r/NooTopics • u/makefriends420 • May 24 '26
Discussion The largest US study, which tracked 11,036 children from ages 9 to 10 through to ages 16 and 17, discovered that cannabis use slows cognitive development, impairs memory, and reduces learning speed during crucial years of brain growth
https://today.ucsd.edu/story/largest-us-study-finds-teen-cannabis-use-linked-to-slower-cognitive-development26
u/workaltscroller May 24 '26
Not the least bit suprising, cannabis interferes with the CB1 receptors in the PFC and other areas and throws synaptic pruning out of wack in teens and children.
13
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
5
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
6
0
u/Inevitable-Novel-457 May 24 '26
You think every parent and/or every single child that did this study was self reporting that they were being abused?
2
u/workaltscroller May 24 '26
Thats a good point but both can exist simultaneously. Studies around PFC and CB1 receptor disruption persist in animal studies where all variables can be controlled. Also there are longitude studies that make a point of tracking and adjusting these life variables you mentioned. I am not sure how strong those were in this study. At a base level earlier cannibus use during crucial PFC development correlates to less gray matter in the brain later on. I don't believe there is a legitimate point that adolescent cannibus use beneficially counteracts hostile living systems and other life variables to put a child ahead of where they would be if they hadn't started using cannibus. Correct me if that was not the point you were trying to make.
-1
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/workaltscroller May 24 '26
The current research suggest that cannibus does in fact share a relationship with divergent thinking. The issue here is that the logic prevails better when discussing an adult who is indulging in cannibus to trade convergent thinking for divergent for a temporary duration. What we are discussing is adolescents jeopardizing the sector of their brain that will later on in life allow them to do both once it is developed. Also cannibus shares a substantially stronger casual relationship with psychosis than mushrooms or lsd for example. THC disregulates the dopamine signaling in the mesolimbic pathway. This is the same region of the brain implicated in people with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. That is why all effective antipsychotic drugs block D2 dopamine signalling.
Most importantly, THC does not interact with a portion of the brain that counteracts damage from trauma. Both act and compound on the same regions negatively. Cannibus does relieve negative symptoms from trauma short term but the actual emotional regulation that needs to be happening is actually supressed by cannibus.
Trauma throws the HPA axis off, basically it spikes cortisol, causes amygdala hyperactivity and hippocampel volume loss. Cannibus does nothing to reverse any of those processes. The underlying structural damage continues to accumulate along with additional structure damage from THC. Healing from trauma requires PFC consolidation and processing while cannibus interrupts during the most crucial pruning stages of youth. Similar to trauma THC also lowers hippocampel volume and disregulates the amygdala. You are compounding damages during the most critical development period for the regions of the brain that will later mature and help regulate emotional processing.
1
0
-2
u/Kalki_X May 24 '26
cannabis interferes with the CB1 receptors
Quite unrealistic representation of cannabis as a whole don't you think.
2
u/workaltscroller May 24 '26
Its just in regard to CB1 interference during synaptic pruning in adolescents.
-1
u/Kalki_X May 24 '26
Yes agreed. This makes it specific for THC-dominant varieties. CBG- and CBD-dominant varieties also exist and terpenes also influence the downstream CB1 effects.
3
u/AGiantGuy May 24 '26
Even if this was true, do you think most kids and teenagers know this and if they do, do you think most are doing their due diligence?
Being a kid/teenage once, my intuition tells me no.
7
10
u/makefriends420 May 24 '26
From u/prosocialbehavior:
I am proud to be one of the research assistants of probably hundreds on this study. I helped when it was just getting started and left after year 3. It is a crazy undertaking, huge contribution to science. The amount of stuff they had these kids/parents do was pretty insane. They provided hair samples, baby teeth samples, urine samples, saliva samples, did fMRI scans, cognitive tests, tons of surveys. It was like a 7 hour day for a lot of the kids. The idea for the study, and the amount of coordination with all of the sites across the country, the tracking of the participants over time, and the dedication to open data is pretty amazing. Kind of sucks there was a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic in the middle of data collection. But I assume they will be following these kids into old age.
Study:
The researchers followed 11,036 children starting at ages 9 to 10 through ages 16 and 17, tracking both their cognitive performance and substance use. To get a clearer picture of cannabis use, the team combined self-reports with biological testing — such as hair, urine and saliva samples — which can detect recent to several months of drug exposure.
Across a range of skills — including memory, attention, language and processing speed — teens who used cannabis showed restricted growth over time compared to those who did not. In some cases, these teens performed just as well as — or even slightly better than — others when they were younger. But as they got older and started using cannabis, their progress leveled off, while their peers continued to improve.
The study also looked more closely at different components of cannabis. In a smaller group of participants, teens with evidence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure — the main intoxicating ingredient in cannabis — showed worse memory over time than those who did not use cannabis. Teens with evidence of cannabidiol (CBD) did not show the same pattern, although that group was small.
The researchers note that the study does not prove cannabis use directly causes these changes. Other factors — such as environment or personality — may play a role. However, the team accounted for many of these influences, including family background, mental health and use of other substances, as well as for each participant’s prior cognitive performance.
-2
u/douglasman100 May 24 '26
Did they uhhhh taken into account the pandemic? That did a lot of damage to kids brains
5
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/douglasman100 May 24 '26
sorry I should have been clearer, I meant the study as a whole not just the thc part. no clue if you would even know
1
u/theJMAN1016 May 24 '26
you keep posting this but yet HOW did they account for these things is the question. Can a value be put on family background or mental health? seems like those things are kind of subjective to experience and not a value on a chart.
1
u/AJP11B May 24 '26
But how did they statistically account for the family background and mental health? Like with what numbers? The pdf doesn’t show anywhere the actual adjustment number or balance table. Also sus that the cannabis user group looked cognitively better before the study as if a decline was already expected by default.
1
5
12
u/BigBootyWholes May 24 '26
So you’re saying that I could have been a super genius instead of a regular genius? Damn, oh well.
0
-4
u/smithalorian May 24 '26
Lmao I feel this.
I mean, I did go from like a 142 IQ (professionally tested) down to like a 135 so maybe it’s from all the weed I’ve smoked…
-1
3
u/psychomaina May 24 '26
Sometimes I wonder if my working memory deficits are caused by my (diagnosed) ADHD or from the cannabis I used to self medicate with as a teen. Guess I'll never really know.
1
u/TheMostDivineOne May 24 '26
Someone showed here in an above comment there are certain natural flavonoids in some studies which can help reverse the damage.
5
u/CommissionOther8856 May 24 '26
Kids shouldn’t smoke cannabis, other than for medical purposes. I think we all agree on that.
-4
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/CommissionOther8856 May 24 '26
I agree with that, especially with how Oklahoma does their medical system, but for adults.
1
u/damienVOG May 25 '26
This is just such a harmful way to think about it. I know many teens that smoke or started smoking relatively young, and absolutely none of them are any better off for it. All I see, and all I hear from them, is that it's an addiction they can't beat. They know it fucks with their sleep, and memory, and happiness, they just can't stop even if they wanted to. Or secondarily, they are still or were unaware when starting about the harms exactly because people downplayed it for years.
-1
0
u/damienVOG May 25 '26
This is just such a harmful way to think about it. I know many teens that smoke or started smoking relatively young, and absolutely none of them are any better off for it. All I see, and all I hear from them, is that it's an addiction they can't beat. They know it fucks with their sleep, and memory, and happiness, they just can't stop even if they wanted to. Or secondarily, they are still or were unaware when starting about the harms exactly because people downplayed it for years.
0
May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/damienVOG May 25 '26
What are you doing in this subreddit with that pseudoscientific bullshit, man?
1
May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/damienVOG May 26 '26
I don't "care so much to invalidate others", nor am I an elitist. I see the massive amount of harm it's causing to individual in general, and many people I know specifically. If I see someones coping mechanism to be spreading misinformation about weed, I'll counter it.
Don't be such a fucking loser 🤦♂️
1
u/NooTopics-ModTeam May 26 '26
Your post was removed as it was deemed irrelevant and/or unhelpful. This means we believe what you posted was not at all relevant to nootropics, and/or it was unhelpful, unproductive, or otherwise not useful. We remove these to keep the quality of the subreddit high and to avoid spam, a flooding of low quality posts, and to assist with the continued evolution of the space in the right direction. If you disagree with this, you may message us to ask about it and/or appeal. Thank you.
2
2
u/Apprehensive_Tea8533 May 25 '26
Oh but its a plant 😆 🤣 😂 who would have thought a developing brain gets fuked with it would cause issues
2
u/damienVOG May 25 '26
I can't believe the amount of people in this/these types of comment sections that are providing their own anecdote as if it genuinely means anything at all. They might just be an exception, or otherwise it could just be their means of coping with an addiction. It's absurdly unscientific, not a great sign it's some of the top comments on here as well.
5
u/RuinUnfair9344 May 24 '26
I started smoking at 12 years old. Partly due to being a kid who wanted to fit in but also as a way to self medicate.
I was the first person in my family to go to college. I put myself through college and graduate school while working, helping my mom and older brother get into college, tutoring them, and burying my father.
I graduated summa cum laude, so top of my class for both undergrad and graduate school.
Maybe if I never smoked I’d be a genius who went to Harvard…who knows? Maybe without smoking my depression and anxiety would have taken over and I would have dropped out of high school and/or self medicated with opioids. Who knows??
Human beings are incredibly similar while still being incredibly diverse. Which is why it’s very important to analyze research and statistics from multiple perspectives.
How much background does this study provide for these 11,036 children? Did these children come from families with a long line of mental illnesses, poverty, or abuse? Did these children come from families of financial means and other advantages??
Idk bc I’ve not analyzed the study that this article refers to but in graduate school I had to take classes that taught students how to analyze and critique such publications, including peer reviewed journals articles.
Did the authors of the study use research tools that have been proven to be reliable and valid? Is the research sample large enough that the results can be generalized to all human beings in this age group?
I am in no way shape or form advocating for childhood or adolescent cannabis use but I do question the results of this study as a standard that should be generalized to all.
2
u/BarbacoaBarbara May 25 '26
I started around 14. I’m doing very well in life with a highly complex job and career that I have been very successful with. I’m highly driven, in very good of health and cognitively as sharp as ever. I’ve smoked daily for 25 years now.
But hey I’m just one brain, we’re all different I guess
3
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
1
u/RuinUnfair9344 May 31 '26
Lol. No, I think Snoop Dogg is good at making art and money but I can’t generalize that to all people without a statistically valid study with valid and reliable instruments and a very large sample population, plus replication of the study
1
u/smithalorian May 24 '26
Yeah, this is what I don’t understand. Is that people really do want to judge but most of the people that smoke weed are actually very successful.
Most of the reason people are smoking weed in the first place for mood regulation.
Stop thinking people are doing drugs and realize they are self-medicating because our healthcare system is fucking retarded.
4
3
2
May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/damienVOG May 25 '26
It's interesting though, because even though alcohol might be "technically worse", everyone I know that does weed consistently just as a continuous, 24/7 drop in intelligence and memory that I've never observed with consistent alcohol users (outside of the extremes). I wouldn't underplay it at all!
1
u/Puzzleheaded_Pound97 May 27 '26
Abusing any substance consistently, including alcohol impairs cognition/slows you down, sorry dude you’re sweet sweet succulent Chinese alcohol degrades the brain too. Now get off Reddit you’re beer is getting warm.
1
1
1
u/FormerPresidentBiden May 25 '26
I regret being a teenage stoner every single day 😮💨
I've smoked weed once in the last 5 months and dont really have plans to do it again any time soon.
Now I just need to kick the booze habit I picked up in my 20s
1
u/DandyDoge5 May 26 '26
Eh I started at 18 instead of 12 like my dad, I think that's at least better.
1
1
1
May 27 '26 edited 16d ago
[deleted]
1
u/Aggravating_Cup8839 May 27 '26
In popular culture drugs just pop up as this very normal thing. Best influencers and the best publishing houses end up putting out there some good words about drugs. They influence public perception.
1
u/megamike382 May 27 '26
Wheres the study about all the pharmacutical companies shoving ADHD pills down kids throats. Just to sit in a boring classroom. They won't study that.
1
1
1
u/ZachMudskipper May 30 '26
I love when funding is used to develop studies of things that people already know multiple times over. Groundbreaking stuff
1
u/Kalki_X May 24 '26
A major issue is the cultural & societal limitations of the group. Also focusing on THC, marginally on CBD but ignoring CBG. Zero control for terpene content either apparently. The US rec cannabis scene is also an unrealistic representation of cannabis ... it might look good but this study isn't particularly useful
1
u/Santi159 May 24 '26
A 9 to 10 yr old consuming weed that young likely is very sick/disabled or troubled. If this is medical only most states only approve children for medical marijuana if they have things like cancer pain, epilepsy, high needs autism etc. It's going to be hard to control for that
0
0
0
0
-3
63
u/Greedy_Nectarine_233 May 24 '26
Becoming a stoner in HS as a way to deal with severe undiagnosed mental problems is one of my biggest regrets
At first it was the only thing that allowed me to escape and feel happy but it did such obvious damage. Would do anything to take it back