Study Finds Link with Teen Pot Use and Schizophrenia

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/01/05/Study-Finds-Link-Teen-Pot-Use-and-Schizophrenia

January 5, 2014

Heavy marijuana use as a teenager may cause changes in brain structure that resemble schizophrenia, new research shows.

Teens who were heavy marijuana users - smoking it daily for about three years - had abnormal changes in their brain structures related to working memory and performed poorly on memory tasks, a new study shows. A poor working memory predicts poor academic performance and everyday functioning.

The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals’ early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana, which could indicate the long-term effects of chronic use. Memory-related structures in their brains appeared to shrink and collapse inward, possibly reflecting a decrease in neurons.

The study also shows the marijuana-related brain abnormalities are correlated with a poor working memory performance and look similar to schizophrenia-related brain abnormalities. Over the past decade, scientists have shown that changes in brain structure may lead to changes in the way the brain functions.

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The younger the individuals were when they started chronically using marijuana, the more abnormally their brain regions were shaped, the study reports. The findings suggest that these regions related to memory may be more susceptible to the effects of the drug if abuse starts at an earlier age.

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Chronic use of marijuana may contribute to changes in brain structure that are associated with having schizophrenia, the research shows. Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 percent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder. Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.

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Chronic marijuana use could augment the underlying disease process associated with schizophrenia, Smith notes. “If someone has a family history of schizophrenia, they are increasing their risk of developing schizophrenia if they abuse marijuana,” he says.

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