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   From: froid@sane.org   
      
   Klaus  Schadenfreude  wrote in   
   news:shlmfg$d0l$2@news.dns-netz.com:   
      
   > Booker wrote   
   >   
   >> Pot smoking parents are responsible for the little gender confused   
   >> faggots.   
      
   The “chill” produced by cannabis generally means being calm, relaxed,   
   laid-back, and feeling little stress or anxiety. Being chill is highly   
   valued by cannabis users. "Hakuna matata," no trouble, unperturbable.   
   Among some regular cannabis users, chill becomes a lifestyle.   
      
   New research from Daniele Piomelli’s lab now points to a possible   
   neurologic mechanism that contributes to an ongoing sense of chill in   
   adolescent-onset cannabis users.[1] Despite the great geeky complexity of   
   his recent article (“Frequent Low-Dose ?9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in   
   Adolescence Disrupts Microglia Homeostasis and Disables Responses to   
   Microbial Infection and Social Stress in Young Adulthood,” Dec. 2022), the   
   real-world implications are clear: After researchers found that exposing   
   adolescent mice to cocaine and opiates leads to persistent neurologic and   
   behavioral changes in early adulthood, Piomelli repeated the experiment   
   with doses of THC, producing blood levels comparable to humans smoking 3%   
   marijuana. After stopping the THC at the end of mouse adolescence, his   
   research team studied changes in gene expression, brain physiology, and   
   behavior into early and later adulthood.   
      
   Behavioral studies were based on standardized Repeated Social Defeat   
   stress protocols.[2] In brief, mice are observed after exposure to a more   
   aggressive strain of mice. Typically, such social stress causes an   
   increase in stress hormones (e.g., cortisol), social withdrawal in social   
   interaction tests, and increased anxiety-like behavior shown by a   
   reluctance to enter an elevated maze. Piomelli found that early adult mice   
   who had been exposed to THC during adolescence showed none of these   
   effects in response to repeated social stress. Even though all THC had   
   been eliminated from the brain and fat, the impact of adolescent THC   
   exposure persisted into early adulthood.   
      
   On the one hand, resistance to social stress sounds marvelous. But on the   
   other hand, exposure to stressful events supplies the motivation for   
   developing resilience and maturity. The persisting effects of adolescent   
   exposure to THC eventually faded later in full adulthood. When these   
   behavioral changes are put in the context of a host of neurologic and   
   epigenetic changes also observed, Piomelli’s team concluded the response   
   to psychosocial stress is defective in young adult male mice exposed to   
   THC during adolescence.   
      
   To readers who say animal experiments cannot be translated into human   
   terms, I have two responses: First, humans are animals. There is far more   
   in common among humans, tigers, pigs, mice, and whales than there are   
   differences. The same fundamental parts of our brain are found in all   
   these other species, with modifications depending on their umwelt. Neurons   
   in one species resemble neurons in the others. And all have a full   
   endocannabinoid system.   
      
   Second, Piomelli’s team documented a plethora of minute biochemical and   
   physiologic changes persisting into early adulthood after THC exposure   
   only during adolescence. THC causes different genes to be activated—genes   
   involved with immunity, the endocannabinoid system, and homeostasis of the   
   microglia throughout the brain. Our understanding of the role microglia   
   play in brain function is still being worked out, but activation of the   
   microglia is clearly essential to a normal response to stress. Adolescent   
   exposure to THC changes the genetic expression of anandamide and 2-AG   
   levels during a time when the endocannabinoid system is actively shaping   
   adolescent brain development. THC exposure also leads to microglial   
   resistance to the activation needed for normal stress response. Future   
   research is needed to clarify the relationship among all these changes THC   
   causes in adolescence that persist into early adulthood.   
      
   Experiencing stress is not only a normal part of life, but also an   
   essential stimulus to growth and maturation. Just as it is seriously   
   dangerous to be insensitive to physical pain, insensitivity to stress and   
   anxiety is also problematic. In the research article’s words: “the   
   processing of acute stress events in early life is essential to establish   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)