What Does Marijuana do to Your Brain?

For centuries, humans have been using drugs for their mind-bending effects. Caffeine and alcohol are conventional examples of this, while LSD, Psilocybin, and MDMA are more graduated forms of mind altering substances. Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in North America and fits in somewhere between those two groups.

To fully understand how marijuana affects the brain, we must look to the neurons, which are always firing off information from one part of the brain to another. Neurons release neurotransmitters, which act as messengers for that information. They light up other neurons, and it becomes a beautifully complex game of telephone that allows us to think, react, play, and complete tasks. The thing that makes marijuana unique from other drugs is that it contains molecules (called phytocannabinoids) that look and act like those created naturally within our body (called endocannabinoids). When we use marijuana, we take in a great deal more phytocannabinoids than the endocannabinoids our bodies make.

The effects of the molecule called Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are typically the most profound on the brain because they cause us to feel everything from euphoria to paranoia. We naturally create a neurotransmitter called Anandamide, and that’s what THC most closely resembles. But instead of there being a refractory (rest) period after neurons send and receive Anandamide, THC keeps them active for longer, and that’s why the brain functions seem more magnified when using a THC-rich strain of marijuana; we tend to become more creative and thoughtful because this feature is so active. Thoughts seem more profound, as do our senses because they are a large part of what feeds our brain activity. Unfortunately, all that stimuli means that it is harder to hold on to each “profound” idea because we move on to the next one so quickly.

Marijuana also increases our Dopamine and Neuropinepherine, which is where the pain management, euphoria, and sometimes paranoia or anxiety manifest. There are also cannabinoid receptors in the brain that affect short-term memory, learning, coordination, movement control, and higher cognitive function. Here’s where marijuana can become so mind-altering that it could make it a dangerous drug to engage in tasks like driving, operating machines, or other work.

Marijuana on the Developing Brain

Marijuana exposure during the ages of brain development can cause long-term or possibly permanent adverse changes to the organ. As it is understood right now, young people become adults at age 18, but brain development extends beyond the teen years, reaching full maturity at the age 25. Using marijuana before that age could negatively affect learning and memory tasks, according to one recent study conducted with young monkeys and two studies on young rats. Specifically, the adult rats exposed to THC during adolescence experienced cognitive impairment and structural and functional changes in the hippocampus. Many more practical study must focus on the subject of adolescent marijuana use and its impact on the brain, but 25 seems to be the magic number whereby an individual can be more confident that their brain is done developing and using cannabis will have little to no adverse effects.

One interesting subject in studies right now is the effects of marijuana on age-related memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Marijuana may be found to have positive consequences for the aging mind, from anti-inflammation to battling the Amyloid plaque related to Alzheimer’s disease; not to mention it’s penchant for creating a more peaceful, open, and creative state of mind.