The 8 short-term effects of marijuana on the brain

Marijuana is one of the most widely consumed psychotropic substances in the world, and its legalization in various Western countries is causing more people to consume it regularly.

In this article we will see the effects that marijuana has on the brain in the short term, that is, alterations that in most cases are transitory.

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What are the main short-term effects of marijuana on the brain?

Frequent consumption of this substance can cause a wide variety of health problems, both physical and emotional. psychological of the person who does it, problems whose variety always depend on the specific characteristics of the individual.

In addition to that, short-term marijuana use can also lead to a series of very harmful symptoms and effects on the brain, due to the release of THC in the person's nervous system, which has a powerful psychotropic effect.

THC is one of the main active ingredients in marijuana and its effects are being widely studied by medical science.

Below we will summarize some of the main short-term effects that the brain of any person experiences when consuming marijuana.

1. Decreases ability to concentrate

A decreased ability to concentrate is one of the first symptoms a person using marijuana may experience. This is caused by the relative inhibition of brain activity in large areas of the frontal lobes, in charge of the executive functions.

This loss in the ability to concentrate can affect both your daily tasks, such as professional work or academic, such as the ability to successfully establish social relationships of all kinds with friends, family or people unknown.

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2. Affects decision making

The lack of efficacy in decision-making is another of the alterations that are experienced in the short term when a person begins to consume cannabis, and it is also one of the most obvious symptoms of cognitive deficit that can be observed in the performance of people who are under the influence of this drug.

The deficit in complex decision making that a person experiences is produced by the amount of ADHD that is in the brain, and is the main substance that prevents the proper functioning of the nervous system (although in marijuana there are other molecules that interact with neurons, such as CBD).

There are many tasks in which a deficit in decision-making can be seen due to consumption of cannabis, some of them can be: perform mathematical operations, study for an exam, etc.

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3. Memory loss

Memory loss is another of the classic short-term effects of marijuana and it is also one of the of the most visible symptoms and that are easier to detect for the person who has taken this drug ago bit.

This phenomenon is caused by the affectation caused by THC in the hippocampus, a brain region of great importance that has the function of, among other things, generating new memories. Therefore, although long-term memory is not affected, it happens that the person does not remember well what happened in the previous minutes or hours.

4. Makes the person prone to irritability

Although annabis is popularly associated with relaxation and sociability, people who use cannabis can also appreciate a notable effect on their personality and see how his character becomes progressively more irritable and even aggressive.

This symptomatology does not affect everyone equally and is related to the affectation of ADHD in various regions of the brain responsible for controlling higher cognitive functions, movement or motor control, and coordination bodily.

5. power anxiety

Although there is a myth that the recreational use of marijuana can have some therapeutic effects on the person, mainly related to the reduction of anxiety states, the truth is that in a large part of the population it can exert the effect contrary.

Using marijuana for the first time can make some people feel anxious, unwell, or suffering that can be aggravated depending on how long the effects of ADHD last on your brain, and even lead to severe episodes of anxiety and paranoid-type thinking. It is due to the way in which the brain temporarily loses the ability to "counteract" the influence of limbic system over the other areas of the brain.

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6. generates disorientation

Disorientation is also one of the common short-term effects experienced by people who consume marijuana and it usually has to do with the accumulation of all the symptoms that we have seen previously.

THC consumption is closely related to the loss of the notion of time and the inability to know where one is.

7. Paranoia

Paranoia is related to the disorientation that cannabis causes in the body and the action of THC.

What often happens when someone uses this drug is that the person begins to have paranoid thoughts about the environment, assumption that you expose yourself to hostile persons or entities. In extreme cases, there is a Psychotic attack.

8. Appetite

When a person consumes cannabis, he ends up seeing his appetite increase after a few hours and he feels a voracious need to eat any food that satisfies him, generally sweet foods.

This phenomenon is due again to the action of THC on the receptors in the brain, mainly in the brain areas responsible for regulating emotions, as well as the release of the hormone that stimulates hunger, Ghrelin.

9. Impulsiveness

Impulsivity is related to the various changes that THC causes in the personality of the individual, especially in the action it exerts in areas such as the hypothalamus, the basal ganglia or the amygdala.

This impulsiveness may be related to carrying out actions that the person would not normally carry out or to risky activities that could endanger their life.