CBD Oil for better memory?
21 February 2022We need our memory from the moment we are born. All we learn about everyday life, language, play, cultural practices, relationships, songs, or faces is crucial for our social participation. Memory problems can affect all aspects of life, from work to studies or family life and beyond. Memory loss can be caused by ageing, brain damage, or specific medical conditions. We know that CBD Oil can affect various processes in the brain, but can it help improve memory, too? This blog explains.
How critical is your memory?
Most of us never realise how often we use our memory. Still, without it, we wouldn’t last a day in our complex modern society. Your memory is much more than just a hard drive for storing information: it is also your only means of retrieving the right information precisely when needed. Moreover, your memories colour all new impressions you gain and store, as this process involves linking these impressions with existing memories to give them meaning. All in all, your memory is incredibly valuable: all the more reason to see whether CBD Oil can be of any help here.
Your brain is continuously processing information, storing what seems useful whole discarding useless static straight to forgetfulness. You want to remember the face of your colleague, but you’ll probably forget about the red sweater she wore today. All day long, your memory stores information for you: from how to get to the supermarket to that interesting fact you noticed on your favourite online newsfeed.
Memory storage and retrieval
Of course, we all forget things we really wanted to remember. We’re bound to forget where we left our keys sometimes, or what our best friend told us last week. Such occasional memory loss is nothing to worry about. However, if problems seem to take on a more chronic nature, you may want to seek medical advice. Memory problems usually express themselves in one of the following ways:
- Information processing issues;
- Problems retaining new information;
- Problems retrieving existing memories.
Serious memory problems can make it difficult to fully understand other people. Those affected frequently find it hard to look after themselves, or to participate in everyday activities.
Memory loss, also known as amnesia, usually involves multiple brain areas at once. One structure which is often involved is the hippocampus, a crucial structure for remembering new information. Various forms of memory loss exist. Anterograde amnesia indicates problems generating and storing new memories, although existing memories largely remain intact. Retrograde amnesia, by contrast, involves difficulty recalling past events, even though new memories continue to be stored. We often see the latter kind occur after brain injuries.
Causes of memory loss
Amnesia can be temporary, but it can also be a permanent problem. It can be caused by damage to the various brain structures involved in memory, or by disease. Factors that affect temporary memory loss include stress, alcohol consumption, depression, or narcosis. Permanent memory loss can result from brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, or bodily harm such as skull fractures or strokes. There has been a recent upsurge in attention for Long Covid as a cause of memory problems.
How can CBD Oil affect memory?
You can think of your body as a giant organic machine, in which a whole host of processes run automatically. There is one system, however, that helps keep all these processes run smoothly in concert: the ECS (endocannabinoid system). This system affects a whole range of other processes, including rhythms of sleeping and waking, blood pressure, the immune system, and memory too. It does so by using cannabinoids that interact with receptors. CBD, derived from hemp plants, can work by this same mechanism because the body recognises it as its own.
Receptors spread throughout the central nervous system enable CBD (cannabidiol) to influence our memory. Several studies have demonstrated that CBD Oil can help people who struggle with memory issues. So far, however, clinical studies into CBD’s effect on memory are still few and far between. Below, we state what science can tell us based on current evidence.
CBD Oil and memory: Alzheimer’s and dementia
Dementia comes in various forms, which are related to either damage to blood vessels or to accumulation of protein plaque. These cause inflammation within the brain that makes matters worse. These are degenerative conditions for which no cure has yet been found. Patients gradually become more forgetful, making it ever harder for them to make sense of the world around them.
What makes CBD Oil so particularly interesting when it comes to dementia and other memory problems, is its neuroprotective potential. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, and it is capable of promoting neurogenesis. Neurogenesis is the process by which the brain creates new neurons. Since dementia involves both inflammation and brain cell damage, CBD may help slow down or even prevent these processes. A study published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience claimed that production of new neurons can enable the brain to store new information, by which it could also generate new memories.
Amnesia caused by stress and anxiety
Stress and anxiety can also cause memory loss. The aforementioned hippocampus brain structure involved in storing memories can become overburdened by chronic stress. Eventually, stress can even cause a loss of connections between nerve cells. Long-term stress can therefore actually cause brain damage.
Studies into the influence of CBD on brain cells point out that this cannabinoid can help limit stress-induced brain damage. In times of stress, our body produces its own cannabinoids (called endocannabinoids) to protect the brain and to repair damage, as research has shown. Taking CBD Oil can further boost this capacity, making it a potential natural means of restoring and protecting memory.
CBD and brain damage
Trauma-induced brain damage is another possible cause of amnesia. Here, all the properties of CBD mentioned above can prove useful, too. Brain damage involves inflammation and damage to brain cells. CBD supports and stimulates the body to produce new neurons, as well as helping to reduce inflammation. Furthermore, CBD can help improve circulation. Increased blood flow helps take oxygen and nutrients where they are needed faster, which can also promote recovery. These are all potential ways in which CBD Oil can help protect memory function after brain damage.
Can CBD Oil help to improve memory?
Even though we learn more about the human brain every day, it is still the most complex puzzle that science is trying to understand. Even so, who we are depends largely on the memories that we hold inside. That explains why they are so precious to us. If you want to take good care of your memory (or the memories of others), CBD Oil may be able to help.
Although we still have much to learn about our brains in general and about memory in particular, the natural potential of this cannabinoid appears instrumental in protecting the memories we cherish. It is safe for everyday use, as substantiated by World Health Organization WHO, and it has very few side-effects. CBD cannot make you ‘high’, so you can just keep functioning as usual. Always choose first-class Full Spectrum CBD Oil or CBD Tablets if you are looking for natural support of your memory capacity.
