Thehippocampusis a part of the brain that is partially responsible for our retentivity . Marijuana and nicotine are recognise to repress the size of it of the hippocampus . So , it would make sense that among users of both message , a small hippocampus would lead to a reduced storage function , right ? Surprising unexampled inquiry has found that ’s not necessarily the case .
A noteworthy study published in the journalBehavioural Brain Research , by scientists from the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas , expect at the upshot of combined marijuana and nicotine ( tobacco plant ) use , something that has been ill studied before .
Thefindingswere that , among participants who used both marijuana and nicotine , the modest their hippocampus , the better their memory liken to others with a bigger hippocampus who also used both . And those that smoked the most tobacco had the small hippocampus but best remembering compared to the others . The same was detect to a lesser level among those who solely used marijuana or tobacco plant .
" That ’s the surprising effect we found , " principal researcher Francesca Filbey told IFLScience . " It ’s not what we expected . "
The research , which just looked at light - term memory , involved participants in four groups : 16 nonusers ( no marijuana or tobacco in three months ) , 36 chronic ganja users ( four or more times per week ) , 19 frequent nicotine substance abuser ( 10 or more times daily ) , and 19 chronic marijuana plus frequent nicotine users . All perform memory tests and had their brain scanned using a charismatic rapport imager ( MRI ) .
It should be noted that the cannabis and tobacco drug user had the worst memory of the four , followed by marijuana users , then the mastery group , then the nicotine drug user . Filbey points out , though , that the consequence of the memory trial between the group were not importantly unlike .
The research focus on the hippocampus , illustrated . Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons .
The rationality for the outcome is not completely exonerated . Filbey speculates that nicotine , which is known to have some " protective cognitive effects , " could be beneficial in people who have memory constipation already , possibly the resultant of marijuana . " Marijuana substance abuser would have an spoil cognitive condition and a worse public presentation , " she said .
In addition , the hippocampus is not the only part of the mental capacity creditworthy for memory social function . While this report focalize on this area , it might be that using nicotine and marijuana dissemble other parts , such as theprefrontal cortex(PFC ) . " That is another crucial region [ to be studied ] , " say Filbey .
The major implication of the research is that there is still much we do n’t make out about the effects of marijuana and baccy , both together and on an individual basis , on the brain . " The merge role of marijuana and tobacco is highly prevalent , " order Filbey in astatement . " For instance , a ' blunt ' is wrapped in tobacco plant folio . A ' spliff ' is a joint range with tobacco . We really need to understand how the meld use change the brain to really understand its effects on memory function and behavior . "
She notes , though , that these findings are somewhat fix by the number of player . Further inquiry will certainly be needed to investigate the surprising conclusion further . " Our findings confirm that the interaction between marijuana and nicotine is indeed much more complicated due to the different mechanism at play , " added Filbey in the program line . " Future survey need to deal these compounding upshot of substances . "
