Recreational Cannabis Changes the Brain in Young People? – Dr. Downer gives view

21 Apr 2014

This week a new article in The Journal of Neuroscience showed that recreational cannabis smoking may affect the shape and size of certain regions of the brain.

This article has received much media attention, and featured on HeadStuff.org, to which Dr. Eric Downer, a cannabinoid researcher in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, gave an interview. Dr. Downer states “Researchers have used various methods to determine whether cannabis consumption results in brain atrophy or morphometric changes in adult subjects, and close examination of the literature indicates overall contradictory results on the effects of cannabis consumption on brain composition in adults. What is clear is that the components in cannabis have hugely diverse effects on brain function, disrupting neurotransmitter, neuroimmune and endogenous cannabinoid systems, which certainly contribute to the behavioural effects of recreational use”.

HeadStuff.org is a collaborative website interested in a wide range of topics including; literature, history, science and art/photography. The full website piece can be read here:  http://www.headstuff.org/2014/04/recreational-cannabis-change-brain-young-people/