It is well known, mice have a short life expectancy and a limited memory. This rodent is therefore an ideal guinea pig for researchers working on cognitive deficits.
Those from the universities of Bonn (Germany) and Jerusalem (Israel) wanted to test the effect of tetra-hydro-cannabinol (THC) on these animals. For four weeks, they gave small amounts of the active ingredient of cannabis to mice at the age of 2 months then 12 and 18 months. At each stage, the memory, learning and interaction capacities with other mice were analyzed.
The scientists were then able to observe a natural decline in those who had received a placebo, while the mice who had taken their dose of cannabis retained the same cognitive functions at the different ages tested.
“The treatment completely reversed the loss of performance in older animals,” summarizes Professor Andreas Zimmer, one of the authors of the study published in NatureMedicine and relayed by AFP.
A finding confirmed by the analysis of brain tissue and neuronal connections, adds the RTBF site. For Professor Zimmer, “it seems that the THC treatment has reversed the molecular clock”.
The teams now wish to confirm these results in humans. Already used in medicine to soothe pain, can cannabis also reverse the process of cerebral aging and improve our cognitive functions? This discovery would, in any case, go against popular belief about THC.
