What Does CBD Do To Your Brain?

CBD or cannabidiol is not a psychotropic cannabinoid of cannabis. It does not cause psychotropic effects in the body, but it has a number of beneficial properties. In medicine, CBD is able to treat various diseases and to improve a person’s emotional state. Currently, medicine is carefully studying all the exact effects that this substance causes. So, what does CBD do to your brain?

CBD helps reset the brain in psychosis

In 2017, there was a  study of the antipsychotic qualities of cannabidiol. Through experiments, researchers found that a single dose of CBD can help reduce abnormal brain function for people with psychosis.

In the study, researchers studied a group of 33 young people with some unpleasant psychotic symptoms, and 19 healthy people. The medics scanned the participants’ brains via MRI during their brain activity. As expected in people with psychotic symptoms, brain responses were pathological relative to healthy participants. However, the brains of participants who took CBD showed less abnormal activity. This proved that CBD can help reset brain activity to normal levels.

CBD for treating concussions

The anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of CBD have led doctors to study this substance in treating brain injuries. A concussion results in poor blood flow to the brain, which increases calcium levels in brain cells and thus impairs a number of brain functions. CBD and cannabinoids, however, are known to affect the flow of calcium in cells.

CBD inhibits the capture of anandamide (AEA) from cell synapses (the space between neurons), and this is the reason for the neuroprotective effect of CBD. Moreover, the TRPV 1 receptor controls certain mechanisms in blood vessels, and therefore the effect of CBD on TRPV 1 may protect against blood flow disruption in the brain.

CBD also acts on A2A receptors, which affect inflammation by enhancing anti-inflammatory effects. CBD also provides neuroprotective effects via the 5HT1A serotonin receptor and CB2 / HT1A dimerization. This suggests promising potential for treating concussions with CBD.

Because CBD is fat soluble, it can cross the blood-brain barrier and have a protective effect on neurons.  

Soon after concussion, there is an increase in the production of free radicals. CBD affects oxidative processes and thereby reduces the amount of free radicals.

CBD improves mood

CBD is great for lifting your mood, improving your emotional state, and moreover fighting depression and anxiety. This is probably one of the main reasons for using CBD.

Anxiety and depression are common mental health disorders that can have devastating effects on health and well-being. Through a Brazilian experiment on 57 men, CBD was found to cut anxiety better than placebo.

CBD helps relieve stress by causing the serotonin receptors in the brain to produce more cortisol, which is responsible for emotions. Because of its ability to control mood, it seems possible to consider it exactly both a neuroleptic and an antidepressant. Including in cases of social withdrawal or when the patient weakly expresses emotions. The improvement comes with increased levels of anandamide in the blood, which is our internal cannabinoid.

When it reacts with a receptor such as dopamine, it can help the body produce more cannabinoids and regulate behavior and cognition. One of the main reasons CBD has gained notoriety is its ability to act on serotonin receptors, which can help with disorders other than depression and anxiety, insomnia, schizophrenia and migraine.

Neuroplasticity and CBD

Enhancing neuroplasticity in the brain is important for a variety of reasons. It allows recovery from some events that have damaged the brain, such as a stroke or brain injury. Nerves recover to restore normal brain function in good cases or at least improve function slightly in more severe cases.

A 2017 study examined whether CBD affects cognitive and emotional impairment in mice with bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO). They found that CBD prevents both cognitive and emotional impairment, reduces nerve cell breakdown in the hippocampal region of the brain, reduces white matter damage, and reduces a glial response from the BCCAO. CBD has also been found to affect cell regulatory pathways that deal with autophagy (cell suicide) and other important pathways that deal with nerve cell destruction.