Cannabinoids Impact on Cognition: A Review from the Neurobiological Perspective

Cannabis is a widely used psychoactive substance in society, especially among the youngest. The use of this substance has been consistently associated with various health problems, many of which have in common an alteration in the cognitive manifestations of behavior, including memory, attention, emotion and decision-making. Evidence was found that cannabinoids, the active substance in Cannabis, negatively impact short-term memory, working memory, and decision-making. Likewise, cannabinoids affect attention and the interaction between cognitive events and emotion. This information can be used as a biological plausibility argument to interpret a series of clinical and epidemiological findings in which the use of Cannabis has been shown to be related to problems such as traffic accidents, psychosis, depression, poor academic performance, among others.