Although it is a drug consumed by millions of people around the world, there are serious Effects of marijuana use .
According to a study published on April 16 in the Journal of Neurosciences ( The Journal of Neuroscience) , The size and shape of two brain regions related to emotions and motivation, may differ in young adults who smoke marijuana at least once a week
This study suggests that the use of recreational marijuana could lead to brain changes.
Marijuana is the drug that Consumes more commonly In the United States and Europe. In the USA alone, it consumes 18.9 million people.
Previous studies with animals have shown that constant exposure to THC-the main psychoactive component of marijuana- produces Structural changes in brain regions related to Motivation, attention, learning and memory .
The effects of Those changes are the diminution of those capacities. However, little is known about how the low and moderate Marijuana
In the study mentioned above, Dr. Jodi Gilman, Dr. Anne Blood and Dr. Hans Breiter of Northwestern University and Dr. Harvard Medical School, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the brains of 18- to 25-year-old boys who reported Marijuana at least once a week with others of the same age who did not consume the drug.
The data revealed that there were significant differences; The nucleus accumbens - a brain area involved in processing rewards - was more altered in its structure and form in marijuana users.
Dr. Carl Lupica says:
" This study suggests that Even low marijuana use can lead to changes in the brain anatomy .
This observation is interesting because previous studies have focused on regular marijuana users and the brain of
Casual users "
Scientists found that the greater the consumption of marijuana, the greater the abnormalities in the nucleus accumbens and amygdala.
Another scientist, Dr. Breiter, says"this study is a challenge to the idea that occasional use of marijuana is not associated with bad consequences."