THC, referred to as a “cannabinoid” (like the dozens of other unique constituents of cannabis), acts on the brain by muscling in on the intrinsic neuronal signaling system, mimicking a key natural player, and basically hijacking it for reasons best known to the plants.
That was when Yechiel Gaoni and Raphael Mechoulam 1 reported that the main active component of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Despite records going back 4,700 years that document medicinal uses of cannabis, no one knew how it worked until 1964. The intercellular signaling molecules, their receptors, and synthetic and degradative enzymes from which cannabis gets its powers had been in place for millions of years by the time humans began burning the plants and inhaling the smoke. Not only are its many facets an intrinsically fascinating topic, but because they touch on so many parts of the brain and the body, their medical, ethical, and legal ramifications are vast. How can something that stimulates appetite also be great for relieving pain, nausea, seizures, and anxiety? Whether its leaves and buds are smoked, baked into pastries, processed into pills, or steeped as tea and sipped, cannabis affects us in ways that are sometimes hard to define. Fundamental to understanding these discussions is how cannabis affects the mind and body, as well as the body’s cells and systems. From debates on its medicinal value and legalization to concerns about dependency and schizophrenia, cannabis (marijuana, pot, hashish, bhang, etc.) is a hot button for politicians and pundits alike. In all, Alger’s group has published more than 100 research papers on the regulation of inhibition, focusing mainly on DSI and endocannabinoids in the past two decades.Ĭannabis, derived from a plant and one of the oldest known drugs, has remained a source of controversy throughout its history. Kano, and is the first instance of a physiological process carried out by endocannabinoids. DSI was eventually found to be mediated by endocannabinoids by the laboratories of R. Marty) “depolarization induced suppression of inhibition (DSI),” the first thoroughly characterized and widely accepted instance of retrograde signaling in the brain. In the early 1990s, Alger and Thomas Pitler co-discovered (in parallel with the laboratory of A. His long-term research interests are on the regulation of synaptic inhibition in the brain. In 1981, he was appointed assistant professor at Maryland, and was promoted to professor in 1991, with a secondary appointment in psychiatry awarded in 2004. in experimental psychology from Harvard University in 1977. is a professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
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