Cannabis and Aging: Can Cannabis Help Your Brain Age Better?

For many years, researchers argued about whether cannabis makes the brain age faster or slower. However, the answer lies more in the gray area.

Research studies found that cannabis slows down the aging of older brains and brains with dementia. However, the positive effect older brains gain when they use cannabis becomes detrimental to younger brains. 

What Are Cannabis Effects on The Aging Brain?

With a small daily dose of cannabis, the brain would naturally become more stimulated because THC enhances the process of neurogenesis (The Ohio State University, 2017). Neurogenesis is when neurons grow and develop, and it occurs less frequently in older brains (The Ohio State University, 2017).

In older brains, neurogenesis stops or slows down. Therefore, many cells, over time, become dormant (The Ohio State University, 2017). However, neurogenesis is still very active in younger brains, so this process in a younger brain could be detrimental (The Ohio State University, 2017).

Whose Brain Ages Slower with Cannabis?

Studies show the older brain would age slower with a small daily dosage of cannabis each day. THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol would activate the dormant neurons in the brain (Burns, 2017). Researchers conducted a study on mice by testing "their abilities to recognize familiar objects, and to navigate a water maze in known and new configurations" (Burns, 2017, para 3). The study showed that the brains of older mice exposed to low dosages of THC had improved scores that resembled scores of untreated young mice (Better Aging, 2019).  

A 2019 study found CBD helps minimize symptoms in dementia patients (Rosenblatt, 2019). Dementia is a mental disorder that causes people to lose motor skills, become forgetful, and lose their judgment. The study focused on 10 women with severe-dementia related behavior problems. During this study, researchers gave them oral cannabis extracts (Rosenblatt, 2019). 

At the end of the study, the patients improved their behavior skills, rigidity, and daily care using CBD. Also, the patients were able to get rid of their psychotropic medications. Although cannabis does not cure dementia, it does reverse the effects enough to make it manageable.

Now, let us get into whose brain ages faster than normal when using cannabis.

Whose Brain Ages Faster with Cannabis?

Studies have found that younger brains age faster than normal when using cannabis because of neurogenesis. When THC encounters the neurons in a younger brain during neurogenesis, it connects itself to the receptors and causes them to overstimulate (The Ohio State University, 2017). The receptors, then, become inefficient and start hindering the brain overstimulation (The Ohio State University, 2017). Researchers found that this is why younger brains tend to score lower on tests when using cannabis. 

As aforementioned in the study on mice, the younger mice that received that same amount of THC as the older mice performed poorly compared to their original scores (Better Aging, 2019).  

However, most researchers conducted studies on animals rather than humans. There still needs to be more research done on THC’s impact on aging and the human brain. Based on the most recent studies, older brains tend to age better when using cannabis than younger brains.

References

The Ohio State University. (2017, September). Marijuana may benefit aging brains. In Ohio State Insights. Retrieved from https://insights.osu.edu/health/marijuana-and-aging-brains

Cannabis: Good or Bad for the Aging Brain?. (2019, July 9). In Better Aging. Retrieved from https://www.betteraging.com/aging-science/cannabis-good-or-bad-for-the-aging-brain/

Burns, J. (2017, May 8). Daily Dose Of Cannabis May Protect And Heal The Brain From Effects Of Aging. In Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/05/08/daily-dose-of-cannabis-may-protect-and-heal-the-brain-from-effects-of-aging/?sh=703f2e092e44

Rosenblatt, C. (2017, May 8). Can Medical Marijuana Help Aging Parents With Dementia?. In Forbes. Retrieved from