Sir_Vexer t1_jdu4ybs wrote on March 27, 2023 at 5:24 AM

Reply to comment by dragononawagon in Opposing retrograde and astrocyte-dependent endocannabinoid signaling mechanisms regulate lateral habenula synaptic transmission by dragononawagon

Interesting. Thanks for this. So, does that mean the increased glutamate release in the LHb would cause depression?

I stopped using weed cause I felt like it induced bipolar-like symptoms in me. Made me excited for a few days then extremely depressed for a few days. When I saw this I thought "Yea, that checks out".

dragononawagon OP t1_jdummdi wrote on March 27, 2023 at 9:32 AM

It doesn’t necessarily tell us that for sure, but it supports that hypothesis yes. And there’s some behavioral data out there from before this study to support the idea:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29887035/

But there’s also still the decrease in glutamate release in some contexts too. A lot more work has to be done to figure out what the 2 opposing systems are doing and how it ultimately could contribute to depressive-like behavior (or not).

Always take everything with a grain of salt (skepticism is part of good science), but there have been associations between chronic marijuana use and depression. Whether habenula is involved or not remains to be tested.