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Cannabis exposure during adolescence may interfere with the brain’s maturation, at least in rats, according to research presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego this week. Scientists find that a synthetic cannabinoid can throw dopamine signaling out of whack and alter the development of the prefrontal cortex.
As states continue to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana, more and more teens are using the drug. According to the Scripps Research Institute’s Michael Taffe, who moderated a press conference today (November 6), 35 percent of high school seniors in the US have smoked pot in the past year, and 14 percent say they have smoked it every day for a month at some point in their lives.
This has cannabis researchers interested in how marijuana use affects teens’ developing brains. In one study described during the event with reporters, José Fuentealba Evans of the ...
