Jager Gerry, Ramsey Nick F
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2008 Jun;1(2):114-23. doi: 10.2174/1874473710801020114.
Over the last decade there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of frequent cannabis use among teenagers, accompanied by a decrease in age of first use. Evidence from both animal and human studies suggests that the severity of the effects of cannabis use on cognitive development is dependent on the age when cannabis use begins. One possible explanation is that those who begin cannabis use early in adolescence are more likely to become heavily dependent. It is plausible that chronic cannabis abuse will then interfere with educational and vocational training. From a more biological perspective, however, use of cannabis during critical developmental periods in the still maturing brain may induce persistent alterations in brain structure and brain function. Therefore, the effects of frequent cannabis use during adolescence could be different from and more serious than during adulthood, an issue increasingly recognized in the field of cannabis research. In this paper we review the relevant animal and human literature on long-term effects of frequent exposure to cannabis during adolescence on the development of cognition, brain structure and function, and discuss implications, methodological and conceptual issues, and future prospects.
在过去十年中，青少年频繁使用大麻的患病率稳步上升，同时首次使用大麻的年龄有所下降。动物和人体研究的证据表明，大麻使用对认知发展的影响严重程度取决于开始使用大麻的年龄。一种可能的解释是，那些在青春期早期开始使用大麻的人更有可能变得严重依赖。长期滥用大麻很可能会干扰教育和职业培训。然而，从更生物学的角度来看，在大脑仍在发育的关键时期使用大麻可能会导致大脑结构和功能的持续改变。因此，青少年频繁使用大麻的影响可能与成年期不同，且更为严重，这是大麻研究领域日益认识到的一个问题。在本文中，我们回顾了关于青少年频繁接触大麻对认知、大脑结构和功能发展的长期影响的相关动物和人体文献，并讨论了其影响、方法和概念问题以及未来前景。
