- Cannabis users more empathetic.
- Study conducted in Mexico.
- Potential therapeutic uses explored.
A new study reveals that regular cannabis users are more empathetic than those who do not use the substance.
Individuals who consume joints regularly exhibit an enhanced capacity to empathize with others and understand their emotions.
Study Method and Findings
Researchers from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma in Mexico administered a 33-item questionnaire assessing empathic abilities to 81 cannabis users and 51 non-users of the psychoactive substance.
The questionnaire examined emotional comprehension, which is the ability to recognize and understand the emotions of others, and perspective-taking, which is the capacity to put oneself in the shoes of another.
Additionally, the researchers examined whether the participants could discriminate between positive and negative emotions and act accordingly.
They conducted brain scans on smokers and non-smokers for approximately half a week to identify differences in activity in regions associated with perceiving the emotions of others.
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Cannabis users scored higher on the empathy test and had greater connectivity in regions associated with emotion, such as the anterior cingulate near the front of the brain, according to findings published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research.
Contrasting Views on Cannabis Effects
The results are consistent with recent reports that have implicated the substance in adverse health effects, such as an elevated susceptibility to heart attacks and schizophrenia.
The researchers offer no explanation for the observed effect.
On the contrary, alternative viewpoints have posited that prolonged cannabis consumption may induce lasting, favorable transformations in personality as a result of its influence on specific cerebral regions.
The Mexican team involved in the present study, however, issued the following caveat: “We cannot rule out the possibility that these differences existed prior to the users’ cannabis use.”
Significantly, the results might vary in the United States since the potency of marijuana in Mexico, the country where the research was carried out, is generally higher than in the United States.
Also the smoked cannabis in the study comprised a mere two to ten percent by weight of the psychoactive compound THC. The average THC concentration in certain U.S. states per joint is between 10 and 17%.
“Although additional research is required, these findings provide a promising avenue for investigating the potential therapeutic uses of cannabis in individuals with social interaction deficits, including avoidant personality disorder, sociopathy, and social anxiety,” said Víctor Olalde-Mathieu, PhD, co-author from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
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