I'm not sure its wise to say "Cannabis" as a shorthand for "Low doses of THC."<p>The headline of the paper is: "A chronic low dose of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) restores cognitive function in old mice.<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v23/n6/full/nm.4311.html"" rel="nofollow">https://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v23/n6/full/nm.4311.html"</a><p>Which is interesting, but you shouldn't take it to mean smoking is good for your brain. We already have some data to suggest that smoking cannabis, at least while young, is linked to cognitive decline.<p>"Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife" (2012)<p><a href="http://m.pnas.org/content/109/40/E2657.full" rel="nofollow">http://m.pnas.org/content/109/40/E2657.full</a>
I hate these headlines for all medical research proven in mouse models. They should say "in mice" or "might" they're written to imply that it's already proven to work in humans.
I've seen that merely adding new context and information to an aging brain helps it. Taking a psychedelic would definitely cause a brain to experience reality in new ways. For that reason alone, the added stimulation may be enough to enrich the connections.
The basic principle at play here is that anything that is enjoyable cannot be good for you.<p>When you're young, and you do it recreationally, it is bad for you.<p>As you grow older, and it becomes an annoying distraction from what you want to get done, it suddenly becomes beneficial.
So counterintuitive that perhaps it has to be true!<p>From around the same time, so presumably an alternative regurgitation of the same press release: <a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-could-help-reverse-memory-13005800" rel="nofollow">http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/health/cannabis-could-h...</a><p>Choice quote: "But the benefits were only seen in older mice, said the researchers. When young animals were exposed to THC, their memory and learning performance got worse" - and I have to say that sounds more like my own experience of THC exposure as a young animal.<p>But maybe I should take up the habit again in my dotage?
Tiny hint:<p>there are hemp strains that are naturally low on THC (legal limit is low anyway) and also embed other cannabinoids like CBD (cannabidiol), which seems to be a potent anti inflammatory, and activates CB receptors (brain, GI tract). To summarize, it could be of use to grow non THC-heavy hemp and extract cannabinoids for your health.
I guess it won't help with braindead [1] politicians who refuse to legalize it.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4877736/" rel="nofollow">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4877736/</a>
Oh, so cannabis decreases entropy of the universe, how wonderful!<p>I wish I could have a chance to smoke what they had.<p>Ageing essentially is the same process as erosion of mountains. No amount of cannabis or LSD would help.