type 1 cannabinoid receptors
Anxiety Reduction: Exploring the Role of Cannabinoid Receptors
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
![Green and blue swirls](https://public4.pagefreezer.com:443/content/NIH%20Director%20Blog/02-07-2024T17:01/http://directorsblog.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dg20x0cb1only_c1c2.jpg)
Caption: Cannabinoid receptor 1 (green) in the mouse brain. All cell nuclei appear blue.
Credit: Margaret Davis, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH
Relief of anxiety and stress is one of the most common reasons that people give for using marijuana [1]. But the scientific evidence is rather sparse about whether there’s a biological explanation for that effect.
More than a decade ago, researchers set out to explore the link between marijuana and anxiety reduction, but the results of their experiments were inconclusive [2]. Recently, a team led by NIH-funded researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville decided to tackle the question again, this time using more sensitive tools that have just become available in recent years.