Long-lasting marijuana usage alters brain's reward system

Long-term marijuana use disrupts the brain's normal reward processes, which could lead to reliance on the drug, according to research that is brand new.

Long-term marijuana use may affect the mind's natural reward processes, triggering reliance on the drug.

scientists found that individuals who had been cannabis that is long-term had increased activity in certain regions of the mind associated with reward whenever offered marijuana-associated cues, compared with once they had been presented with fruit-associated cues.

research co-author Dr. Francesca Filbey, associated with the academic school of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, and colleagues publish their findings into the journal Human Brain Mapping.

Though marijuana is the most widely used drug that is illicit America, with around 22.2 million users within the month that is past an ever-increasing quantity of states are legalizing its usage for recreational or medical purposes.

However, regardless of this upsurge in marijuana legalization, Dr. Filbey and colleagues note that there is certainly restricted information about how the drug might lead to utilize that is problematic.

Some of these research reports have recommended that the mesocorticolimbic reward system is included.

this technique includes brain that is several that launch dopamine - a neurotransmitter that regulates the reward and pleasure facilities - in response to certain cues.

Marijuana usage disrupts reward that is mesocorticolimbic

To further investigate how marijuana use might affect the mesocorticolimbic reward system, the team enrolled 59 day-to-day, long-lasting marijuana users - who had utilized the drug for an average of 12 years - alongside 70 non-users.

Quick factual statements about marijuana

• Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary ingredient that is active marijuana
• last year, there were very nearly 456,000 drug-related crisis department visits in the U.S. in which marijuana usage was involved
• Altered sensory faculties, change in mood, weakened human body motion, and issues with thinking and memory are simply some of the aftereffects of marijuana use.

find out more about cannabis

Both groups had been presented with visual cues. These included images that are marijuana-associated such as a joint, bong, or pipeline, and self-selected images of preferred fruits, such as for instance a banana, an apple, or grapes.

The scientists explain that fruit is a reward that is normal that is "inherently salient and represented in the brain's reward system."

The researchers assessed the individuals' mind task using practical magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the stimuli task.

The team found that long-term marijuana users showed greater activity in the reward that is mesocorticolimbic of the brain when they were offered marijuana-associated cues than when they had been shown pictures of preferred fruits.

especially, in response to marijuana-associated cues, long-lasting users had greater brain activity into the cortex that is orbitofrontal striatum, anterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, as well as the ventral tegmental area (VTA).

The scientists also discovered that the greater the interference of normal reward pathways in response to cannabis cues, the greater amount of issues that were experienced as a complete results of marijuana use, such as for example family members dilemmas.

"Continued marijuana use despite these problems is an indicator of marijuana dependence," notes Dr. Filbey.

No greater activity in these areas had been identified among non-users in reaction to cues that are marijuana-associated the group reports.

"This study demonstrates that marijuana disrupts the reward that is natural associated with the brain, making marijuana very salient to those who use it heavily. In essence, these brain alterations could be a marker of transition from recreational marijuana used to problematic use."

Dr. Francesca Filbey

These findings remained after accounting for many feasible confounding factors among the participants, including use of other drugs and incidence of terrible brain injury (TBI).

find out how marijuana usage might increase risk of periodontal infection.

Compiled by Honor Whiteman