any real-world significance.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 12 2014, @05:19PM
Mod parent up.
Bigger isn't better. Didn't the neanderthals have bigger brains? Well, that's kind of a poor point on my part because we know very little about the neanderthals.
A psychologist explained to me once that the mind is a word machine, and our thoughts and feelings are like a radio tuned to a station we cannot control droning on in the background. For those of us that have higher IQs, sometimes the thoughts and feelings that radio station plays can be overwhelming, deafening, if only it would actually make us deaf to the violent thunderstorm at sea we have to endure in a dinghy on a daily basis.
No, I'm not talking about schizophrenia or auditory hallucinations. If I were, I might have access on a medical basis. No, I'm afraid this is all fairly normal and does not fit the criteria of diagnosis for any medical condition.
Please, why may I not consume a substance that might lower my IQ a bit, disperse the raging thunderclouds, and tune that radio to a more pleasant station?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 12 2014, @05:34PM
Yes. And when the modern humans came, the Neanderthals immediately recognized that they don't want to live in a world full of people that stupid, and therefore decided to die out.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday November 12 2014, @09:36PM
Not immediately - they tried to breed the stupid out of us first, though it obviously didn't take. I suspect it was the inane pillow talk that finally led them to embrace extinction.
(Score: 1) by Wierd0n3 on Thursday November 13 2014, @12:47AM
I think this could be a skit on robot chicken.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday November 12 2014, @09:27PM
I often have a similar problem. May I suggest taking up meditation? Whether you're interested in enlightenment or not, one of the early practical lessons is learning how to "turn off the radio" so that your mind goes silent and still on command. It's up to you whether you use that stillness to listen for deeper truths or just to get a little peace and quiet. Me, I find it extremely relaxing when waiting in line or stuck in traffic.
As for the psychologist - that sounds like the sort of bullshit that makes me avoid psychologists. The brain works perfectly fine without words, the vast majority of what it does preexists words by millions of years. It is only the "rational" mind that is largely a storytelling machine, and only hubris that equates the mind with the self, much less the entirety of the brain. The mind is a powerful tool, but it's only a tool, and if you don't know how to set it aside when it's not helpful it tends to cause all sorts of problems (corollary to "don't wash dishes while holding a chainsaw")
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 13 2014, @07:48AM
Judging by the crap he spewed, I'm betting that you meant to say "psychiatrist", not "psychologist". Yes, there is a difference.