THC's Impact on the Brain

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the effects that smoking marijuana may have on the brain, including its possible impact on learning and memory. The paper also examines studies indicating that marijuana may also play a vital role in improving brain function and in helping with learning disabilities. The paper points out that much about the effects of marijuana, both negative and positive, is still largely unknown.

From the Paper:

"When the brain encounters a high dosage of THC, the first process to be challenged is the memory function. The hippocampus receptors in the brain are primarily responsible for memory formation. Additionally, this part of the brain has large impacts on learning, sensory experiences, emotions and motivation. Hence the term "stoner", for a lazy unmotivated person. This are of the brain also converts information perceived and learned into short-term memory. When THC is smoked, it then attaches to the receptors in the hippocampus. This attachment causes a weakness in the structural hippocampus region of the brain, and subsequently those that ingest marijuana may have trouble recalling and developing short-term memory, especially of things that occur while under the effects of the drug. THC has also shown the tendency to lessen the activity of nerves cells in this region of the brain."

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