Abstract
There have been growing concerns about the protracted effects of cannabis use in adolescents on emotion and cognition outcomes, motivated by evidence of growing cannabis use in adolescents, evidence linking cannabis use to various psychiatric disorders, and the increasingly perceived notion that cannabis is harmless. At the same time, studies suggest that cannabinoids may have therapeutic potential against the impacts of stress on the brain and behavior, and that young people sometimes use cannabinoids to alleviate feelings of depression and anxiety (i.e., “self-medication”). Exposure to early adverse life events may predispose individuals to developing psychopathology in adulthood, leading researchers to study the causality between early life factors and cognitive and emotional outcomes in rodent models and to probe the underlying mechanisms. In this review, we aim to better understand the long-term effects of cannabinoids administered in sensitive developmental periods (mainly adolescence) in rodent models of early life stress. We suggest that the effects of cannabinoids on emotional and cognitive function may vary between different sensitive developmental periods. This could potentially affect decisions regarding the use of cannabinoids in clinical settings during the early stages of development and could raise questions regarding educating the public as to potential risks associated with cannabis use.
Highlights
IntroductionExposure to early adverse life events is a major risk factor for developing psychiatric disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood [1,2,3]
Exposure to early adverse life events is a major risk factor for developing psychiatric disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood [1,2,3]. exposure to early life stress (ELS) has detrimental immediate effects on the activation of the stress system, there are long-term effects that emerge at later stages of development, either in adolescence or later [4,5].There is growing interest in the use of cannabis and cannabinoids to prevent and treat psychiatric disorders [6], and self-medication with cannabis is often related to the treatment of psychiatric conditions [7,8,9]
Cannabinoids administered during sensitive developmental periods to individuals exposed to adverse events early in life may restore the long-term detrimental effects of ELS on emotion and cognition, or may have an additive effect with ELS to exacerbate the symptoms
Summary
Exposure to early adverse life events is a major risk factor for developing psychiatric disorders such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood [1,2,3]. Exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence has been suggested to have protracted long-term detrimental effects on emotional and cognitive function, possibly contributing to the development of the pathological effects of chronic stress and to the development of psychiatric disorders [25]. This is an important issue, as there is a high prevalence of cannabis use among adolescents [26] and cannabis is increasingly viewed as harmless by both adolescents and adults [27]. Cannabinoids administered during sensitive developmental periods (primarily adolescence) to individuals exposed to adverse events early in life may restore the long-term detrimental effects of ELS on emotion and cognition, or may have an additive effect with ELS to exacerbate the symptoms. We will describe sex differences in the responses to ELS and cannabinoid exposure in adolescence and discuss the relevant human studies
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