A new study found that the chemical extracted from cannabis has antipsychotic effects.
ONE SINGLE DOSE OF cannabidiol, a chemical extracted from cannabis, decreases brain abnormalities in people with psychosis.
According to a study published Wednesday by King’s College London in JAMA Psychiatry, cannidiboil, also referred to as CBD, acts in the brain to reduce psychotic symptoms. The chemical is a non-intoxicating compound found in cannabis.
Researchers examined participants who were experiencing psychotic symptoms, but had not yet been diagnosed with psychosis, as well as healthy patients. Some subjects with symptoms were given placebo, while others received a single dose of CBD. All the participants then underwent an MRI scan while performing a memory task that engages regions of the brain related to psychosis, a press release stated.
Results from the MRI scans showed that participants displaying psychotic symptoms had abnormal brain activity compared to healthy participants. However, those that had received cannabidiol showed decreased abnormal activity compared to those who received the placebo. These results suggest that CBD can help re-adjust brain function to normal levels.
The researchers aren’t entirely sure how CBD works in the brain to reduce psychotic symptoms, but the results show that it has a therapeutic effect, according to the press release.
“The mainstay of current treatment for people with psychosis are drugs that were first discovered in the 1950s and unfortunately do not work for everyone,” Sagnik Bhattacharyya, co-author of the study said in the release. “Our results have started unravelling the brain mechanisms of a new drug that works in a completely different way to traditional antipsychotics.”
A previous King’s College London study also discovered that the chemical has antipsychotic effects, and in June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first medication made from cannabidiol to treat two rare forms of epilepsy.
The researchers are now launching a larger study to investigate if cannabidiol can be used to treat young people who are at high risk of developing psychosis.
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