ABSTRACT: Background Converging lines of evidence suggest that the hippocampus may be particularly vulnerable to deleterious effects of alcohol and marijuana use, especially during adolescence. The goal of this study was to examine hippocampal volume and asymmetry in adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana. Methods Participants were adolescent (aged 15–18) alcohol ... Continue Reading
adolescence
STUDY: Adolescent cannabis use and psychosis: epidemiology and neurodevelopmental models
ABSTRACT: Cannabis is one of the most widely used illicit drugs among adolescents, and most users firstEXPERIMENT with it in adolescence. Adolescence is a critical phase for brain development, characterized by neuronal maturation and rearrangement processes, such as myelination, synaptic pruning and dendritic plasticity. The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in ... Continue Reading
STUDY: Considering Cannabis: The Effects of Regular Cannabis Use on Neurocognition in Adolescents and Young Adults
ABSTRACT: Thirty-six percent of high school seniors have used cannabis in the past year, and an alarming 6.5% smoked cannabis daily, up from 2.4% in 1993 (Johnston et al., 2013). Adolescents and emerging adults are undergoing significant neurodevelopment and animal studies suggest they may be particularly vulnerable to negative drug effects. In this review, we will provide a ... Continue Reading
STUDY: Withdrawal from THC during Adolescence: Sex Differences in Locomotor Activity and Anxiety
ABSTRACT: Research suggests that the use and abuse of marijuana can be especially harmful if it occurs during adolescence, a period of vast developmental changes throughout the brain. Due to the localization of cannabinoid receptors within the limbic system and the established effects of cannabinoids on emotional states and anxiety levels of rats and humans, we studied the ... Continue Reading