Experts say that the results, if borne out by further studies, could have far-reaching implications for addiction research and the application of marijuana in medicine.
For several years now, researchers have been interested in how drugs affect a part of the brain known as the hippocampus. This region is unusual in that it can grow new neurons throughout a person's lifetime.
Researchers have theorized that these new cells help to improve memory while combating depression and mood disorders.
Researchers injected rats with HU210, a synthetic drug that is about one-hundred times as powerful as THC, the high-inducing compound naturally found in marijuana.
They found that HU210 seemed to induce new brain cell growth, just as some antidepressant drugs do; this suggests that they could potentially be used to reduce anxiety and depression.
