Cannabis News: How Marijuana Reacts In The Brain's Motor Skills And Coordination; Study

More states are legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. But, for some, it is for recreation. Experts now are investigating how cannabis affects the motor skills.

The new study searches for the long-term effect of cannabis. The researchers compile multiple studies and found that smoking marijuana can impair human motor skills and coordination, even when the smoker is no longer high.

In the review, researchers revealed that people who used marijuana had differences in some parts of the brain labeled as the corticostriatal networks compared to people who does not use it. The areas are linked to control and motor learning. Also, according to the studies that are included in the review, it can also affect people's memory, ability to switch between tasks and the reaction time.

The review includes 14 studies published between the years 1992 to 2015. It specifically looks at the cannabis users' motor function. Also, the review includes the connection of the cannabis users to the cognitive functions, HiTech Days reported.

A postdoctoral research scientist and the review's lead author from the University of Dallas, Texas, Shikha Prashad shared that, "While we found many inconsistent results between studies, the general consensus supports [the idea that there are] cognitive and motor impairments associated with cannabis use."

As follows, when the researchers gathered all the previous studies, the result showed that marijuana "may change the way brain regions process information and communication, in a way that affects people's motor control." In addition, the changes may be the basis of potential impairments in the processing of cognitive and motor information, thus affecting the capability to learn new motor skills, Parshad explained in an interview with Live Science.

However, future studies may help them completely understand the connection between the use of marijuana and motor learning. "The motor-learning field is rich with [ideas] that can be applied to study the effects of cannabis use on cognitive and motor processes," Prashad added.

Meanwhile, cannabis users fight for the positive effects of marijuana. More countries have seen the effects. Therefore, more cannabis-related laws are being passed.