This study may very well represent the first neuroimaging investigation of patients using marijuana for medical purposes, and the results are both astounding and exciting!
This is distinctly different from past evidence regarding recreational use showing potential cognitive deficits. The difference between medical and recreational use will be described further in a moment.
At the time this study was published, 41 medical marijuana patients were enrolled, and data was available for analysis from 22 patient pre-treatment visits (visit 1) as compared with their 3 month check-in visits (visit 2).
While patients were required to have first been licensed to receive medical marijuana (MMJ), they were also required to have been marijuana free for at least the previous 2 years at the time of their pre-treatment visit. This means that they had the “typical” symptoms for which most seek marijuana: pain, anxiety/PTSD, sleep, mood, and “other” which included gastro-intestinal and difficulty with attention.
These 22 patients were a 1:1 ratio male to female, have an estimated IQ of 75 or higher and were between the ages of 28-74. Patients completed all assessments and imaging prior to initiation of MMJ treatment and again after 3 months of treatment. 15 of the patients had no contraindications and received functional MRI’s. The results are phenomenal.
After 3 months of MMJ treatment patients experienced changes in brain activation patterns in the context of improved task performance, and were so significant the authors stated that it was more similar to healthy controls used in previous studies and may be reflective of a potential “normalization” of brain function following 3 months of MMJ therapy!
A brief point on the potential differences between the findings of recreational users and that of this study. The authors indicate that it has been found that recreational users tend to seek a different type of MMJ product. They generally seek one which has been bred to obtain significantly increased levels of THC and lower levels of CBD. That was not the case for these MMJ users. Their marijuana products contained a more “balanced” level of marijuana’s natural chemicals.
In the future you will be able to read more about the balance of THC to CBD here, so return often.
This study is both comprehensive and complex, and future articles will reference it and share more from its many exciting and positive findings.
