“Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop following exposure to a traumatic event. Hence, what we do in the first few hours after trauma exposure may alter the trajectory of PTSD. We examined whether cannabinoids can prevent the effects of a single footshock followed by situational reminders (SRs) on emotional processing…
Cannabinoids Prevent the Effects of a Footshock Followed by Situational Reminders on Emotional Processing.”
“Clinical research from New Mexico supports a conclusion that smoking cannabis [marijuana] is associated with PTSD symptom reduction in some patients.”
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/
“The endocannabinoid system plays a major role in modulating memory. In the present study, we examined whether cannabinoid agonists influence the consolidation of stimulus-response/habit memory, a form of memory dependent upon the dorsolateral striatum (DLS)…
The results indicate that peripheral or intra-DLS administration of a cannabinoid receptor agonist impairs consolidation of DLS-dependent memory. The findings are discussed within the context of previous research encompassing cannabinoids and DLS-dependent learning and memory processes, and the possibility that cannabinoids may be used to treat some habit-like human psychopathologies (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder) is considered.”
“New Mexico was the first state to list post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a condition for the use of medical cannabis. There are no published studies, other than case reports, of the effects of cannabis on PTSD symptoms. The purpose of the study was to report and statistically analyze psychometric data on PTSD symptoms collected during 80 psychiatric evaluations of patients applying to the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program from 2009 to 2011…
Greater than 75% reduction in CAPS (Clinician Administered Posttraumatic Scale) symptom scores were reported when patients were using cannabis compared to when they were not.
Cannabis is associated with reductions in PTSD symptoms in some patients, and prospective, placebo-controlled study is needed to determine efficacy of cannabis and its constituents in treating PTSD.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24830188
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/
“…several studies have suggested benefits of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) for patients with anxiety disorders.
Elevated fear is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of particular anxiety disorders. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the dietary n-3 to n-6 PUFA (3/6) ratio influences fear memory…
These results suggest that the ratio of n-3 to n-6 PUFA is a factor regulating fear memory via cannabinoid CB1 receptors.”
“The use of cannabis for medical purposes is proliferating in the U.S., and PTSD is an explicitly approved condition for accessing medical cannabis in 5 states. Prior research suggests that people with PTSD often use cannabis to help cope with their condition…
Those with high PTSD scores were more likely to use cannabis to improve sleep, and for coping reasons more generally, compared with those with low PTSD scores. Cannabis use frequency was greater among those with high PTSD scores who used for sleep promoting purposes compared with those with low PTSD scores or those who did not use for sleep promoting purposes.
Consistent with prior research, this study found increased rates of coping-oriented use of cannabis and greater frequency of cannabis use among medical users with high PTSD scores compared with low PTSD scores. In addition, sleep improvement appears to be a primary motivator for coping-oriented use…”
“The present study investigated the effects of systemic or intra-dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG) administration of CB1 agonists on behavioural changes induced in rats by predator (a live cat) exposure, a model of panic responses…
These results suggest that modulation of the cannabinoid system could be a target in the treatment of panic disorders…”
“Extensive evidence indicates that endocannabinoids modulate cognitive processes in animal models and human subjects. However, the results of endocannabinoid system manipulations on cognition have been contradictory. As for anxiety behavior, a duality has indeed emerged with regard to cannabinoid effects on memory for emotional experiences. Here we summarize findings describing cannabinoid effects on memory acquisition, consolidation, retrieval and extinction. Additionally, we review findings showing how the endocannabinoid system modulates memory function differentially, depending on the level of stress and arousal associated with the experimental context. Based on the evidence reviewed here, we propose that the endocannabinoid system is an emotional buffer that moderates the effects of environmental context and stress on cognitive processes.”
“Pre-extinction administration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) facilitates recall of extinction in healthy humans, and evidence from animal studies suggest that this likely involves via enhancement of the cannabinoid system within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and hippocampus (HIPP), brain structures critical to fear extinction…
This study provides the first evidence that pre-extinction administration of THC modulates prefrontal-limbic circuits during fear extinction in humans and prompts future investigation to test if cannabinoid agonists can rescue or correct the impaired behavioral and neural function during extinction recall in patients with PTSD.
Ultimately, the cannabinoid system may serve as a promising target for innovative intervention strategies (e.g. pharmacological enhancement of exposure-based therapy) in PTSD and other fear learning-related disorders.”
“Animal studies have shown that activation of the cannabinoid system during extinction learning enhances fear extinction and its retention. Specifically, CB1 receptor agonists, such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), can facilitate extinction recall by preventing recovery of extinguished fear…
We conducted a study using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subjects design, coupling a standard Pavlovian fear extinction paradigm and simultaneous skin conductance response (SCR) recording with an acute pharmacological challenge with oral dronabinol (synthetic THC) or placebo (PBO) 2 h prior to extinction learning in 29 healthy adult volunteers (THC = 14; PBO = 15) and tested extinction retention 24 h after extinction learning.
Compared to subjects that received PBO, subjects that received THC showed low SCR to a previously extinguished CS when extinction memory recall was tested 24 h after extinction learning, suggesting that THC prevented the recovery of fear.
These results provide the first evidence that pharmacological enhancement of extinction learning is feasible in humans using cannabinoid system modulators, which may thus warrant further development and clinical testing. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Cognitive Enhancers’.”