Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA) Copyright: 2003 Athens Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.onlineathens.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535 Author: Kate Carter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) RAT STUDY SHOWS USING DOPE KILLS BRAIN CELLS University of Georgia research Learn a lesson from rats: don't smoke dope and drive. University of Georgia researchers have unveiled a study suggesting that someone smoking marijuana might be able to do a task briefly, but could experience serious long-term attention-span problems that interfere with the successful completion of the task. While this might not be a shocking revelation to some, said Jonathon Crystal, a UGA assistant professor in psychology and the research leader, the study shows that many tasks - like driving a car - can seem do-able for someone under the influence of marijuana, when actually they are not. "We gave the animals these marijuana-like compounds and it had a profound effect on their ability to keep track of time. Before the drugs, they were very good at the task - they were virtually perfect. While they were on the drugs, their performance dropped substantially," said Crystal. "... Probably the most telling part (of the study) is sustained attention. Someone might think they could operate a car, and then it turns out they can't." The research was conducted on rats, but rather than coaxing the rats to smoke a joint, the scientists injected the 300-gram subjects with a synthetic, potent substance that is similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. The rats were trained to push levers that corresponded with short and long noises in exchange for tasty morsels of "rat chow." When they were under the influence, they forgot to pay attention, and could no longer discriminate between long noises and short bursts. While the rats don't experience major physical changes when under the influence, "they can look a little zoned, that's for sure," said Andrea Hohmann, a UGA assistant professor of psychology who worked on the study. She said the only real evidence of the rats' impairment was their inability to complete the task they had been trained to do. "Individuals might think they can write a term paper, for example, but in actuality, they won't be able to do it," she said. The study, funded by a federal grant of approximately $140,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will be published soon in the journal Behavioural Brain Research. One of the co-authors, Kenneth Maxwell, a UGA research coordinator, said that when he tells strangers what his occupation is, they almost never believe him. "If I just say, 'I inject rats with drugs,' they say, 'No, you don't. Tell me what you really do,'" he laughed. Likewise, Hohmann said her students "get a laugh" out of the picture of "a brain on drugs," and are generally surprised to hear that a human brain has many cannabinoid receptors, which allow the body to produce its own marijuana-like substance, helping to soothe pain. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh