Neuropoly Information About Neuro

The human brain is often touted as the last of the most difficult areas to be explored in the entire universe. When the Nobel Prize awarded to Camillo Golgi and Ramon Cajal in 1906, the human race is still far from understanding how the nervous system works. Nobel Prize awarded scientist was controversial because it was still promoted to second the opinion that each of them is different about the structure of human nerve. The arrival of the electron microscope in the 1950s with new cast light strengthens the opinion that Cajal and Sherrington his nerve cell is the smallest unit of work that make up the human nervous system.

Until the early 1990s, around the neurologist in the world still thinks that the signal in the adult human brain is only moving in one direction only, from pre-synaptic nerve cell to nerve cell post-sinaptic. However, the discovery in the early 90s by scientists at the University of Maryland in the United States and the University Rene Descartes in Paris suggests a novel mechanism in the way nerve cells communicate with one another, ie from the post-synaptic nerve cells back into the pre-synaptic nerve cell with use the services of the molecule “messenger” called neurotransmitters. The second track in the direction of communication is named DSI (depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition) or also known as retrogade signaling. During this two-way communication between nerve cells known only occurs when nerve cells are still in early stages of development.

The identity of the messenger molecules mystery until finally in 2001, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco and scientists from the University of Kanazawa, Japan separately but simultaneously discovered that molecules anandamide and 2-AG molecules that constitute the endocannabinoid as this mysterious molecule.

Endocannabinoid molecules are messenger molecules that specifically attaches to cannabinoid receptors. Cannabinoid receptor itself is one of the G-protein receptor type most in the brain, these receptors are found in high density in the parts such as the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum (cerebellum), basal ganglia, brain stem, spinal cord and amygdala. The term “cannabinoid” is derived from the cannabis plant or “cannabis” which produces a variety of active molecules (known until now only 60 types of molecules) called fitocannabinoid or cannabinoids from the plant. Cannabis plant is the only plant species known to date produce cannabinoid molecules, the existence of cannabinoid receptors are abundant in various parts of the human brain is so complex to make the effects of marijuana on human consciousness.

Before Raphael Mechoulam is an Israeli scientist discovered that the human brain also produces the exact same molecular function by cannabinoid molecules from marijuana plants, marijuana has become the medicinal plants in the world’s most legendary. Marijuana once referred to as a medicinal plant in the world with the highest utility (Christian Ratsch, 2001). Notes on the history of marijuana in its first appearance in the world’s oldest medical book, pen ‘tsao ching coming from China. This book is a collection of notes made by the emperor Shen Nung, who lived during 2900 BC. Cannabis is also known as one of the five sacred plants in the Atharva Veda, one of the Hindu holy book (Aldrich, 1977), while in Persia in the book of marijuana called Zend-Avesta in the first order of 10000 (ten thousand) types of medicinal plants.

A long history of efficacy of cannabis is not just a figment of the past. Scientists around the world are now starting to discover just how important the role of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoid molecules in the human body. Cannabinoid system plays a role in reproduction (Park, McPartland and Glass, 2003), the recovery stress and maintain balance in the body (Di Marzo V, MelCK D, Bisogno T, De Petrocellis L, 1998), protection of nerve cells (Panikashvili D, Mechoulam R, Beni SM, Alexandrovich A, Shohami E, 2005), reaction to pain stimulus (Cravatt BF, Lichtman AH, 2004), regulation of motor activity (Van der Stelt M, Di Marzo V, 2003), control of certain phases of the processing memory (Wotjak CT, 2005), plays a role in modulating the immune response and immunity (Klein TW, Newton C, Larsen K, Lu L, Perkins I, Nong L, Friedman H, 2003; Massa F, Marsicano G, Hermann H, Cannich A, Monory K, Cravatt BF, Ferri GL, Sibaev A, Storr M, Lutz B, 2004), even influential also in the cardiovascular and respiratory system to regulate heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory function (Mendizabal VE, Adler-Graschinsky E 2003).

In the information-processing mechanisms in the human brain, cannabinoids and endocannabinoids are known to play a very important role. When it was found that the new pathway signaling in the brain also occurs in the adult human brain, triggering a lot of implications of new discoveries in the world of neuroscience. Endocannabinoid then known to play a role in the process of long-term potentiation or strengthening synapses between nerve cells, a process which is important in storing new information received by the brain. In 2003, Giovanni Marsicano of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich found another important role of the endocannabinoid molecules and their receptors in one of the most important cognitive process in the mammalian brain, the process of forgetting. Giovanni found that experimental mice lacking cannabinoid receptor (CB1) is more difficult to forget the fear and pain that comes from the stimulus paired with electric shock sound stimulus compared with rats with a normal number of CB1 receptors. Although the sound stimulus is no longer paired with electrical stimulus, mice lacking CB1 receptors remains to show fear and pain if only given a sound stimulus.

Forget it turns out is a very important cognitive processes in the human brain. Abnormality of the number of receptors CB1 endocannabinoid molecules or production of many scientists has been hypothesized as a cause or important factors that influence conditions such as post-traumatic stress, phobias, and chronic pain. More importantly, forgetting is also a vital process when someone wants to remember something because the human brain is actually absorb all the information and stimulus received through the senses. Without forgetting mechanism, or interference with the process, humans would have trouble remembering something they do not know which one should keep in mind of so much information and stimuli that enter the brain.

So a little story about the messenger molecules called endocannabinoids that was also produced by only one species of plant on earth, namely marijuana. Plants that throughout history has been the substance most widely consumed by people around the world to date which is the highest number of users throughout the ages (Global Cannabis Regulation Model, 2004).