Insomnia is a common disease with main causes including stress, depression & anxiety. Cannabis, a drug used primarily for recreational purposes, has been found to help people suffering from pain and chronic disorders, among its benefits it has been found to help with sleep. Brain areas affected include the Cerebral Cortex, Cerebellum and the Hippocampus. Along with CBD, the main psycho-active component in marijuana, THC, wasn’t known until the 1960s. An Israeli research team found that injection of THC into aggressive rhesus monkeys, made them very sleepy. In 2008 the receptor for THC was found to be from the cannabinoid family. Thus, these receptors were named cannabinoid receptors.<br/>The Endocannabinoid system, ECS, is a conserved system that consists of many chemical signals which are received by receptors that are extremely affluent throughout the brain and body. Endogenous cannabinoids – endocannabinoids (EC), like anandamide, were found to induce sleep. This is attributed to the increase in adenosine levels after binding, thus increasing sleep drive. Due to THC’s similar structure to anandamide, it mimics the activity of anandamide. However it lacks the psycho-active effects due to its rapid regulation, contrary to THC.<br/>Astrocytes which perform regulatory brain functions have been found to modulate the process of sleep homeostasis. When astrocytes are active, they release adenosine which binds to Adenosine A1 receptors which promote sleep. In the brain adenosine acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter which inhibits wakefulness and induces sleepiness. If Astrocytes activity increases with use of cannabis, this suggests its positive role in sleep disorders through the release of adenosine. As such astrocytes were chosen to be investigated after cannabis injection.<br/>Cannabis compounds were injected to mice and sleepiness was video monitored. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that there was a difference in astrocyte numbers in specific brain areas. By looking for cFOS double labelled with GFAP it was determined that astrocyte activity was increased in the mice injected with cannabis. Additionally, there was a general increase in astrocyte activity in the hypothalamus, as indicated by cFOS. This confirms that cannabis might have positive effects on sleep and suggests that there is need to investigate further into the exact areas of the brain such as the hippocampus, known for activity increase.

Brain regions involved in cannabis induced sleep

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