Cannabis has recently gained attention in the publics political debate due to its medical potential,
legalization and new ways of consumption. While cannabis use in adults is considered to be safe, new
clinical reports are published on its toxicity and its involvement in newly described diseases, such as
cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (HES). It is particularly notable that cannabis consumption during
pregnancy changes the embryonic brain leading to problems with learning and memory persisting into
the adulthood of affected offspring. However, if cannabis exposure through recreational use, or when
used as medication, during childhood and adolescence can affect brain function is currently unknown.
The human brain is developing until the mid 20s, allowing for a long developmental window for drugs to
change the structural basis of cognition: the underlying neuronal network operations. Understanding how
cannabis can affect the developing brain during this time is thus important, since 1) cannabis potency is
increasing, 2) cannabis is becoming more and more available due to legalization and 3) cannabis use is
highest in young adolescents. Therefore, the aim of this proposal is to investigate the underlying changes
that cannabis produces to the young adolescent brain.
For this project, we will focus on the hippocampus, a brain structure particularly sensitive to cannabis. We
will clarify which proteins are changed due to cannabis exposure in the young adolescent hippocampus,
and how these changes affect the survival and network connectivity of neurons. We will focus our protein
findings on neuron energy production to see how cannabis use during childhood/adolescence can
permanently change neuron function. In sum, our experimental methodology will show cannabis induced
changes in the developing hippocampus and deliver a database with druggable targets that can be used
to either prevent or improve brain functioning after cannabis exposure.