High Spot: Brain's Marijuana Center Imaged in 3D
The receptor in the brain involved in the "high" people feel after smoking marijuana is revealed in a new, detailed, 3D image today, according to a new study. This provides scientists with their clearest picture yet of this receptor, the study said.
The new image shows how molecules such as THC, marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient, bind to this receptor, which is located in the surface of numerous nerve cells, the researchers found.
The findings may one day help researchers determine why certain medications designed to mimic the medicinal properties of marijuana without the "high" effect might cause side effects, the researchers said.
"We need to understand how marijuana works in our bodies," study co-author Zhi-jie Liu, co-leader of the study and a professor of molecular structural biology at ShanghaiTech University in China, said in a statement. People use the drug both medically and recreationally, but it contains compounds that can be very dangerous, Liu said....
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