{"id":2000121852,"date":"2026-08-08T20:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121852"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:19:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:19:26","slug":"teen-cannabis-use-linked-to-slower-memory-and-thinking-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/teen-cannabis-use-linked-to-slower-memory-and-thinking-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen cannabis use linked to slower memory and thinking growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, analysed data from 11,036 children who were followed from ages 9 and 10 through ages 16 and 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers monitored changes in their cognitive abilities while also tracking cannabis use and exposure to other substances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, the largest long term investigation of brain development among young people in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers found that teenagers who used cannabis showed slower improvement across several areas of cognitive performance, including memory, attention, language and processing speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some participants who later began using cannabis initially performed as well as, or slightly better than, their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as they grew older and began using cannabis, their cognitive development tended to level off, while teenagers who did not use cannabis continued to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To measure cannabis exposure more accurately, researchers combined participants\u2019 reports with biological testing. y<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hair, urine and saliva samples were used to identify exposure ranging from recent cannabis use to use that had occurred several months earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers also examined whether individual compounds in cannabis were associated with different cognitive outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a smaller group of participants, teenagers with evidence of exposure to tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, experienced greater declines in memory performance over time than teenagers without evidence of cannabis use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers did not observe the same pattern among teenagers with evidence of cannabidiol, or CBD, exposure, although the number of participants in that group was limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings point to THC as a likely contributor to the changes observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the differences in cognitive performance were relatively modest, researchers said they could still be meaningful because adolescence is a critical period for brain development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small changes in memory, attention or thinking speed could potentially affect learning, classroom performance and everyday activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the researchers stressed that the study does not prove that cannabis directly caused the slower cognitive development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental conditions, personality traits and other factors could also contribute to the differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers adjusted their analysis for several possible influences, including family background, mental health, use of other substances and participants\u2019 cognitive abilities before cannabis use began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team plans to continue following the participants into young adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future research could help determine whether the age at which cannabis use begins and how frequently it is used influence long term brain development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers say delaying cannabis use may support healthier brain development during adolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A new study has examined how cannabis use may affect the developing teenage brain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teenagers who begin using cannabis may experience slower development in memory, attention, language and processing speed, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000121853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121853,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/cannabis-effects-brain-mental-health.webp","width":1920,"height":1080}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121868,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121852\/revisions\/2000121868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121852"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121852"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}