Study Shows Cannabis Use Boosts Brain Effort in Motor Tasks

A new study published in Human Brain Mapping suggests that regular cannabis users may require more brain activity to perform simple motor tasks, despite performing equally well as nonusers. The study used magnetoencephalography to compare neural oscillations in regular cannabis users and nonusers while they performed a motor sequencing task, finding stronger beta frequency band oscillations in the cannabis users during the execution phase of the task. The researchers speculate that these stronger neural oscillations may reflect a compensatory mechanism to maintain normal motor performance despite potential impairments caused by cannabis, but caution that these differences in brain activity may be precursors of future behavioral deficits.