ABSTRACT: Cannabinoid agonists generally have a disruptive effect on memory, learning, and operant behavior that is considered to be hippocampus-dependent. Nevertheless, under certain conditions, cannabinoid receptor activation may facilitate neuronal learning processes. For example, CB1 receptors are essential for the extinction of conditioned fear associations, indicating ... Continue Reading
CB1 receptors
STUDY: Cannabinoid Regulation of Brain Reward Processing with an Emphasis on the Role of CB1 Receptors: A Step Back into the Future
ABSTRACT: Over the last decades, the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in a large variety of functions, including a crucial modulation of brain-reward circuits and the regulation of motivational processes. Importantly, behavioral studies have shown that cannabinoid compounds activate brain reward mechanisms and circuits in a similar manner to other drugs of abuse, ... Continue Reading
STUDY: Promising cannabinoid-based therapies for Parkinson’s disease: motor symptoms to neuroprotection
ABSTRACT: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a slow insidious neurological disorder characterized by a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Although several recent preclinical advances have proposed to treat PD, there is hardly any clinically proved new therapeutic for its cure. Increasing evidence suggests a prominent modulatory function of the cannabinoid signaling ... Continue Reading
STUDY: Emerging strategies for exploiting cannabinoid receptor agonists as medicines
ABSTRACT: Medicines that activate cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptor are already in the clinic. These are Cesamet® (nabilone), Marinol® (dronabinol; Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and Sativex® (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol with cannabidiol). The first two of these medicines can be prescribed to reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Marinol® can also be prescribed to stimulate ... Continue Reading
STUDY: Neurodegenerative Disorders – Prospects for cannabinoid therapies in basal ganglia disorders
ABSTRACT: Cannabinoids are promising medicines to slow down disease progression in neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD), two of the most important disorders affecting the basal ganglia. Two pharmacological profiles have been proposed for cannabinoids being effective in these disorders. On the one hand, cannabinoids like ... Continue Reading