“the reason i think this study is so great is we looked at all the different dimensions of cannabis use. the fact that we included all three is a huge contribution to the research because i do not believe such a study has been done before,” professor wong told neuroscience news.
other studies surrounding cannabis often focus on younger adults and their cognitive scores after using cannabis, and due to the different results, the new research may show that the age at which a person uses could be a mitigating factor in terms of cannabis’s role in protecting cognitive scores in middle-aged adults.
wong also told neuroscience news, “the main takeaway is that cannabis might be protective for our cognition,” later continuing, “we do not know if non-medical cannabis leads to better cognition or the other way around if those with better cognition are more likely to use non-medical cannabis.”
because of the study’s limitations, wong also stated that more research over a longer period is needed to see how the effects of cannabis use play out over time. “it is really crucial to have longitudinal studies because this is just a snapshot of 2021,” he told neuroscience news.
scd and dementia risk
subjective cognitive decline (scd) is a self-reported measure of memory loss or confusion and is a form of cognitive impairment. it acts as one of the earliest and most noticeable signs of alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases.
having scd in adulthood does not necessarily mean that a person will develop alzheimer’s or other dementia-related diseases. however,
research has shown
that it is associated with an increased incidence of mild cognitive impairment (mci), dementia due to alzheimer’s disease, and alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.