Summary: New research has revealed that people who suffer from cannabis use disorder have higher serotonin levels in the brain areas associated with schizophrenia. Using neuromelanin-sensitive MRI scans, researchers discovered that cannabis users had more serotonin activity, which was clearly discernible in darker mind spots, regardless of their diagnosis of schizophrenia.
These changes point to accelerated dopamine-related aging in the brain, which is a contributing factor to the increase in cannabis-induced illness seen medically since legislation. The results highlight the need for more public awareness of cannabis use and its possible dangers for mental health.
Important Information
- Dopamine Spike: Increased serotonin levels in brain regions associated with schizophrenia are ascribed to cannabis use disorder.
- Data from Imaging: A neuromelanin-sensitive MRI revealed lighter brain areas that suggested a high serotonin level in cannabis users.
- Findings may help explain the rise in cannabis-related illness and highlight the need for educated cannabis use training.
Western University as a cause
Although cannabis hasn’t been legalized in Canada in six decades, more research is still required to fully realize its effects on the health.  ,
A new study published on April 9 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry , sheds light on how changes in the brain that are linked to schizophrenia are related to cannabis use condition.
Experts used brain imaging techniques to examine cannabis use disorders and those who used it frequently over an extended period of time. They discovered that those who used it regularly displayed signs of higher levels of serotonin in the same area of the brain that is linked to illness.
Researchers from Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute ( LHSCRI ) led the conduct of this study in London, Ontario.  ,  ,  ,
Prior research conducted by data shows that since the legalization of marijuana, people in emergency departments across Canada have been more frequently presenting with illness.  ,
Lena Palaniyappan, adjunct professor at Schulich Medicine &, Dentistry, former medical director for LHSC’s Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis ( PEPP ), and senior author of the study, said,” We now have evidence that shows a straight line link between dopamine and psychosis that has never been shown before.  ,
Dopamine is a crucial hormone ( a chemical messenger in the brain ) that aids in the processing of emotions like enthusiasm, mood, learning, and engine power.  ,
Betsy Schaefer, co-author of the investigation at LHSCRI and research coordinator at PEPP, said that an excess of dopamine may interfere with normal brain functions and increase the risk of schizophrenia, especially in those who are already vulnerable.  ,  ,
Researchers were able to examine a chemical called neuromelanin, a dark colour left behind in the mind that accumulates over time if there is too much serotonin, using a non-invasive brain imaging technique called neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging.
The neuromelanin serves as a indicator for the measurement and characterization of areas with serotonin activity and appears in the scans as dark spots.  ,
When people use too much marijuana, those spots are darker than they should be in comparison to good people.
This indicates that they have higher levels of serotonin, and that some situations exhibit pigmentation that only people who are 10 years older would be able to identify,” said Palaniyappan, a professor at McGill University.  ,
This study involved 61 individuals between the ages of 18 and 35. Scientists sought out people who had first-episode schizophrenia and those who had been diagnosed with cannabis use disorder and without it, and who also had those IDs listed as having first-episode dementia.  ,
” We noticed a rise in darker spots in a particular area of the midbrain known as the substantia nigra and lateral tegmental areas, which are associated with schizophrenia.
According to Ali Khan, professor of medicine and medicine and researcher at Robarts Research Institute,” This improve was seen in those with cannabis use condition regardless of whether they have first-episode psychosis.”  ,  ,
This study actually helps to provide the smoking gun, or the evidence, for what we’re seeing scientifically and provides hints as to why cannabis use is causing mind changes linked to psychosis. Dr. Julie Richard, the physician and doctor prospect of PEPP at LHSC ,
We’ve seen adolescents go through two or three small cannabis-induced episodes of psychosis before experiencing a much more severe episode in the past few years.
So we’re showing the affected areas of the brain to the adolescents within the first instance to show them how to push their brains toward a main episode, Richard said.  ,
According to Shaefer, the new study helps to establish the natural connections between cannabis use and potential mental health problems. The findings highlight the need for attention, particularly as cannabis is more popular now that it has been legalized.
We hope that this review encourages further research and informs public health initiatives to promote healthy and unbiased cannabis use.
According to initial writer Jessica Ahrens, PhD candidate at McGill University,” I hope these observations lead clients and health-care companies to better understand the implications and for the health-care companies to offer people resources for options other than hemp to help them cope.”  ,
About this study on schizophrenia and cannabis use disorders
Publisher: Cynthia Fazio
Source: Western University
Contact: Cynthia Fazio – Western University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Private exposure.
Lena Palaniyappan and her team’s” Cannabis and illness on the Dopamine System Convergence.” JAMA Psychiatry
Abstract
Cannabis and illness on the Dopamine System Convergence
Importance
The link between hemp use and schizophrenia is still elusive despite evidence that those who suffer from a cannabis use disorder ( CUD) are more likely to experience psychosis and that the neurotransmitter serotonin plays a role in schizophrenia.
Objective
To examine whether a common alteration in the dopamine system may be linked to CUD and psychosis and whether or not they have been diagnosed with first-episode schizophrenia ( FES ), using neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI), also known as the , neuromelanin-MRI signal, as a practical, proxy measure of dopamine function.
Design, Setting, and Participants , ,
From an earlier illness service and the surrounding areas in London, Ontario, people were recruited for this horizontal observational cohort study between 2019 and 2023. The sample included both CUD-positive and CUD-negative people, with some even having FES diagnoses in each class.
Exposures
Diagnostics for FES and CUD according to the DSM-5 Structured Clinical Interview.
Main Results and Measures  , ,
MRI signals from the midbrain ( substantia nigra]SN] / ventral tegmental area]VTA] ), including a subregion that was previously associated with the severity of untreated psychosis ( a priori region of interest ). Neuromelanin-MRI signals and medical measurements were the subject of straight mixed-effects analyses.
Results
A total of 36 individuals without CUD ( mean]SD] age, 22.3]3.2] years, 29 male]81 % ], 12 with FES ) and 25 individuals with CUD ( mean]SD] age, 24.3]4.7] years, 22 male]88 % ], 16 with FES ) participated in the study.
Twelve people with CUD and 25 without CUD received a one-year follow-up. A set of ventral SN/VTA voxels ( 387 of 2060 SN/VTA voxels, corrected , P , =.03, permutation test ) had an elevated neuromelanin-MRI signal.
CUD also had a significant dose-dependent association with an elevated neuromelanin-MRI signal in the psychosis-related region of interest ( t92 = 2.12; P =.04 ); in addition, higher burden of CUD symptoms was related to a higher neuromelanin-MRI signal ( F1, 96 = 4.89; P =.03 ).
In contrast, FES-treated FES participants did not show a significant increase in neuromelanin-MRI signal ( 241 SN/VTA voxels had elevated signal, corrected; P , =.09 ). There was no connection between time and the neuromelanin-MRI sign.
Conclusions and Relevance  , ,
In a crucial SN/VTA region, elevated serotonin levels may be a factor in CUD patients ‘ illness risk. Cannabis was linked to the conceivable last frequent pathway that causes psychotic symptoms to manifest clinically.
