How Marijuana Affects the Human Brain and Cognition - Literature review Example

How Marijuana Affects the Human Brain and Cognition How does marijuana affect the human’s memory and cognition? Marijuana use is a common practice in many parts of the world. The origin of the drug is the hemp plant and research shows that it has several ingredients. Use of marijuana has several effects on the human brain. The active ingredients of the drug have an effect on the normal cognitive processes. In most cases, cannabis alters these processes by either activation or inhibition of different parts of the brain during the performance of usual tasks. These changes are evident in both adolescent and adult users. A review on four of the available research articles provides information that reveals that marijuana use has effects on the brain and cognition. Three of the articles reviewed used similar methodology and have similar demography. These three examined the neuropsychological effects of marijuana. They reveal that marijuana use activates some parts of the brain that remain passive in non-users. In addition, the three articles reveal that marijuana has effects even after a month of abstinence. The fourth articles reveals that a large number of youth indulge in marijuana abuse in Columbia. Introduction Psychologists have carried out intensive research on the effects of bhang to the human brain and cognitive processes. Some researchers have confirmed and explained the exact effects that marijuana causes to the different regions of the brain. Research has focused on different age sets. In addition, there is evidence of cognition changes from studies in abstaining users as both teenagers and adults. It is evident that the introduction of cannabis to the brain activates some parts of the brain that remain inactive in a non-user. This paper will explore some research articles in order to establish the effects of marijuana on cognitive processes in adolescents. Establishing the effects becomes a concern with a 7% of youths confessing to having been using marijuana (Mahmood et al, 2010). The study of the effects of marijuana to the human brain has proved to an area of interest to many researchers. It is evident that it causes cognitive changes but the great debate has been to determine how these changes occur and for how long they can last. Past studies have often compared the ability of users to carry out different tasks with non-users. In such studies, they seek to identify any deviation from the norm in terms of memory span, attention, ability to carry out different tasks at the same time, as well as the ability to recognize patterns and vocabulary. Researchers use relevant tools to assess each of the abilities (Holland, 2010). Effects of Marijuana on the Adolescent Cognition in Recent User In a research carried out by Schweinsburg et al in September (2010) provides useful information. The authors sought to establish whether recency of marijuana use affected the spatial working memory of adolescents. These authors drew their conclusions from a well-controlled study. In their study, there were three groups. Two of the group consisted of marijuana users but with varying recency of use. One of the groups was on abstinence for at least 28 days. In the second group were individuals who had used the drug in the previous week but not in twenty-four hours before the study. The third group consisted of non-users who had never used marijuana in their lifetime. They considered several measures in their study. One of these measures was behavioral characteristics. They assessed the mood of the individuals and made records of any recent drinking and smoking patterns. The second measure was neuropsychological functioning that they checked with appropriate intelligence tools. The third measure was spatial working memory task. In addition, the researchers put all the participants through a scan of the brain (Schweinsburg et al, 2010). The intention of this being majorly to identify which parts of the brain underwent activation as they performed the tasks. This research produced interesting findings. In comparison to non-users, recent users of marijuana portrayed a difference in brain function. The participants of the study were majorly adolescents whose brains were heading to maturation. For users to perform the tasks above, their brains performed more functions. Users on abstinence for at least 28 days did not have a great deviation in brain activation compared to non-users. Abstinent users exhibited extra activation in the right precentral gyrus. The clusters portrayed were either greater or equal to 1328 µl. Schweinsburg and colleagues (2010) revealed that brains of recent users presented greater response. For those who had abstained for at least 28 days portrayed reduced response compared to the recent users. Recent marijuana users portrayed excessive brain response in the medial and left prefrontal cortex and bilateral anterior insula. Abstinent users did not present increased activation in these regions. The control group did not exhibit activation in these regions and that served as evidence that in normal cases, the function of these brain parts was unnecessary during spatial working memory. From previous studies, these authors realized that activation of these parts had a range of control on the cognitive processes. One of these is decision making. Activation of the parts mentioned could yield uncertainty that impaired sound decision-making. Abstinent users required did exhibit excessive activation. This is proof that prolonged abstinence could lead to normal task performance. In addition, use of marijuana activates the bilateral anterior insula responsible for several interconnections with different cortices. The authors inferred that activation of this region was necessary in users to ensure inhibition and cognitive control (Schweinsburg et al, 2010). This increases the ability of a user to select appropriate responses. This makes it obvious that the brain of a user must make extra effort to inhibit irrelevant information. Schweinburg and colleagues (2010) concluded that marijuana brings gross effects to the adolescent brain because it is at this age that the cannabinoid receptors reach their peak. In addition, it is at this age that the brain approaches maturity. Effects of Marijuana on Cognition after One-Month Abstinence This study depicts that recent users of marijuana exhibited increased brain activity. Another study carried out by Medina et al in (2007) in March demonstrated that a marijuana user exhibited deficits even after a month of abstinence in adolescents. These authors sought to establish whether the deficits in brain function described in adults who had used marijuana were present in adolescents of ages between 15 and 19 years. The fact that adolescent brains were only approaching maturation necessitated the probe into the issue. They suspected that the effects of cannabis were likely to be different. This study comprised of two groups. The group under study consisted of marijuana uses while the control group consisted of individuals who had never used the drug. The researchers ensured that the marijuana users abstained for a least a month before the study. They ascertained this with urinary toxicology tests. They then subjected the group to a battery of neuropsychological tests in order to determine whether marijuana affected any of the cognitive domains. The findings of this study complement those of Schweinsburg et al (2010). Medina et al (2007) revealed that even after a month of abstinence, adolescents still exhibited limitations in maintaining complex attention (p Read More