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Cannabis is known to cause cognitive impairment. These researchers identified a specific mechanism for the effects of a major active compound in marijuana — Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — on cognition and learning in mice.
Wild-type mice that received THC showed deficits in long-term memory on behavioral tasks; also, signaling increased in the hippocampal mTOR/p70S6K pathway and thereby increased protein synthesis. These THC biochemical effects were blocked by rimonabant, an antagonist of cannabinoid receptors (CBIR), and were absent in CBIR-knockout mice; thus, CBIR mediated these effects of THC. In wild-type mice, the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin decreased the amnestic effects of THC in object-recognition and context-recognition tasks; anisom…