Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.
Pedro Marinho
PhD candidate, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Long-term effects of adolescent cannabis use and its interaction with schizophrenia
As cannabis legalization becomes more widespread, there is a great availability of cannabis products, devices, and roots of administration. For instance, there has been an increase in cannabis vaping consumption among adolescents. Adolescence is a critical stage for brain development, and it is during this period where most drug experimentation starts. Due to the vulnerability of the adolescent brain, despite its proposed therapeutical effects, cannabis use may present detrimental consequences. Along with that, cannabis consumption is a contributing factor for psychiatric vulnerability and up to 83% of patients with schizophrenia use cannabis. In my project, I investigate the intersection between cannabis, adolescence, and the development of schizophrenia. Specifically, I investigate the long-term neurobiological consequences of adolescent cannabis use in the adult brain. It will allow for the development of therapeutics to treat cannabis-induced detrimental effects, and to develop prevention strategies to reduce the harm of cannabis consumption in vulnerable individuals.
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