cannabisnews.com: Bird Study Shows Role of Cannabinoid Chemicals





Bird Study Shows Role of Cannabinoid Chemicals
Posted by CN Staff on November 17, 2004 at 18:48:02 PT
By Roger Segelken 
Source: Cornell Chronicle 
Some birds' already-amazing memories -- for the thousands of different spots where they cached their food -- can be further improved by blocking natural brain chemicals called cannabinoids, which resemble the active ingredient THC in marijuana. But improved memory can be a liability for cannabinoid-free birds, Cornell researchers have discovered: When their food is moved, birds without benefit of cannabinoids have trouble imagining where else the food might be. 
The discovery is reported in the Oct. 7 edition of the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences under the title "Cannabinoid Inhibition Improves Memory in Food-storing Birds." Timothy J. DeVoogd, the Cornell professor of psychology and of neurobiology and behavior who led the study, commented: "Since marijuana is known to impair formation of new memories in people, perhaps an anti-cannabinoid drug like the one we used in this research might improve the retention of a new memory in people, just as it does in birds. However, this research suggests that enhanced memory retention might come with a cost -- the loss of the ability to change the memory. Perhaps the reason cannabinoid sensitivity exists in the brain is to provide a balance in memory, between accuracy and flexibility." The biologists' study focused on food storage by black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla) and examined the function of a cannabinoid receptor called CB1-R in the birds' hippocampus, the same area of the brain used by humans for storing memories. CB1-R receptors react to changing levels of so-called endogenous cannabinoids, the natural hormones such as anadamide, circulating inside animals' bodies. Cannabinoids were named for cannabis plants, where the hormones were first identified. Since then, studies in other laboratories have suggested a variety of roles for the body's endogenous cannabinoid system -- ranging from pain control, reproduction, vision and immune function to learning, memory formation and retention. In the Cornell study, endogenous cannabinoids were blocked from reaching the birds' CB1-R receptors with a cannabinoid-antagonist drug called SR141716A. For chickadees treated with anti-cannabinoid drugs and for "control" birds receiving a placebo treatment that allowed endogenous cannabinoids to reach their brain receptors, the assigned task was a simpler form of a food-storage exercise wild birds perform thousands of times each season -- remembering where bits of food were hidden. First the chickadees were allowed to find a mealworm that scientists had placed in one of 19 identical feeding holes. Then the lights went out and the birds returned to their nests. Seventy-two hours later, when the birds were released to visit the feeders, knotted string had been stuffed in all 19 feeding holes to conceal the worm. Birds that had learned while on cannabinoid blockers were more successful at finding the hidden worm on the first try, while birds with endogenous cannabinoids reaching their brain receptors made more errors -- they pulled out several knotted strings before finding the food cache. Then the scientists changed the game plan. They placed a worm in a different feeding hole, allowed all the birds to find the new location and repeated the exercise. This time it was the cannabinoid-blocked birds that made more mistakes. They returned again and again to the hole where the first worm had been hidden. They frantically tugged on nearby knots to look for worms. But they couldn't seem to erase the memory of the first feeding hole and comprehend that the worm had been moved. However, birds with free-flowing cannabinoids took the change in stride. They wasted little time searching for worms in the first location and easily moved on to the next site. They were better able to do what food-storing birds outside the laboratory do naturally -- "extinguish the previous memory trace and avoid revisiting emptied cache sites," as the biologists explained in their report. Cannabinoid signaling was allowing the control birds to overcome the source of errors made by the cannabinoid-blocked birds, the so-called proactive interference in which an old memory interferes with a new one, such that the birds cannot shift attention to new sites. "It may be that both states of cannabinoid exposure, which we manipulated separately in our experiments, normally alternate in the same birds with such prodigious memories for food-storage sites," DeVoogd said. "Perhaps the endogenous cannabinoid system switches on and off, briefly reducing exposure to the chemical to help memories form, then increasing cannabinoid levels when the memory is no longer needed." Also conducting the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, were Alexander Z. Rankin, a Cornell undergraduate who is now in medical school at Loyola University; Michelle L. Tomaszycki, a research associate at Cornell; and Michael W. Shiflett, who is now a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. Complete Title: Bird Study Shows Role of Brain's Cannabinoid Chemicals in Dealing with Change Source: Cornell Chronicle (NY)Author: Roger Segelken Published: Volume 36, Number 14, November 18, 2004Copyright: 2004 Cornell Chronicle Contact: cunews cornell.edu Website: http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/Related Article & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmWhy The Caged Bird Sings - He's Stonedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19729.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on November 18, 2004 at 11:35:32 PT
Chicken?
Hmmm?Raise better chicken?Hemp and hemp seed fed chickens? Might be interesting. Might even be a source of fowl that had anti-cancer agents in it naturally because of the feed.Eggs from hemp fed hens? Hemp fed beef? Lots of interesting ideas there if the American producer were allowed to try such a thing.Being on a physician recommended low-carb diet that all sounds very interesting. Hemp fed chicken basted in Cannabutter? I'm making myself kind of hungry.
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Comment #16 posted by Max Flowers on November 18, 2004 at 10:18:02 PT
GCW
Interesting thought, but last I checked, chickadees and sparrows and such weren't in our human food chain...?
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Comment #15 posted by The GCW on November 18, 2004 at 06:39:07 PT
I thought I read,
That some birds seek out the cannabis / hemp seeds first, while flying around looking for food.The bird used to eat the hemp seed and We then ate the bird... Now it seems the bird eats a lot of crap and We eat the bird... which is what may be effecting Our immune system...
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Comment #14 posted by AgaetisByrjun on November 18, 2004 at 05:56:26 PT
Biased headline?
From what I can tell, the cannabinoid-inhibited birds were MUCH worse off than the normal ones and would do worse in the wild -- and the headline touts the memory benefits.A cannabinoid-inhibitor might be useful in some mental disorders, but I can't help feeling that it would be hellish: it'd be better than being a vegetable, true, but it seems an awfully robotic, emasculated existence.
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Comment #13 posted by goneposthole on November 18, 2004 at 05:45:09 PT
songbirds sing better, too
like a canary in a mineshaft. I'll bet good money that the miners made sure the canary had hemp seed.Louis Armstrong made his trumpet sound like a songbirdCarl Sagan- billions of songs in the starsRobert Parrish 'The Chief', former Celtic BB player He maybe couldn't sing, but Celtic fans did when he played.In the words of Bill Hicks, "Just a better world."
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Comment #12 posted by afterburner on November 18, 2004 at 03:33:34 PT
Consider This, Another Kind of Traffic
In many inner cities, the prohibitionist mindset applies to traffic and parking: no parking, no stopping, no standing, and parking meters. This control is understandable to ease rush hour congestion, but many of the restrictions exist 24/7 even during times when no benefit accrues from the restriction. Surveys have indicated that many people avoid the inner city core, favoring suburban malls, because of these restrictions, especially the parking meters. Some progressive cities have eliminated parking meters, to sacrifice the small city revenues from parking meters and fines, so that real businesses that generate sales tax and business income tax can flourish. The law enforcement officers in regressive city cores dutifully harass motorists with their blind allegiance to these parking restrictions, never realizing that they are actually costing the city money by driving away business. They operate like the birds with cannabinoid-blocking, unable to adapt to change of circumstance. The city councillors or aldermen, the ones who make the laws, are ultimately responsible for the maintenance of these out-dated parking restrictions. In many cases, as with federal or state cannabis prohibition, they lack the imagination to consider more progressive alternatives even though their budgets are suffering a financial crunch.
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Comment #11 posted by breeze on November 18, 2004 at 00:10:37 PT
Unrelated to birds- unless someone flips one
Narcotics Investogator Charged With Dealing Drugs
Spencer Culp
WSPA NewsChannel 7
Tuesday, November 16, 2004He was supposed to investigate drug dealers. Tonight he's accused of being one himself.SLED agents say they've arrested Anderson County Deputy Matt Durham. He's charged with dealing methamphetamine.Durham works as a narcotics investigator for the department. Investigators also say Durham was protecting a drug dealer from arrest.Here is more on the story- and it goes into more detail about how it has effected the law enforcement "family" , how $200,000 in cash was discovered- DEFINITELY worth the read;http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/news/3923564/detail.html
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Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on November 17, 2004 at 23:02:39 PT
The modern version of spectral evidence
This extrapolation of public health effects from fancy sounding biology words strung together in a compelling manner is like a modern version of the spectral evidence used in cort to convict witches. 
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Comment #9 posted by warhater on November 17, 2004 at 22:58:46 PT:
Re: Press Release From Newswise
This article was written by someone with no scientific knowledge. It is yet another example of the lay press butchering a scientific work. I would love to get a look at the actual research paper. Unfortunately, it has not been published as far as I know. I tried a Medline search. Apparently, Mohammed I. Khan never published anything. I am especially interested in the control group Kahn used to come up with: "...a 20 times reduction in the proliferation of T lymphocytes, combined with a proportionate increase in the proliferation of B lymphocytes."Other human studies have been done to measure this. The results varied but none ever showed this large a reduction in T lymphocyte proliferation (see http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/medical/ch6.htm section 6.2.6.). If MJ really caused this large of a decrease in T-cell proliferation I suspect it would have been noticed in other studies. I also suspect that we would have a pandemic of sick MJ users.I have a hard time believing a reduction in T-lymphocytes proliferation was observed with a proportionate (increase??) in the proliferation B-lymphocytes. Helper T-cells are required for B-cell proliferation. I think author meant to say decrease not increase. He also calls THC “TCH”This is laugh:“Khan found that the active ingredients Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and other cannabinoid compounds are liquid soluble at high concentrations”“liquid soluble” has no scientific meaning. I think that the author meant to say lipid soluble. Lipids are oils and fats. In general compounds are either lipid soluble or water soluble. It has been known for a long time that THC is lipid soluble. Khan did not find this.This sentence makes no sense to me:"This process elicits the formation of specific antibodies/metabolites in the form of a hapten combined with a body protein."Antibodies are never in the form of a hapten combined with a body protein.In the third paragraph we are treated to a litany of unproven assertions:This is worded strangely:"HIV positive patients are at higher risk of developing AIDS, infection by opportunistic bacteria, fungi, or viruses, when compared to non-marijuana smokers, and have more respiratory illness."I think they mean to say:"HIV positive patients who smoke marijuana are at higher risk of developing AIDS, infection by opportunistic bacteria, fungi, or viruses, and have more respiratory illness, when compared to HIV positive non-marijuana smokers.”I hate it when writers state theories as if they were facts. There are studies that contradict this statement. FOM shows links to press releases for one such study below the post. I expect this kind of nonsense from nonscientific commentators."THC has been associated with a craving for additional narcotics to enhance the euphoric experience."This is not a widely accepted assertion and has nothing to do with immunological properties of MJ; its presence in this article indicates drug warrior bias. Newswise is science ignorant.
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Comment #8 posted by Aragorn on November 17, 2004 at 21:17:54 PT
This is significant...
...because the drug companies are feverishly trying to hijack the use of whole cannabis with synthetically engineered agonists or antagonists for the various functions triggered by cannabinoid receptors and their cannabimimetic molecules. They want to purge their synthetics of any "psychoactive properties" (to satisfy the DEA & FDA) so they think they'll come out ahead by blocking the memory extinguishing properties of THC. What they're finding is they screw up something else when they do.   From http://www.lacbc.org/brain.html Cannabinoids, memory and sleep
A useful tool in the study of a neuroreceptor system is some molecule that prevents the the neurotransmitter from binding to the receptor. That way you can figure out what the natural neurotranmsitter does by watching what happens when it can't do it any more. A molecule that does this is called a receptor antagonist. For THC, the cannabinoid synthesized by cannabis sativa and indica, and andandamide, the cannabinoid synthesized in the central nervous systems of most animals on Earth, the receptor antagonist is called SR141716. (3) SR141716 is like "anti-marijuana" -- it enhances the same memory functions that the natural brain cannabinoid anandamide and THC inhibit through the cannabinoid receptor. (4) SR141716 improves short term memory in rodents by blocking the CB1 cannabinoid receptor from binding to andandamide, not just THC. But anandamide is made by the brain naturally. Why would the brain be making a chemical -- andandamide -- that seems to inhibit short-term memory? This question is partly answered by the effect of SR141716 on the sleep cycles of rats. (5) SR141716 administered to rats interrupts their sleep cycles, causing a deficit in both short-wave and REM sleep. This research indicates that cannabinoids are important in the brain's regulation of the sleeping process. The cost of improving short-term memory by blocking cannabinoids from the brain is deficient and delayed slow-wave and REM sleep. In studying marijuana, we have learned something important about the brain. Inhibition of short-term memory-related processes occurring ion the hippocampus might be necessary for a healthy sleep cycle   But this is significant for another reason.From:http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_pharmacology2.shtml    It has recently been shown that the endogenous cannabinoid system has a central function in the extinction of aversive memories42. Aversive memories are important for the survival of an organism. These memories are kept by reinforcement but if reinforcement does not occur, the resulting behavioral response to the noxious stimuli will diminish until it no longer exists. This extinction process is also important but its mechanism is not fully known. Endocannabinoids acting through the CB1 receptor in the amygdala of the limbic system (which is known to be involved in this process43) are now thought to facilitate the memory loss through an inhibitory effect on local inhibitory networks (possibly GABA-using neurons).    This is strongly implying, at least to me, that an enlightened view of this science would strongly indicate the compassionate use of marijuana for soldiers coming back from Iraq with PTSD.  
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 17, 2004 at 20:44:34 PT
Press Release from Newswise
Immunological Changes Associated with Prolonged Marijuana SmokingNovember 17, 2004Newswise — Prolonged marijuana smoking can have immunosuppressant effects on a persons immune system according to a study presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). Mohammed I. Khan, ACAAI Scientific Fellow, Al-Junaid Hospital, Nowshera, Pakistan, studied 18 men between the ages of 25 and 60 who were long-term marijuana users, and found evidence that the drug, consisting of more than 426 chemical entities, has immunosuppressant properties. Specifically, Mr. Khan found that the active ingredients Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and other cannabinoid compounds are liquid soluble at high concentrations, which alters membrane function and results in alterations in immune cell response. Cannabus also has immunosuppressant properties resulting in reduction in resistance to bacterial and viral infection. Marijuana, a schedule class 1 psychoactive control substance, is more frequently used by Oriental societies for celebratory events according to Mr. Kahn, who characterized the drug’s principal effects as an altered state of conscience and euphoria. Prolonged use can lead to addiction and dependence. Of the more than 426 chemical entities comprising marijuana, in excess of 60 of them are cannabinoid, such as: cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC has been associated with a craving for additional narcotics to enhance the euphoric experience. The immunosuppressant properties of cannabinoid cause impaired cell-mediated and humoral immune system activities, cytokine production, leukocyte migration and natural killer-cell (NK) activity. These chemical activities reduce the patient’s resistance to bacterial and viral infection. HIV positive patients are at higher risk of developing AIDS, infection by opportunistic bacteria, fungi, or viruses, when compared to non-marijuana smokers, and have more respiratory illness. The 18 male patients had a prolonged smoking habit of more than six months. With a serum level of TCH >10um, Mr. Khan found there was a 20 times reduction in the proliferation of T lymphocytes, combined with a proportionate increase in the proliferation of B lymphocytes. This condition was characterized by a reduction in the cytotoxic activity of T lymphocytes, reduction in macrophage activities such as phygocytosis (bactericidal and tumoricidal function), antigen presentation of bacterial/ virus, origin and suppression of inflammatory cytokines, suppression of NK cells function as host defense against tumors & microbes. On the positive side, cannabinoids also are immunomodulators. While they generally suppress the immune system, they also occasionally enhance some immunological responses. Mr. Khan points out that some people in the medical field believe that the immunosuppressive effects of cannabinoids might be useful clinically, such as in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Similarly, cannabinoids have been found to exacerbate existing allergies by attaching themselves to host cell proteins to form what is called an antigenic complex. This process elicits the formation of specific antibodies/metabolites in the form of a hapten combined with a body protein. The ACAAI is a professional medical organization, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill., comprising 4,700 qualified allergists-immunologists and related health care professionals. The College is dedicated to the clinical practice of allergy, asthma and immunology through education and research to promote the highest quality of patient care.http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/508398/UCSF Study Finds No Harm to HIV+ Patients: 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17093.shtmlMarijuana Use Does Not Accelerate HIV Infection:
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17092.shtml 
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on November 17, 2004 at 20:29:24 PT
observer
I just got a new computer and I forgot to save the page that has the plain text that I use when I need to get copyright info from Mapinc. Could you post the link? I looked all around Maps site and couldn't find it. Thanks.
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Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on November 17, 2004 at 20:27:27 PT
Observer
You're absolutely right - your idea was Nixon's big thing. He launched the WOD because he was convinced that smoking marijuana did something to people & made them oppose the Viet Nam war.And he was probably right!The last thing the oppressors want is introspection. They want us as dumbed-down and lusting after material goods as possible.
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Comment #4 posted by observer on November 17, 2004 at 20:20:59 PT
cannabis creativity
When their food is moved, birds without benefit of cannabinoids have trouble imagining where else the food might be. [But] chickadees ... with free-flowing cannabinoids took the change in strideI have noticed this in people too.. . .Studies suggest insight as to why conservatives have focused so much of their attention on drugs. One scaled 4-year-old children on an index of creativity and adventure seeking to find that such characteristics are the greatest predictor of recreational use of marijuana in subsequent high-school years. Drug users are perhaps by personality disposed to be the least obedient to orthodoxy and convention just as the orthodox are most disposed to believe that social rules must be reinforced with persecution of the non-conformists. . . . 
Rule lovers are in a constant effort to bring rule breakers to task, while rule breakers seek new horizons for their will to creative non-conformity.
(David Sadofsky Baggins, Drug Hate and the Corruption of American Justice, 1998, pg. 98
http://info.greenwood.com/books/0275959/0275959562.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0275959562/ )
cannabis creativity 
http://www.google.com/search?q=creativity+site%3Amarijuana-uses.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabis+creativity+site%3Aerowid.orgThree cheers for chickadees with free-flowing cannabinoids!
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/
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Comment #3 posted by John Tyler on November 17, 2004 at 20:14:27 PT
Rambling thoughts
Maybe that is the problem with the prohibitionists forces. They are Cannabinoid inhibited. Their minds are out of balance. They don't know it, but their actions show it. They keep on spouting the same old propaganda which is now failing them and they can't think of anything new. Their intelligence has befuddled them. Imagine putting someone in jail for possessing a silly plant. Only an evil sick mind could concieve it. This type of thinking has become policy (attitude). The nonCannabinoid inhibited have their minds in balance and are in harmony with the flow of nature.
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Comment #2 posted by sam adams on November 17, 2004 at 19:12:29 PT
The end is near!
Ok, this is it. If you didn't already think the apocalypse was upon us, surely this is a clear sign. It's been a good run, but our civilization is about to end.We've got what, 67 million people without health care? We're attacking poor countries halfway around the world, and yet there's plenty of money left for some jackass in upstate New York to be getting chickadees high & studying the results! Better start stocking up on canned goods - build a bomb shelter! It'll all be over soon.
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on November 17, 2004 at 19:10:50 PT
coming to a drug court near you 
gee just think of all that can be done with a human that does not know how to use common sense.
http://www.leap.cc/events
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