Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain
22:00 13 October 2005 by Kurt Kleiner

A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.

In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats' brains.

They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.

A previous study showed that the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) also increases new cell growth, and the results indicated that it was this cell growth that caused Prozac's anti-anxiety effect. Zhang wondered whether this was also the case for the cannabinoid, and so he tested the rats for behavioural changes.

When the rats who had received the cannabinoid were placed under stress, they showed fewer signs of anxiety and depression than rats who had not had the treatment. When neurogenesis was halted in these rats using X-rays, this effect disappeared, indicating that the new cell growth might be responsible for the behavioural changes.

<snip>

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8155-marijuana-might-cause-new-cell-growth-in-the-brain.html

[shraby]

1. I wonder if this will be applicable to alzheimers?

[Blue_In_AK]

2. This really doesn't surprise me at all.

It sure helped me through some stressful times in my life.

[williesgirl]

3. Not that our government will ever do anything about it regardless of facts. Big pharma & booze

will stop it dead in it's tracks.

[Uben]

4. Of course.......

...if you were to start smoking marijuana on a frequent basis, your brain would eventually produce a remedy that would keep big pharma and alcohol interests out of the picture. Get started!

[wuvuj]

5. This also increases brain cell growth....

http://www.lef.org/LEFCMS/aspx/PrintVersionMagic.aspx?CmsID=112414


Brain cells communicate with each other because they are connected by neurites (dendrites and axons). Neurites are long filament-like terminal branches of nerve cells that grow much like branches of a tree. Neurites function to provide the communication circuitry pathways between the nerve cells.

As we age, there is a loss of neurites, which results in slowed thinking as neural-connection pathways are reduced from many in number to only a few. The effect of the age-related neurite loss is that thought processing pathways, thinking time, and reaction times are all significantly diminished.

Acetyl-l-carnitine-arginate is a patented form of carnitine that stimulates the growth of neurites in the brain.* Studies show that acetyl-l-carnitine-arginate stimulates the growth of new neurites by an astounding 19.5% (as much as Nerve Growth Factor itself). Acetyl-l-carnitine-arginate acts together with acetyl-l-carnitine to increase neurite outgrowth.1

Acetyl-l-carnitine by itself stimulates neurite growth after 5 days by 5.6%. Acetyl-l-carnitine-arginate, on the other hand, stimulates neurite outgrowth in the same time period by 19.5%…a more than three-fold increase!1

An equally impressive finding was the average length of the neurites produced by the acetyl-carnitine-arginate—21% longer than in the acetyl-l-carnitine-only group.1