Cannabinoid molecules can calm your own body during stress

Under stress, your brain releases its own cannabinoids, activating the same receptors as THC from cannabis to aid relaxation. However, researchers did not fully understand how these cannabinoid molecules affect brain activity.

New Study Reveals How Brain’s Cannabinoids Combat Stress and Potential Therapy Insights

In response to stress, your brain releases cannabinoids that activate the same receptors as THC from cannabis plants. However, researchers did not fully understand how these cannabinoid molecules affect brain activity.

A recent mouse study from Northwestern Medicine has shown that the amygdala, a crucial emotional brain region, releases endogenous (body-produced) cannabinoid molecules under stress. Consequently, this reduces the intensity of the incoming stress signal from the hippocampus, the brain’s memory and emotional region.

These findings lend more credence to the idea that the body produces these endogenous cannabinoid molecules as a stress-reduction mechanism.

Stress exposure heightens the risk of developing or worsening psychiatric disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and major depression.

“Understanding how the brain adapts to stress at the molecular, cellular, and circuit levels could provide critical insight into how stress translates into mood disorders and may reveal novel therapeutic targets for treating stress-related disorders,” said Dr. Sachi Patel, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Medicine and chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Northwestern researchers used a novel sensor to detect high-frequency amygdala activity and cannabinoid molecules in real time. Additionally, the sensor demonstrated that these molecules were released by mice under various forms of stress.

Removing cannabinoid receptor type 1 in mice impaired their stress handling and motivation, highlighting its crucial role.

Exploring Cannabinoid Molecules: A New Frontier in Treating Stress-Related Disorders

After stress exposure, mice exhibited more passive and immobile responses and showed a lower preference for drinking sweetened sucrose water when scientists eliminated the receptor target of these endogenous cannabinoids at hippocampal-amygdala synapses. The latter finding could relate to anhedonia, or decreased pleasure, commonly experienced by people with stress-related disorders like depression and PTSD.

The endocannabinoid system is a key signaling pathway and a prime candidate for drug development in stress-related disorders.

Patel says increasing endogenous cannabinoids could be a key therapeutic step for stress-related disorders, following this study’s findings. “There are ongoing clinical trials in this area that may be able to answer this question in the near future.”