Psychosis, a severe mental disorder characterized by a loss of touch with reality, may include disturbing hallucinations and delusions.
Since no one has yet been able to identify a single cause of psychosis, it is even more difficult to prescribe treatment. But the scientists in the new JAMA Psychiatry study appear to be on the right track. In it, they report that they have found a way to “reset” a psychotic brain using an incredible plant: cannabis.
Hemp and its active ingredients
Researchers are increasingly finding evidence that the active ingredients in cannabis can help relieve symptoms in people with epileptic seizures, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, but there is still much to be learned about its relationship to psychosis. The most well-known cannabinoid, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, has previously been linked to the development of psychosis in some people. But in a new study, the authors report that another cannabinoid called cannabidiol – CBD, can really help with the treatment.
Cannabidiol or CBD
Cannabidiol (CBD or CBD) is another compound found in cannabis that seems to “reset” the brains of people at high risk of developing psychosis at high doses.
In the article, a team of British researchers shows that a single dose of CBD can normalize brain activity associated with psychosis. Psychosis is associated with characteristic patterns of brain activation seen on MRI in the striatum, medial temporal lobe, and midbrain. In a double-blind study of 33 high-risk individuals and 19 healthy controls, the study authors found that patients at high risk for psychosis had abnormally increased activity in these regions compared to healthy subjects. But one large dose of CBD – 600 milligrams – quickly and significantly reduced brain activity in these areas of the brain down to normal levels.
“These results will undoubtedly pave the way for the development of a new class of antipsychotic therapies,” said Sanjik Bhattacharya, PhD, Professor of Translational Neuroscience and Psychiatry at King’s College London and first author of the study. “We knew from previous studies that CBD had antipsychotic effects, but we didn’t know how it worked.”
The researchers found that CBD reduces activity in the caudate nucleus (red/yellow), part of the midbrain associated with clinical risk for psychosis.
The new study is not the first to show the therapeutic benefits of CBD. Some of the scientists who prepared this study also published a study in December 2017 showing that that patients treated with CBD had attenuated psychotic symptoms and were less likely to be considered psychotic by their psychiatrists.
This study raised a big question about how exactly CBD works, and this latest one seems to shed some light on that question. Although the subjects in this study were not actually diagnosed with psychosis, they did exhibit warning symptoms indicating a high risk of developing psychosis. The fact that CBD “rebooted” or normalized their brain activity to normal levels suggests the researchers are on the right track.
CBD in particular has a low abuse potential because it is not psychoactive.
The next step for the study authors is to launch a clinical study on the effects of CBD on psychosis. “If successful, this trial will provide definitive evidence for the role of cannabidiol as an antipsychotic treatment and pave the way for its use in clinics.” Bhattacharya said. “Our findings have begun to unravel the brain’s mechanisms for a new drug that works in a completely different way than traditional antipsychotics.”
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Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/single-dose-cbd-reset-brains-100000980.html?_guc_consent_skip=1536675336
