General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLong-term cannabis use may blunt the brain's motivation system
Long-term cannabis users tend to produce less dopamine, a chemical in the brain linked to motivation, a study has found.
Researchers found that dopamine levels in a part of the brain called the striatum were lower in people who smoke more cannabis and those who began taking the drug at a younger age.
They suggest this finding could explain why some cannabis users appear to lack motivation to work or pursue their normal interests.
The study, by scientists at Imperial College London, UCL and Kings College London, was funded by the Medical Research Council and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
The researchers used PET brain imaging to look at dopamine production in the striatum of 19 regular cannabis users and 19 non-users of matching age and sex.
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_1-7-2013-11-49-21
think
(11,641 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Dopaminergic Function in Cannabis Users and Its Relationship to Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Symptoms
Background
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug globally, and users are at increased risk of mental illnesses including psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Substance dependence and schizophrenia are both associated with dopaminergic dysfunction. It has been proposed, although never directly tested, that the link between cannabis use and schizophrenia is mediated by altered dopaminergic function.
Methods
We compared dopamine synthesis capacity in 19 regular cannabis users who experienced psychotic-like symptoms when they consumed cannabis with 19 nonuser sex- and age-matched control subjects. Dopamine synthesis capacity (indexed as the influx rate constant KicerKicer) was measured with positron emission tomography and 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-l-phenylalanine ([18F]-DOPA).
Results
Cannabis users had reduced dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum (effect size: .85; t36 = 2.54, p = .016) and its associative (effect size: .85; t36 = 2.54, p = .015) and limbic subdivisions (effect size: .74; t36 = 2.23, p = .032) compared with control subjects. The group difference in dopamine synthesis capacity in cannabis users compared with control subjects was driven by those users meeting cannabis abuse or dependence criteria. Dopamine synthesis capacity was negatively associated with higher levels of cannabis use (r = ?.77, p < .001) and positively associated with age of onset of cannabis use (r = .51, p = .027) but was not associated with cannabis-induced psychotic-like symptoms (r = .32, p = .19).
Conclusions
These findings indicate that chronic cannabis use is associated with reduced dopamine synthesis capacity and question the hypothesis that cannabis increases the risk of psychotic disorders by inducing the same dopaminergic alterations seen in schizophrenia.
think
(11,641 posts)think
(11,641 posts)We compared dopamine synthesis capacity in 19 regular cannabis users who experienced psychotic-like symptoms when they consumed cannabis with 19 nonuser sex- and age-matched control subjects.
So the study was 19 cannabis users who experienced psychotic-like symptoms when they consumed cannabis and 19 NON USERS.
Am I reading it correct this time that the only cannabis users in the study were those who experienced pychotic like reactions?
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)think
(11,641 posts)for this kind of study
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)think
(11,641 posts)XemaSab
(60,212 posts)deutsey
(20,166 posts)They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do just as well you just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference.
trumad
(41,692 posts)Initech
(100,080 posts)CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...had a great line along those lines. It was something like ' I smoke pot to do the jobs I like and enjoy the ones I don't like.'
This doesn't sound right but the point was that 'working' while 'high' was infinitely more enjoyable than being 'straight'.
.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)This sounds like another study to give them the results they wanted to hear.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)BlueToTheBone
(3,747 posts)I work way too hard and am way to motivated to stay above the water line! I could use some rest.
burnodo
(2,017 posts)The shock!! The horra!!
NoPasaran
(17,291 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)Obviously everyone knows that "units shipped" is the only measure of productivity and motivation.
bigtree
(85,998 posts). . . but what I wanted to add to that was . . .oh, nevermind!
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Second, different strains of cannabis affect people in different ways. I managed to get 2 college degrees, working my way through via 3 jobs and graduated with a 4.0. All while ingesting the ganja. Personally, I find exactly the opposite -- that it's a great motivator. I can get into what I call hyper-focus while under the influence whereas it's much more difficult to get into that state naturally (although I can do it).
I call bullshit. Oh, and only 38 subjects?
think
(11,641 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)dionysus
(26,467 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Personally, I consider it medication for it's affects on my arthritis and occasional anxiety issues but that's for another thread. I'm not a biochemist and I'm certainly not going to attempt to debate on that level but I do know that a sampling of 38 people does not a legitimate study make.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)and the study in the OP is bullshit, I agree...
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)and continuing the demonization of cannabis.
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)I think it was when Willie was turning 75 they asked him what he could no longer do because of his age. He said, "Well, I've had to give up drugs." The interviewers were stunned, and one stammered "You mean you don't smoke pot anymore?" Willie's reply: "Hell, pot ain't a drug, it's an herb."
Jessy169
(602 posts)Same here, Le Taz Hot. I got out of the US Navy and had to work full time while I inched my way slowly but surely on a part-time basis toward my two college degrees and 3.7-or-so GPA. A little of the magic weed definitely greased the wheels on that long, arduous and sometimes monotonous journey. I've been a software engineer for a long, long time and still find that a little bud -- definitely not too much, but just enough -- can facilitate amazing creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)think
(11,641 posts)Merck paid an undisclosed sum to Elsevier to produce several volumes of a publication that had the look of a peer-reviewed medical journal, but contained only reprinted or summarized articles--most of which presented data favorable to Merck products--that appeared to act solely as marketing tools with no disclosure of company sponsorship. Image: flicker/linkurl:meviola;http://www.flickr.com/photos/69659670@N00/ "I've seen no shortage of creativity emanating from the marketing departments of
By Bob Grant | April 30, 2009
of drug companies," Peter Lurie, deputy director of the public health research group at the consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen, said, after reviewing two issues of the publication obtained by __The Scientist__. "But even for someone as jaded as me, this is a new wrinkle." The __Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine__, which was published by Exerpta Medica, a division of scientific publishing juggernaut Elsevier, is not indexed in the MEDLINE database, and has no website (not even a defunct one)...
~Snip~
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/27376/title/Merck-published-fake-journal/
And Elsevier has ties to the weapons industry and has been accused of shilling it's publications on Amazon:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elsevier B.V. (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɛlzəvir]) is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA, and elsewhere.
~snip~
Parent organisation links to weapons industry
An editorial in the medical journal The Lancet in September 2005 sharply criticized the journal's owner and publisher, Reed Elsevier, for its participation in the international arms trade.[24] Specifically, Reed Exhibitions organized the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition (DSEi), a large arms fair in the U.K. The authors, appealing to the Hippocratic oath, called for the publisher to "divest itself of all business interests that threaten human, and especially civilian, health and well-being."[25]
In the 24 March 2007 issue of the The Lancet, leading medical centers including the UK Royal College of Physicians[26] urged Reed Elsevier to sever weapons ties. Doctors spoke out against Reed's role in the involvement of the organizing of exhibitions for the arms trade.[27] Reed Elseviers chief executive responded in June 2007 with a written statement agreeing to do so,[28] welcomed by authors of the petition[clarification needed],[29] announcing that it would sell the part of the company which handled military trade shows. The sale was completed in May 2008.[30]
~Snip~
Sponsored journals
At a 2009 court case in Australia where Merck & Co. was being sued by a user of Vioxx, the plaintiff alleged that Merck had paid Elsevier to publish the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, which had the appearance of being a peer-reviewed academic journal but in fact contained only articles favourable to Merck drugs.[39][40][41][42] Merck has described the journal as a "complimentary publication", denied claims that articles within it were ghost written by Merck, and stated that the articles were all reprinted from peer-reviewed medical journals.[43] In May 2009, Elsevier Health Sciences CEO Hansen released a statement regarding Australia-based sponsored journals, conceding that these were "sponsored article compilation publications, on behalf of pharmaceutical clients, that were made to look like journals and lacked the proper disclosures." The statement acknowledged that this "was an unacceptable practice."[44] The Scientist reported that, according to an Elsevier spokesperson, six sponsored publications "were put out by their Australia office and bore the Excerpta Medica imprint from 2000 to 2005", namely the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine (Australas. J. Bone Joint Med.), the Australasian Journal of General Practice (Australas. J. Gen. Pract.), the Australasian Journal of Neurology (Australas. J. Neurol.), the Australasian Journal of Cardiology (Australas. J. Cardiol.), the Australasian Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (Australas. J. Clin. Pharm.), and the Australasian Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine (Australas. J. Cardiovasc. Med.).[45] Excerpta Medica was a "strategic medical communications agency" run by Elsevier, according to the imprint's web page.[46] On October 7, 2010, Excerpta Medica was acquired by Adelphi Worldwide.[47]
Shill review offer
According to the BBC "The firm [Elsevier] offered a $25 Amazon voucher to academics who contributed to the textbook Clinical Psychology if they would go on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (a large US books retailer) and give it five stars." Elsevier said that "encouraging interested parties to post book reviews isn't outside the norm in scholarly publishing, nor is it wrong to offer to nominally compensate people for their time. But in all instances the request should be unbiased, with no incentives for a positive review, and that's where this particular e-mail went too far", and that it was a mistake by a marketing employee.[48]
~Snip~
Full Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsevier
The Wikipedia entry does have some typographical discrepancies but the bulk of factual content appear to be backed by well documented links to main stream sources.
BTW. In case you are wondering how I found the parent company you can find a link at the very bottom of the study page's site to find the information for the site owner Elsevier:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Virtual instant exchange of information. Thanks for posting.
think
(11,641 posts)It's a wonderful place!
madokie
(51,076 posts)old used to be pot head here. You can ask anyone who knows me if I ever exhibited any notion of a lack of motivation.
If my health would allow it I'd still be a toker
I'll do more in one day than a lot of people will do in a week
mike_c
(36,281 posts)Yeah, I'm a pot smoking slacker.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)Fozzledick
(3,860 posts)Government funding policies create political bias and financial conflict of interests antithetical to legitimate scientific research.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Does this effect evaporate if they stop using?
Fozzledick
(3,860 posts)Anti-cannabis propaganda masquerading as scientific research is consistently marked by the deliberate inclusion of uncontrolled variables capable of causing the exact effect it attempts to attribute to cannabis.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Schizophrenia, whereby people experience "psychotic-like experiences" (what's "psychotic-like" anyway) as a matter of definition, is well known to involve the dopamine system.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)Democracyinkind
(4,015 posts)think
(11,641 posts)burnodo
(2,017 posts)They suggest this finding could explain why some cannabis users appear to lack motivation
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)Marijuana makes you mellow........
Dopamine is linked to motivation?....so are carbohydrates, sugars, bowel movements and whats on TV.
Initech
(100,080 posts)Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Like join the military, take jobs that require pee tests, buy into the established order of things, do things by other's time clocks, obey rules without question?
Maybe their lack of motivation is an act of defiance.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Sometime..
wildbilln864
(13,382 posts)KansDem
(28,498 posts)...but I'll do it later.
d_r
(6,907 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)"They suggest this finding could explain why some cannabis users appear to lack motivation to work or pursue their normal interests".
It's called a piss test assholes. I was and may still be a fast worker. I love to have a challenge at work and I smoke pot ALL the fucking time. To each his own. These studies prove NOTHING. These studies are false because if you smoke weed you're already an outcast for most. If pot were legal all these years, these studies wouldn't even exist.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,577 posts)but I can't find the motivation..........
Faux pas
(14,681 posts)I smoked the whole time I worked and had five promotions during that time. I think it depends on each person's brain chemistry, environment, etc. etc. Can't fit everyone into the same box scientists, sorry.
DJ13
(23,671 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)babydollhead
(2,231 posts)It reminds me to open my heart.
It reminds me to be in the moment.
It reminds me to enjoy the ride.
It reminds me that I am alive.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)Oy
demwing
(16,916 posts)what are ya gonna do?
I was gonna clean my room until I got high...
I was gonna get up and find the broom but then I got high...
My room is still messed up and I know why...
(Why man?)
Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high