Marijuana usually makes people feel high, but for some, it can lead to an intensive low, with feelings of paranoia.
A Western researcher is shedding light on what happens to the brain when smoking pot. The study could have important implications for medical marijuana users.
In an animal study, Dr. Steven Laviolette and his team found the amount of marijuana used was critical to signs of paranoia, or conversely, emotional blunting, known as the stoner effect.
"We saw that the lower doses that were effective at producing an emotional hyper-responsive paranoia state, ramped up the brain's dopamine pathway. And in exact opposite, the higher dose flooded the prefrontal cortex and this corresponded to emotional flatline,” Laviolette says.
Researchers were able to prevent the paranoia by pre-treating with an anti-psychotic medication, something that could have profound implications for humans.
"There are many patients in Canada and around the world who rely on medical marijuana for pain relief. What we want to do is find a safer way to deliver this,” Laviolette says.
