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THC researcher cannabis rejuvenated the aging brain in a study
Researchers have found in a study that the cannabis drug THC improves the declining brain performance of older mice. You now want to test this effect on people. THC could potentially be used to treat dementia in the future.
Improve memory
In old age, the memory performance decreases more and more. Some people try to train their mindset with the help of sudokus, crossword puzzles and special brain jogging apps. However, scientists from the US have recently reported that such apps do not have a beneficial effect on our memory performance. But helping could possibly be a means that few people associate with a positive effect on the brain: cannabis.
The cannabis drug THC can improve the declining brain performance of older mice. Researchers now want to investigate whether this effect is achieved by marijuana in humans. (Image: stokkete / fotolia.com) Effects on the brain
In the past, scientific research has suggested that the use of cannabis makes dumb and thereby shrinks the brain. However, there were also studies that raised doubts about the theory that smoking kills the IQ.
Researchers at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from the Hebrew University (Israel), have now discovered that cannabis can have a positive effect on the decline in memory in old age - at least in mice.
The effect is now to be tested in humans. The findings may open up new options for the treatment of dementia. The researchers have presented their findings to date in the journal Nature Medicine.
In old age, cognitive performance decreases
Like any other organ, our brain ages too. As a result, cognitive performance decreases with age. One notices this, among other things, that it is harder to learn something new or to pay attention to several things at the same time.
This process is normal but may also promote dementia. Researchers have long been searching for ways to slow down or even reverse this process.
Scientists at the University of Bonn and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) have now succeeded in doing this with mice.
Power loss was completely reversed
As the experts explain in a statement from the University of Bonn, these animals have only a relatively short lifetime in nature and show strong cognitive deficits already at the age of twelve months.
The researchers administered a small amount of THC, the active ingredient of the hemp plant (cannabis), to mice at the age of two, twelve or 18 months over a period of four weeks..
The dosage of THC administered was chosen to be low enough to preclude any noise effect in the mice.
"The treatment completely reversed the loss of performance of the old animals", explained Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Zimmer from the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the University of Bonn.
According to the scientists, THC mimics the effects of endogenous cannabinoids that perform important functions in the brain. "With increasing age, the amount of cannabinoids naturally formed in the brain decreases," says Zimmer. "If the activity of the cannabinoid system decreases, then we find a rapid aging of the brain."
Old animals behave like young animals thanks to THC
The endocannabinoid system, as part of the nervous system, has an influence on all aging processes. "The activity of the system decreases in aging animals and is associated with typical aging symptoms," explained Prof. Zimmer, according to a message from the news agency dpa.
The consequences are osteoporosis, wrinkled skin and also weaker learning and memory.
By treating them with THC "the old animals" suddenly behave "like the young ones", says Zimmer. "We can no longer distinguish an animal that is one and a half years old from a young mouse," said the expert. The learning and memory performance is therefore much better than that of untreated old animals.
Also Dr. Mona Dvir-Ginzberg from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said in a statement from the college that THC treatment resulted in changes that "no longer corresponded to that of untreated old animals, but were more similar to what we see in kittens".
Results applicable to humans
From Israel there are also indications that the results are transferable to humans. There, residents of a nursing home with anorexia and sleep disorders got cannabis. "Many were then mentally much active," according to dpa.
These findings have led to Israel testing cannabis for geriatric patients under clinically controlled conditions.
In a next step, the Bonn researchers want to investigate in a clinical study whether THC can reverse the aging process of the brain and increase cognitive performance in humans.
In Germany, cannabis for the seriously ill has been available on prescription under certain conditions for some time. Cannabis products are used, for example, for the pain relief or for the treatment of intestinal disease Crohn's disease.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Science Minister Svenja Schulze was enthusiastic about the study: "Although it is a long way from the mouse to humans, the prospect of THC being used to treat dementia makes me extremely positive."
According to dpa, Professor Zimmer pointed out that medical marijuana research has revealed that "virtually everything that works in the mouse works in humans as well. So I'm cautiously optimistic that the results may be transferable. ".
Previous research in the US had found evidence that cannabis could delay the onset of Alzheimer's. (Ad)