The Effects of Cannabis (Marijuana) on the Brain & Body

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2022

⏱️ 160 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I discuss cannabis (aka marijuana), including the biological mechanisms underlying its effects on the mind and body, its known medical applications, its impact on libido, creativity, hunger, hormones and more. I also cover the known adverse health consequences of chronic and even acute (one-time) use and the factors that determine if cannabis is helpful or harmful. Additionally, I detail how the various strains of cannabis: sativa, indica and hybrid strains, can produce such divergent effects depending on the strain type, THC-to-CBD ratio, total dosage, and frequency of use. I review why cannabis can impact speech patterns and one’s propensity to develop anxiety/depression during and after use and, in some individuals, paranoia. As the legal landscape for cannabis is rapidly evolving, this episode should interest a wide audience, including former/current cannabis users, those in the medical, sports, law enforcement, and educational communities and, of course, children, teenagers, and parents. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Huberman Lab Premium https://hubermanlab.com/premium Timestamps (00:00:00) Cannabis (Marijuana) (00:04:46) New: Huberman Lab Premium (00:07:03) Tool: Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR), Sleep & Anxiety (00:10:08) Levels, Thesis, InsideTracker (00:14:01) Momentous Supplements (00:15:08) Cannabis Strains, Psychoactive Compounds: THC & CBD (00:19:34) Sativa vs. Indica, Stimulant vs. Relaxation Effects (00:25:55) Hybrid Cannabis Strains, Type 1, 2 & 3 Strains (00:30:41) AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:31:56) Naturally Occurring Receptors: Nicotinic & Cannabinoid Receptors (CB1) (00:40:35) THC, CBD vs. Endogenous Cannabinoids, Dependence (00:43:14) Endogenous Cannabinoids, Cannabinoid Receptors & Nervous System Function (00:53:07) Biological Effects of Cannabis (00:56:29) Cannabis Sativa & Subjective Effects: Mood, Stress, Alertness, Paranoia (01:04:58) Cannabis Indica & Subjective Effects, Memory, Dosage (01:09:41) Brain Areas Affected by THC & CBD, Side Effects (01:16:08) Creativity: Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking & Dopamine (01:26:41) Does Cannabis Increase Creativity? (01:35:08) Chronic Cannabis Use & Changes in Speech Patterns (01:46:46) Cannabis & Libido, Dopamine & Prolactin (01:56:55) Cannabis & Hormones: Prolactin, Testosterone, Estrogen & Fertility (02:06:53) Smoking/Vaping Tobacco or Cannabis & Negative Health Consequences (02:10:06) Avoiding Cannabis During Pregnancy/Breastfeeding, Fetal Neural Development (02:18:13) Negative Health Consequences of Cannabis, Anxiety & Depression, Tolerance (02:25:57) Cannabis Use & Adolescence/Young Adulthood, Predisposition to Psychosis (02:34:36) Adolescent Cannabis Use: Brain Development & Mental Health Disorders (02:41:44) Cannabis & Pain Management, Divergent Effects of Cannabis (02:44:54) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Huberman Lab Premium, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.8	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.5	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we are discussing cannabis also referred to as marijuana.
0:19.4	Cannabis includes many different compounds that have profound impact on the brain and body.
0:24.3	So while many of you have probably heard of THC, there are also compounds in cannabis such as CBD and of course there are different types or strains of cannabis, including sativa strains and
0:35.4	Indica strains and hybrid strains and believe it or not nowadays there is also an entire literature,
0:41.6	meaning a scientific and medicinal literature about type one, type two and type three strains.
0:46.0	I'll explain what all of that is and how they work.
0:48.3	I'll talk about some of the medicinal applications of different strains of cannabis and combinations of cannabis strains as well as some of the potential health hazards of cannabis use.
0:58.8	I want to emphasize that any discussion about cannabis has to be framed within the context that the legality of cannabis varies
1:05.9	tremendously depending on where you are in the world. So depending on which country you're in and even which state you're in or which area within a country
1:13.8	possessing and using and certainly selling cannabis can be either highly illegal or entirely legal or decriminalized or largely overlooked.
1:22.9	You of course are obligated to know what those local laws are for you, where you live and where you travel.
1:29.6	With that said, today's discussion really will include a full picture as to where cannabis and the various and even very specific
1:39.0	compounds within cannabis can be extremely useful in the treatment of some ailments and where certain compounds in cannabis can be extremely dangerous for certain individuals to use in particular individuals that have pre-existing
1:53.6	genetic propensity for psychosis. That theme is going to come up again and again, but we are also going to talk about the role of cannabis in
2:01.1	anxiety in depression, both positive and negative effects. We'll talk about sex differences in terms of
2:06.2	women versus men and how they react differently to cannabis. And I would be entirely remiss if I didn't include a conversation about cannabis, meaning THC CBD, hybrid strains, etc.
2:17.6	In creativity and different modes of thinking because as many of you probably know or at least have heard about
2:24.2	cannabis can impact the way that we think the types of memory systems we can access and what's called convergent and divergent thinking, which is one way of
2:32.4	conceptualizing what is commonly referred to as creativity. So today's discussion is going to include a lot of information, but I promise to make it clear and accessible to all of you, regardless of whether or not you have a background in biology or not.
2:46.0	And today's discussion will also be quite nuanced. You'll find me routinely reading directly from specific research papers, something that of course we always do on this podcast.
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