A study published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol found that long-term cannabis users experience interfered with sleep and memory. The findings highlighted an association between sleep problems and poor visuospatial memory performance. The study is one of the first to explore the effects of cannabis use on sleep and memory together since previous studies focused on sleep and memory separately.
The researchers compared 141 chronic cannabis users to 87 non-users. The study defined chronic use as consuming cannabis more than 5 days per week during the past year. The researchers categorized this excessive use as Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD). The non-user control group consisted of participants who did not use cannabis in the past 3 months and had five or fewer occasions of cannabis use in the past year. The researchers recruited the participants from two sites in Dallas, Texas, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that used similar protocols for a more extensive study investigating the effects of cannabis consumption on cognition.
The researchers determined the participants’ CUD severity using the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Task-Revised (CUDIT-R). They assessed other drug use utilizing a Substance Use History (SUH) questionnaire data analysis evaluated other drug use as well as frequency and quantity of cannabis use. The study also included an examination of one item from the Marijuana Withdrawal Checklist (MWC) to evaluate sleep patterns.
Participants reported the frequency of sleep problems within the past week and completed various cognitive assessments. These tests assessed their verbal memory, visuospatial learning, and memory performance. The study found no significant difference in verbal memory between the two groups, but it did reveal the relationship between poor-quality sleep and CUD impacts on spatial memory.
The researchers recommended minimizing cannabis use to reduce the negative impact on brain health. Many people claim that cannabis facilitates sleep, but more research on different cannabinoids and how they influence sleep is needed to determine regular cannabis consumption use’s influence on sleep and memory.
Sources: The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol, Neuroscience News