By IANS,
Sydney : Long term dependence on a narcotic like cannabis causes psychotic symptoms and memory loss equivalent to that of a mild traumatic brain injury, according to a new study.
The study, by University of Wollongong researchers, is the first to show that long-term cannabis use can adversely affect all users, even the young or those susceptible to mental illness.
The study used image analysis to demonstrate that key parts of the brain, like hippocampus and amygdala, thought to regulate memory and emotional processing, were significantly reduced in cannabis users compared to non-users.
The extent of reduction was an average of 12 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
According to lead researchers Murat Yücel and Nadia Solowij, the new evidence plays an important role in further understanding the effects of cannabis and its impact on brain functioning.
“The study shows that long-term cannabis users were more prone to a range of psychotic experiences, such as paranoia and social withdrawal,” said Yücel.
“It also demonstrates that these long-term users had progressed the loss of memory by around 15 years. With an average age of 39, the trial group had the memory capabilities of a 55 year-old.
This loss of memory could be likened to the damage suffered by patients with mild traumatic brain injury,” Solowij said.
The findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of the American journal Archives of General Psychiatry.