THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis, or the high, that many users experience. Depending on concentration and strain, the intensity and experience of this high can vary from user to user. Sometimes, overuse or sensitivity to a strain can cause an overload of THC’s effect leading to panic, paranoia, and anxiety.
Now, researchers at the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit and Invicro have discovered that cannabidiol (CBD), another non-psychoactive component of cannabis, can lower the impairment to brain function. Their study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, is the first study to use fMRI to analyze different strains of cannabis’ impact on brain functions.
"Over the last two decades, rates of addiction and psychosis linked to cannabis have been on the rise, while at the same time stronger strains of cannabis with more THC and less CBD have become increasingly common," said Dr Matt Wall, the lead author of the study. He continued, "We have now found that CBD appears to buffer the user against some of the acute effects of THC on the brain."
More and more research implicates THC as a component of addiction and cannabis-induced psychosis. Conversely, CBD has been documented for a range of therapeutic functions, but the interplay between THC and CBD is not yet well-known.
"If CBD can restore disruption to the salience network, this could be a neuroprotective mechanism to explain its potential to treat disorders of salience such as psychosis and addiction," commented senior author Professor Val Curran of the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit.
Image credit: Matthew Brodeur