This is Why CBD Oil and Your Brain Have an Amazing Relationship!

person Larry Ostrovsky
calendar_today Oct 21, 2020

We know—and you probably do too—that looking after our gray matter is just as important as staying in shape, eating a balanced diet, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. That’s why today, we’re going to discuss the ways CBD oil affects your brain.

As we get older, many of us actively seek knowledge about activities and supplements to improve our memory and cognition, keeping our brains in optimum condition. By the time you’ve read this article, you’ll be up to date with everything we know about CBD oil and the effects of CBD on the brain.

The ways CBD oil affects your brain.

Read on to discover:

How CBD oil helps to boost blood flow to the brain, aiding functions like memory and decision making.
How CBD may have neuroprotective properties, which could help to avoid or slow the progression of some of the world’s most common neurological disorders.
How CBD interacts with the brain to regulate and manage pain.
The potential antipsychotic properties of CBD.
How CBD could protect the brain from the effects of THC.

Throughout this article, we’ll reference the most up-to-date, relevant scientific research so that all of our readers have access to the latest information about CBD and the brain.

1. What Is the Effect of CBD on the Brain?
2. CBD Oil and the Brain: CBD Could Help Memory Processing by Boosting Blood Flow
3. CBD Shows Promise for People Living with Alzheimer’s
4. CBD for the Brain: A Natural Neuroprotective
5. CBD, Multiple Sclerosis, and Pain Management
6. CBD Could Have Antipsychotic Properties
7. CBD: Stress, Depression, and Anxiety
8. CBD as a Treatment for Epilepsy
9. CBD Oil, Anxiety, and Improved Sleep
10. Final Thoughts on CBD’s Positive Effects on the Brain

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1. What Is the Effect of CBD on the Brain?

Inside our bodies is an intricate system composed of neurotransmitters and receptors known as the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS works to regulate a range of physiological and cognitive processes throughout the body. This includes stress response, appetite, pain, and memory, to name a few.

Like a match made in heaven, the cannabis and hemp plants contain over 110 active cannabinoids that bind to and stimulate our ECS receptors. The two most prevalent receptors are known as CB1 and CB2. Scientists believe that our CB1 receptors help to regulate coordination, mood, and appetite. Our CB2 receptors, however, primarily affect the immune system, inflammation, and pain.

Both THC and CBD influence the brain receptors associated with pleasure, thinking, coordination, time perception, and memory in very different ways.

Both THC and CBD influence the brain receptors associated with pleasure, thinking, coordination, time perception, and memory in very different ways. THC is psychoactive and creates a “high” feeling in users. CBD is non-psychoactive and can even reduce some of the psychoactive properties of THC when the two cannabinoids are taken together.

CBD has a much milder interaction with our ECS receptors when compared to THC, binding loosely to our CB1 receptors and helping to promote homeostasis—the state of balance and optimal functioning of all systems—throughout the brain and body.

2. CBD Oil and the Brain: CBD Could Help Memory Processing by Boosting Blood Flow

For decades, cannabis was generally considered to be bad for the brain. The stereotypical “stoner” image displayed giddy confusion and forgetfulness in cannabis users.

Back in the 1980s, famous commercials such as “This is your brain on drugs” helped to influence public opinion on the effects of cannabis on the brain. Today, however, the myriad options including CBD oil derived from hemp have come a long way, as has research on CBD for the brain.

The truth is, thousands of successful people use hemp-derived products such as CBD capsules, CBD tinctures, and even CBD sleep formulas without any adverse effects. Additionally, there is an expanding body of research that demonstrates that CBD can be useful for the brain.

A group of researchers in the UK recently studied the relationship between consuming CBD and memory processing. [1]

Their main goal was to explore how CBD can influence cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the parts of the brain that control memory processing. To establish this information, a double-blind study with 15 participants was conducted. Each participant was administered either 600 mg of CBD or a placebo on different days.

The researchers used a process called arterial spin labeling several hours after ingestion to assess participants’ episodic memory and working memory.

Research shows the potential for CBD to alleviate a range of conditions associated with changes in memory processing.

Now, here’s what’s awesome!

Their findings revealed that CBD use helps to increase cerebral blood flow to vital regions of the brain involved in processing memory, notably in the hippocampus. These results show the potential for CBD to alleviate a range of conditions associated with changes in memory processing.

These conditions include schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, cannabis use disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

3. CBD Shows Promise for People Living with Alzheimer’s

Clearly, this study showed potential promise for CBD use to relieve some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is a neurological disease that gradually destroys memory and other vital mental functions. At the time of writing, treatments vary in their effectiveness, and there is no cure. With over five million Americans currently living with Alzheimer’s, any help that CBD can provide could be essential to help manage the symptoms of cognitive decline. [2]

In 2016, the Salk Institute conducted a study revealing that cannabinoids—particularly THC—could potentially treat Alzheimer’s. [3]

CBD may be effective in managing some symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s.

In this study, researchers concluded that inflammation inside the brain is a massive component of the damage that Alzheimer’s causes. Previously, it was thought that this response came from immune cells in the brain rather than the brain’s nerve cells. As the researchers identified the molecular basis for this inflammation, it became clear that THC-like compounds made naturally inside the nerve cells could protect the cells from dying.

CBD is a THC-like compound, and therefore, THC, CBD, and similar cannabinoids may be effective in managing some symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s.

4. CBD for the Brain: A Natural Neuroprotective

CBD has neuroprotectant properties, meaning that it can help to reduce damage to the nervous system and brain while encouraging the development and growth of new neurons. (Click to Tweet)

Oxidative stress caused by genetic disorders, traumatic blows, ischemia (lack of blood flow), or immune problems can lead to permanent brain damage. However, studies have revealed that CBD can improve recovery and protect against this damage. [4] (Click to Tweet)

This evidence suggests that CBD products could be used therapeutically to alleviate strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord diseases, and spinal cord injuries.

Evidence suggests that CBD could help to encourage healing and minimize neural cell damage.

What’s more…

The neuroprotective properties of CBD could potentially be beneficial in slowing and limiting the progression of various neurological disorders. (Click to Tweet)

This includes:

epilepsy
Parkinson’s disease
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
multiple sclerosis (MS)

Although research is ongoing regarding CBD’s efficacy to promote neuron and cell health, current evidence suggests that CBD could help to encourage healing and minimize neural cell damage.

5. CBD, Multiple Sclerosis, and Pain Management

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that impacts the entire body via the nerves and the brain. One of the most common symptoms of MS is muscle spasms, which can lead to constant pain for some people.

A report looking into the “therapeutic effects of cannabinoids” revealed that short-term use of CBD oil might help to reduce spasticity levels in MS patients. [5]

There is valid evidence to suggest that cannabis and CBD can effectively contribute to chronic pain management in adults.

Although these results are relatively modest, many people reported improved symptoms after taking CBD oil. That said, more human studies are required to verify these results.

The same report looked at CBD use for chronic pain. Researchers compiled the results of many systematic reviews covering multiple studies and trials. The research concluded that there is valid evidence to suggest that cannabis and CBD can effectively contribute to chronic pain management in adults.

Another study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine backs these results. [6]

If we consider both these sets of research combined with a wealth of anecdotal evidence, it’s apparent that CBD helps to reduce levels of pain and inflammation.

If we consider research combined with a wealth of anecdotal evidence, it’s apparent that CBD helps to reduce levels of pain and inflammation.

6. CBD Could Have Antipsychotic Properties

A recent study has revealed that CBD use can alter brain activity during memory tasks in people living with psychosis. [7]

During this study, brain scans were taken of people previously diagnosed with psychosis after they had ingested CBD. The brain scans gave essential insights into the areas of the brain that CBD impacts.

Researchers used MRI scans to read the brain activity of 13 people living with psychosis after they had taken a single dose of CBD or a placebo.

The results showed that as the participants completed set tasks, activity patterns changed in some regions of the brain in the participants who had taken a placebo.

CBD can influence areas of the brain that have shown to harbor unusual activity in people diagnosed with psychosis.

Now here’s something amazing…

For the participants who were given a single dose of CBD, the activity in these brain areas was more similar to the activity of people without psychosis undertaking the same tasks.

Although this study only worked with 13 participants, the results indicate that CBD can influence areas of the brain that have shown to harbor unusual activity in people diagnosed with psychosis. That said, psychotic symptoms showed a decreasing trend on all participants who took a single dose of CBD.

In fact, there has been a spike of interest in the use of CBD as an alternative to popular antipsychotic medicines recently. This is because CBD could be more tolerable and useful for the subset of patients who fail to respond to antipsychotic medications. [8] (Click to Tweet)

7. CBD: Stress, Depression, and Anxiety

Whereas THC has been known to amplify anxiety levels in some people, a 2015 study by Neurotherapeutics revealed that CBD could help to reduce anxiety in people suffering from anxiety disorders. [9]

CBD could help to reduce anxiety in people suffering from anxiety disorders.

What’s more, the various neurological effects of CBD could open the door to its use as an alternative to existing pharmaceutical medications. (Click to Tweet)

Many of the current drugs used to treat depression and anxiety have a range of adverse effects. These can include:

weight gain
mood swings
sleeplessness
sexual dysfunction

In all the studies conducted to study CBD and its efficacy, very few severe side effects have surfaced.

8. CBD as a Treatment for Epilepsy

A 2014 study published in Epilepsia revealed that CBD could be effective in treating some forms of epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric disorders. [10]

As CBD has antiseizure properties, there is a reduced risk of adverse side effects in people who are living with epilepsy. For this reason, in 2018, the FDA approved Epidiolex, a drug that treats two rare forms of childhood epilepsy with CBD as the main active ingredient.

In 2018, the FDA approved a drug that treats two rare forms of childhood epilepsy with CBD as the main active ingredient.

Additionally, there are ongoing studies into CBD and the treatment of neurodegeneration, psychiatric diseases, and neuronal injury.

9. CBD Oil, Anxiety, and Improved Sleep

We’ve established that CBD may help to reduce levels of anxiety. As anxiety is lifted, difficulties with sleeping could improve. Additionally, as CBD potentially subdues chronic pain, it could help to increase the overall number of hours that you sleep. [11] (Click to Tweet)

At low doses, CBD can help reduce daytime sleepiness and induce wakefulness. However, in large doses taken a couple of hours before bedtime, CBD can provide a balancing effect that could help to promote a good night’s sleep. (Click to Tweet)

Reducing anxiety and increasing calm leads to deeper sleep and more energy throughout the day. Our advanced sleep formula has been specifically designed to help encourage a restful night’s sleep.

10. Final Thoughts on CBD’s Positive Effects on the Brain

It’s clear that cannabidiol has a range of positive effects on the brain. As CBD continues to rise in popularity, so does the number of anecdotal accounts and scientific studies regarding its effects.

That said, there is still a real need for advanced clinical trials involving humans to confirm a lot of CBD’s positive neurological effects. Although CBD’s synergistic relationship with the human brain and ECS appears profound, more confirmatory studies will further prove its efficacy.

As always, we recommend sourcing your CBD from an established seller that provides third-party lab testing results on their website or social media pages. If you’re considering supplementing with CBD for a neurological condition, please speak to your doctor first. This is particularly relevant if you are currently taking prescribed medications, as CBD could interact with these medications.