Child geniuses may not be ahead forever

Recent research suggests that intelligence may not be as stable across the lifespan as we assume.

18 March 2024

By Emma Young


Stories of child geniuses seem to be perennially popular. One of the latest appeared at the end of January 2023, featuring a boy who taught himself to read at the age of two. By age three, he had become the UK’s youngest member of Mensa, the society for people with a high IQ.

Mensa admits people who score in the top 2 per cent on standard intelligence tests, including the well-known Stanford–Binet test. Admittance is for life — members don’t have to retake the tests to prove themselves again.

But while we often think of intelligence as being stable (in the absence of certain illnesses or injuries), a major new systematic meta-analysis of data from 205 longitudinal studies on a total of more than 87,000 people has found that it’s more variable across the lifespan than we might think.

Moritz Breit at the University of Trier and colleagues looked at studies that assessed ‘general intelligence’ (the Stanford–Binet test measures this) and/or abilities that fall within the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) model of cognitive ability. The list of CHC abilities includes decision-making speed, working memory capacity, learning efficiency (a measure of the speed and accuracy with which someone learns, stores, and consolidates new information), fluid reasoning (which is needed to solve novel problems) and ‘comprehension knowledge’ (a measure of the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills developed through experience and learning — including words and general knowledge).

Their set of studies included participants that ranged in age from 1–88 who lived across several countries (though most of the data came from those based in North America and Europe), and whose cognitive ability was re-tested anywhere from a day to 79 years after an initial assessment.

The team found that, for adults, cognitive abilities — and general intelligence, in particular — were in fact pretty stable, at least over time periods of about six years. This stability ranged from 0.65 for the ‘least’ stable abilities, which included fluid reasoning and learning efficiency, to 0.8 for general intelligence. (A stability of ‘1’ would have meant identical scores on the initial test and a subsequent assessment.)

The lower stability of the more fundamental cognitive abilities might seem surprising, but studies have found that, with age, processing power wanes more than knowledge-based abilities, and that it also varies more day-to-day. However, the team did also find that the tests of knowledge-based abilities used in these studies were more reliable than the tests of the more effortful-processing based abilities. This discrepancy could have helped to explain the differences in stability.

When it came to children, though, there were bigger differences between results on the same type of test conducted at two different time points. For children aged under four, stability didn’t reach higher than a “low” 0.7, even if the two tests were conducted less than a year apart. For 8-year-olds, a stability of 0.8 was observed, but only if the two tests were conducted within two years. For 12-year-olds, the researchers write, a test result could be assumed to have a 0.8 stability for four years (after which the results on two tests became less similar). At age 18+, a score of 0.8 could be assumed for about six years, but after this, re-testing would be recommended, they write.

There are some limitations even to this comprehensive meta-analysis, which considered a range of variables, including test reliability, when analysing the data. For example, no one study investigated the stability of cognitive abilities from early childhood to late adulthood. Instead, the team had to combine different information from different studies to arrive at the age trends.

But the study also has some clear strengths, and has raised a number of interesting findings; differences in the stability of different types of cognitive abilities, of course, but also the greater variability in test-re-test scores for children — and younger children, especially — compared with adults. The team did explore whether the nature of testing children versus adults might account for this, but this did not seem to be the explanation. Though the authors don’t delve into what exactly might explain this result, it could relate to the fact that children’s brains are developing rapidly, and potentially also reflects changes in classroom environments and learning.

Overall, though, while the common conception that intelligence is stable seems to be the case (or at least roughly the case) for healthy adults, for children it’s a different story. What this means in practice is that IQ test scores should have a good ‘shelf life’ for adults, but this is not the case for children, and especially not for children under the age of seven. So, a child who gains a Mensa-level score on an intelligence test at the age of three may potentially get a sub-Mensa — or, alternatively, even better — score at 5, 7 or 17.

SOURCE:

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/child-geniuses-may-not-be-ahead-forever(accessed 20.03.24)

Why my Psychology lecture made me delete social media

Florence Plant, a second-year undergraduate at the University of Sheffield, tells her story.

07 March 2024


Psychology really can change your life. I discovered this recently, after a social psychology lecture filled me with the seemingly sudden urge to delete my social media.

The decision to do this at the age of 21 was more difficult than I’d like to admit. I belong to a generation that has grown up online, and I have been using social media platforms avidly from the age of 13. It has only been in the last few months that I have finally deleted some of the apps that had previously encompassed the majority of my free time, such as Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

It was a lecture on ‘The Dark Triad’ (Paulhus & Williams, 2002) that did it. Our lecturer detailed the myth of Narcissus: the cold-hearted young man who was lured to the water to see himself, and subsequently wasted away due to his captivation with his own reflection. This myth was shocking to me: Narcissus’s youth made his decay appear all the more tragic and oxymoronic.

We went on to learn about the recent rise in narcissistic behaviour in young people, through studies such as Jean Twenge and colleagues’ (2008) meta-analysis. Their review of 85 studies found a 30 per cent increase in narcissism amongst college students from 1982 to 2006. Further studies have suggested a link between this increase and social media usage. For example, Reed et al. (2018) found a positive correlation between levels of narcissism and frequent usage of visual social media in 74 young participants.

These studies affected me. I saw a parallel between the narcissistic behaviour of young people and the youthful Narcissus’ wasted life. This social media-induced narcissistic increase was found to be particularly prevalent in young women. Another study by Twenge et al (2018), found a heightened prevalence of low mood and depressive symptoms in these subjects. Although re-analysis of Twenge’s studies by UK psychologist Amy Orben and colleagues have disputed Twenge’s claims, I related to the findings. I was a young woman enticed by the narcissistic influence of social media, in turn only amplifying other low mood symptoms of my teenage years.

Through my lectures, I was layering a research lens over my real-life experience of the allure of social media while growing up. It has only been since learning about these correlations that I have been able to understand how much social media contributed to some of my own personal struggles with self-image, and to gain some insights into how my own social media use was part of a more general psychological phenomenon.
Growing up with social media

Various studies have found visual media to play a particularly prominent role in juvenile attitude formation (Goldberg & Gorn, 1974), and this became apparent during my secondary school career. Social media dominated my own interests and those of my peers. Visual social media really shaped our choices regarding a range of subjects, such as fashion trends, hobbies and overall desirable behaviours. It seemed a fun and creative form of escapism to explore and discover our interests and emerging identities.

However, like most teenagers, I was subject to the moderators for high social modelling, as detailed by Robinson et al., (2011), such as low self-esteem and high empathy. These moderators meant that social media often had an exhausting impact, as some of these social norms seemed unattainable to me, especially at such a young age. This caused a range of negative self-attributions through the use of upwards comparisons (Wheeler, 1966), seeking out larger presences on social media that upheld unrealistic standards.

All these presences were a fertile breeding ground for early narcissistic attitudes, magnifying my low self-esteem and fuelling a need to prove my self-worth through my appearance. It is not surprising to me that girls as young as nine exposed to media influence indicate a desire to change their bodies (Schur et al., 2000).

Social media exacerbated more general problems that I was having at school. As a teenager, I inevitably had altercations with my friends and schoolmates, and social media meant that these problems always followed me home. The removed responsibility and audience inhibition (Latané & Darley, 1968) that comes with online platforms often meant that the things that were said exceeded the social or moral limits on what people felt able to say in person. This led to me spending hours and hours obsessing over messages online, wasting away my evenings in my bedroom; an image that to me is now strikingly analogous to that of Narcissus rotting away by the pool.

Social media was not an entirely negative experience, otherwise it wouldn’t have taken me until the age of 21 to delete these apps. Social media use is ubiquitous, with at least one platform used by 97 per cent of teenagers in the 2000s (Plackett, 2023). Social media was fun and addictive; it helped establish a solid group membership at school. I worried that I might lose my membership of the groups that I was in (Laursen et al., 2021) if I wasn’t on there.

However, I now view my attachment to social media in the same way that I view Narcissus’ attachment to his own image; while I knew it wasn't good for me, I just couldn’t tear myself away.
Using social media while starting university

Starting university was something of a whirlwind experience, and that journey without social media would have been incredibly difficult. Having the support of my best friends only a message away kept me sane. In order to maintain contact with the first new friends that I had somehow made in my early lectures, I needed an online platform. Social media can of course be incredibly helpful in communication and friendship building, as other studies have shown (Caplan, 2003).

However, when starting this big new stage in my life, I was naturally curious to see how my other friends who were all in similar positions were coping with the same change, as Social Comparison Theory suggests (Festinger, 1954). I found that social media users are often inclined to portray their ‘best selves’ online (Chua & Chang, 2016), which set incredibly high expectations for my own university experience. In this sense, social media added to the pressure of starting university, and made me feel as if I was the only person who wasn’t having the best week of their life during freshers.

‘The ostrich problem’ (Webb et al., 2013), could be a factor aggravating this, as it indicates that those who are not happy with their progression, tend not to monitor it. In this case, people who were finding the transition to university slightly more complicated, probably weren’t posting about it online. Consequently, my Instagram feed was teeming with people revelling in freshers and having a seamless integration into their new university lives. This made me feel more alone in my experience. I can now confidently say that I was not the only person who was not having the time of their life during the first few weeks at university! In fact, I found the first few months quite terrifying.

My goal when entering university was to fit in with new people, a new city, and also to learn to live by myself. According to a meta-analysis of 138 studies (Harkin et al., 2016), goal monitoring has proven to be a strong predictor of goal progression. For my generation, goal monitoring is often conducted publicly through the use of social media posts. These posts, depicting everyone’s fabulous experiences, acted as reference values for my goal monitoring, and also as the comparative element of reviewing my progress at Sheffield University. The act of constantly scouring for a comparative measure to assess my own progress now seems to me a miserable Narcissus-like degeneration.
Finally deleting social media

That lecture really was the catalyst for change. I had been a self- and phone-absorbed teenager, and gazing into Narcissus’ pool, reflected back at me was a truth I had denied: social media was facilitating my social comparisons, and in turn damaging my self-esteem.

My increased confidence at university has helped me to recognise these negative effects, while university itself has provided me with various psychological frameworks to explore how and why those effects shaped my teenage years. Where social modelling felt necessary to shape my younger behaviour and ideals (Bandura, 1900s), I have realised I want to live and enjoy my youth as a time to grow and explore. I don’t want to make comparisons between myself and others, whether upwards or downwards. For me at least, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, ‘comparison is the thief of joy’.

I can’t say I feel completely free of the pull of social media. I miss seeing the Instagram posts updating me on the lives of my friends who are now spread all across the country. But it does feel liberating to regain the locus of control over my life. I won’t be doomed to the fate of Narcissus, and I have my passionate and persuasive lecturer to thank for that.
References

Bandura A. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall; 1977.

Caplan, S. E. (2003). Preference for online social interaction: A theory of problematic Internet use and psychosocial well-being. Communication Research, 30(6), 625–648.

Chua, T. H. H., & Chang, L. (2016). Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 55(Part A), 190-197.

Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 8(4p1), 377.

Festinger, L. (1954). A Theory of Social Comparison Processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117-140.

Goldberg, M. E., & Gorn, G. J. (1974). Children's reactions to television advertising: An experimental approach. Journal of Consumer Research, 1(2), 69-75.

Harkin, B., Webb, T. L., Chang, B. P., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y., & Sheeran, P. (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological bulletin, 142(2), 198–229.

Laursen, B., & Veenstra, R. (2021). Toward understanding the functions of peer influence: A summary and synthesis of recent empirical research. Journal of Research on Adolescence. Advance online publication.

Muris, P., & Otgaar, H. (2023). Self-Esteem and Self-Compassion: A Narrative Review and Meta-Analysis on Their Links to Psychological Problems and Well-Being. Psychology research and behaviour management, 16, 2961–2975.

Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563.

Plackett, R., Sheringham, J., & Dykxhoorn, J. (2023). Correction: The Longitudinal Impact of Social Media Use on UK Adolescents' Mental Health: Longitudinal Observational Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e47678.

Reed, P., Bircek, N. I., Osborne, L. A., Viganò, C., & Truzoli, R. (2018). Visual Social Media Use Moderates the Relationship between Initial Problematic Internet Use and Later Narcissism. Open Psychology Journal, 11, 163-170.

Schur, E. A., Sanders, M., & Steiner, H. (2000). Body dissatisfaction and dieting in young children. The International Journal of Eating Disorders, 27, 74–82.

Twenge, J.M., Konrath, S., Foster, J.D., Keith Campbell, W. and Bushman, B.J. (2008). Egos Inflating Over Time: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76: 875-902.

Webb, T. L., Chang, B. P. I., & Benn, Y. (2013). 'The Ostrich Problem’: Motivated avoidance or rejection of information about goal progress. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(11), 794-807.

Wheeler, L. (1966). Motivation as a determinant of upward comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1(Supplement 1), 27-31.

SOURCE:

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/why-my-psychology-lecture-made-me-delete-social-media(accessed 14.03.24)

Πανελλήνια Ημέρα κατά της Σχολικής Βίας: Το παιδί που δεν γίνεται θύμα εκφοβισμού, έχει πάντα μια ζεστή αγκαλιά όταν επιστρέφει στο σπίτι

THE MAMAGERS TEAM06 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ, 2024

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Ο σχολικός εκφοβισμός και η βία ανάμεσα στους νέους είναι ένα φαινόμενο που αυξάνεται καθημερινά και προβληματίζει αρκετούς γονείς και εκπαιδευτικούς. Το bullying είναι δύσκολο, ειδικά όταν γίνεται από παιδιά σε παιδιά.

Οι θύτες είναι κι αυτοί παιδιά και μάλιστα παιδιά που τα έχουν απογοητεύσει οι μεγάλοι. Παιδιά που δεν ένιωσαν αγάπη, που χρειάζονται αγάπη. Τα παιδιά που εκφοβίζουν έχουν χαμηλή αυτοεκτίμηση, συνήθως προέρχονται από ένα δυσλειτουργικό οικογενειακό περιβάλλον, παρουσιάζουν επιθετικότητα, έχουν ανάγκη από προσοχή ενώ δεν έχουν ενσυναίσθηση και συναισθηματική ωριμότητα.

Αντίθετα, τα παιδιά που γίνονται στόχοι συνήθως έχουν υπερπροστατευτικούς γονείς. Μισούν τη βία, παρουσιάζουν μεγάλη υπευθυνότητα, εσωστρέφεια, ευαλωτότητα και πιθανόν και χαμηλή αυτοεκτίμηση.

Σήμερα ο εκφοβισμός δεν σταματάει στο σχολείο. Κάποτε τα παιδιά έφευγαν από το προαύλιο και ήταν προστατευμένα όταν επέστρεφαν στο σπίτι τους. Δεν είχαν κινητά και τάμπλετ για να κρατούν επαφή με τους συνομήλικούς τους. Πλέον, ακόμα και στο σπιτι μπορεί να δεχθούν διαδικτυακό bullying… ο εκφοβισμός τους ακολουθεί παντού όσο έχουν πάνω τους ένα κινητό με πρόσβαση σε social media και μηνύματα.




Πώς μπορούμε οι γονείς να προστατεύσουμε τα παιδιά μας; Τα παιδιά που δεν γίνονται θύματα, έχουν πάντα μια ζεστή αγκαλιά όταν επιστρέφουν σπίτι. Νιώθουν ασφάλεια, ξέρουν ότι οι γονείς τους δεν θα επιτρέψουν να τους συμβεί τίποτα κακό. Γνωρίζουν ότι μπορούν να τους εμπιστευθούν τα πάντα. Συζητάνε μαζί τους και λύνουν μαζί τα προβλήματά τους. Ακόμα κι αν κάποιος τους εκφοβίσει, δεν θα επιτρέψουν στον εαυτό τους να γίνουν θύματα. Γιατί έχουν τη σιγουριά και την αυτοπεποίθηση ότι μαζί με τους γονείς τους θα το αντιμετωπίσουν.


Αν ένα παιδί επιστρέψει σπίτι και μπορεί να πει στους γονείς του “με κορόιδεψαν σήμερα” τότε ο γονιός θα μπορέσει να απαλύνει τον πόνο. Θα μπορέσει να βρει τρόπους να το διαχειριστούν μαζί. Και κυρίως, το παιδί θα μπορέσει να νιώσει πως ό,τι κι αν συμβεί, όσο σκληρός κι αν είναι ο κόσμος, όσο σκληρά κι αν είναι κάποια λόγια, στο σπίτι έχει αγάπη και ασφάλεια.

ΠΗΓΗ:

https://www.themamagers.gr/family/to-paidi-poy-den-ginetai-thyma-ekfovismoy-echei-panta-mia-zesti-agkalia-otan-epistrefei-sto-spiti/(accessed 7.3.24)

Updates on long Covid and the brain

Let's explore the recent flurry of research revealing Covid's impacts on the brain and cognition.

05 March 2024

By Emma Barratt


Current research estimates that 1 in 10 Covid cases result in long Covid, a constellation of often debilitating symptoms that develop four to twelve weeks following initial infection.

According to figures released by the Office of National Statistics, the condition now affects the daily lives and functioning of millions of people in the UK. And, with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes Covid) still widely circulating, the risk of developing long Covid is ongoing, and increases with each infection.

As a widely stigmatised condition, often assumed by clinicians and the general public to be psychological, it’s important for us as psychologists to understand and share new developments, digest what they mean for those with long Covid, and integrate these understandings into our field. In that spirit, let’s take a look at some recent brain-related long Covid findings.
What is long Covid?

Long Covid is a multisystemic post-acute infection syndrome. Its symptoms can manifest in many organs and bodily systems, and often follow a relapsing and remitting pattern. Common symptoms include fatigue, post-exertional malaise (PEM), orthostatic intolerance, brain fog, and more; however, not everyone with long Covid will have the same symptoms, and several subtypes with potentially different mechanisms (several of which appear to have neural involvement) seem to exist.

Symptoms often leave those with the condition unable or severely limited in their ability to carry out daily activities. At their most severe, they can significantly limit tolerance for sensory input (see Figure 6 here), leaving those at the severe end of the spectrum with no option but to lay in silent, dark rooms, with no social or physical interaction until symptoms allow. Though many recover, given time and rest, in many cases such respite does not materialise. The psychological impact of such symptoms is self-evident.

Biomedical researchers have identified issues within several bodily systems which appear to contribute to long Covid’s symptoms: overexpression of WASF3 in mitochondria, which limits energy production; amyloid build-up and microclots in skeletal muscles, affecting oxygenation of tissues; and hormone-mediated sex differences (pre-print) in symptom presentation and immune profiles, to name just a few of the more prominent recent findings.

Recently, several findings relating to the brain have joined this growing list, offering insight into symptoms of cognitive and neural dysfunction often seen in the condition.
A leaky blood-brain barrier

On February 22nd, Nature Neuroscience published a paper by Chris Greene and colleagues at Trinity College Dublin identifying that the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is dysfunctional in those with long Covid brain fog.

The BBB is a semi-permeable membrane that allows water, gases, and nutrients to pass into the brain from the blood while acting as a barrier to toxins. Using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI brain scans, the team were able to see that in patients experiencing brain fog, the BBB was particularly permeable, with evidence of disruption up to one year after initial Covid infection. Multiple brain regions were affected, including the temporal lobes and frontal cortex.

Blood analyses also uncovered irregularities in blood coagulation and dampened immune responses in this population, further details of which can be found in this accessibly written article. Taken as a whole, the results of this study suggested that ongoing inflammation and a dysfunctional BBB are key factors associated with long Covid brain fog.

Further studies will be needed to see how these factors affect patients over time, but the authors do note that their findings may point towards a potential therapeutic approach. In their words, “targeted regulation of BBB integrity could now potentially be considered for the treatment of patients with brain fog associated with long Covid.”
Ongoing injury

Late last year, a study by Professor Benedict Michael of the University of Liverpool and colleagues found signs of ongoing brain injury in long Covid patients with neurological symptoms.

The team looked for blood-based biomarkers of brain injury in their the participants, all of whom had previously been hospitalised due to Covid. In those with ongoing neurological symptoms beyond 6 weeks after initial infection, levels of NfL and GFAP were notably high, indicating ongoing injury.

The authors postulate that these markers of neuroglial injury may be related to a dysregulated immune response elsewhere in the body, though the exact chain of events leading to this has yet to be fully defined.

Cognitive deficits were seen in all patients, both in acute and post-acute phases of illness, and it is as of yet unclear if this decline is permanent. For an accessible write-up on this research, be sure to check out this article by Sara Novak.
Cognition and memory deficits

Research by Hampshire et al., published February 29th in the New England Journal of Medicine, presented a rounded look at cognition and memory in those with long Covid.

This study utilised eight online cognitive tasks from the Cognitron platform, probing previous participants’ of the REACT study’s capabilities in various memory tasks, mental rotation, verbal reasoning and more, two years after their initial contributions.

The resulting data, collected from around 130,000 England-based participants, indicated a decline in executive functioning and memory equivalent to roughly 6 IQ points in those who had developed long Covid symptoms since their initial REACT participation. For those admitted to intensive care for their Covid infection, the authors state that the drop was equivalent to around 9 IQ points.

Analyses also identified a downwards shift in cognitive abilities in those who recovered fully after their initial Covid infection. The authors state that the drop observed in recovered participants was equivalent to approximately 3 IQ points.

The largest deficits were seen in domains of memory, reasoning, and executive function, however these symptoms correlated only weakly with reports of recent symptoms, including poor memory and brain fog. Those who had been hospitalised, as well as those infected earlier in the pandemic, showed larger deficits than those who were infected when later SARS-CoV-2 variants were dominant. You can find an accessible write-up of this study and further input from the authors in this piece from Hannah Devlin.
The latest chapter for post-acute infection syndromes

Long Covid appears to share many physical traits with myalgic encephalomyelitis (MECFS, hereafter ME, also known as ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’); for example, similar patterns of dysautonomia (dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system) are seen in both conditions. Some researchers suspect that both these, and potentially other post-acute infection syndromes, may share common physical mechanisms.

Like those with ME and other post-acute infection syndromes before them, people with long Covid often face significant barriers to accessing healthcare. Stigma and disbelief related to these conditions, as well as the complexity of their presentation, has been shown (in the following preprint) to leave patients with considerable self-doubt, “question[ing] their deservedness of seeking healthcare support for their symptoms.”

This same study found that these factors also led UK-based would-be patients to avoid treatment, for fear of overburdening the healthcare system. Added to the toll of this sudden, often new-onset disability, it becomes easy to imagine the mental health struggles that may arise for many.

Post-acute infection syndromes have historically been a “significant blind spot” for medical research. However, with the pressing issue of long Covid upon us, the medical community is now turning its attention to finding mechanisms, treatments, and (perhaps one day) a cure.

Specialist readers interested in learning more about what is now known about the physical alterations in long Covid and ME may find the recent NIH MECFS Roadmap webinars helpful.

SOURCE:

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/updates-long-covid-and-brain(accessed 7.3.24)

Runners, high: Could cannabis before exercise encourage fitness?

New research explores the pros and cons of mixing weed and workouts.

01 March 2024

By Emma Young


Cannabis is generally associated with sedation and relaxation. In recent years, however, amateur and even professional athletes have been advocating for its use while exercising, write the authors of a recent paper in Sports Medicine. Given this — and increasing acceptance of its usage around the globe — there’s an urgent need to properly investigate the impacts of cannabis on exercise, according to Laurel P Gibson at the University of Colorado Boulder, and colleagues.

In their paper, the team describes the first study to explore the effects of commercially available cannabis products (i.e. with concentrations of active ingredients that are generally available to consumers) on how people felt about exercise in a lab environment. The nature of the research meant that the study had various limitations, but the results suggest that cannabis may indeed make work-outs more enjoyable some ways — though was also a drawback: the drug made exercise feel more effortful.

The team studied 42 physically fit adults, all of whom exercised regularly and had previously used cannabis while running or jogging, with no negative effects. On two separate visits, each participants ran for 30 minutes on a treadmill; once without cannabis, and once after having used either 1 gram of a product that mostly contained THC (the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis) or 1 gram of a CBD-based product (which mostly contained cannabidiol, with very little THC).

The participants bought these doses from a local dispensary and were told to consume the product as they typically would (in a joint or pipe, for example) until they reached their own desired high. For legal reasons, the participants had to do this at home, with the team immediately taking a blood sample from them and droving them to the lab for the treadmill challenge. On average, the delay between using the cannabis and starting the exercise was only about half an hour.

The researchers used results from earlier treadmill sessions to set individualised speeds and inclines, so that all the participants were exercising at about the same moderate-to-vigorous intensity. While they were jogging, they answered questions about their perceptions of the exercise.

The team’s analysis of the responses led them to some key insights. Firstly, cannabis made the exercise feel more enjoyable and put the participants in a better mood, especially in the CBD group. Both groups also reported feeling more of a ‘runner’s high’ after using cannabis.

However, cannabis (and particularly the THC product) also made them feel that they were working harder. This might have been because THC raises heart-rate, and earlier work has found that a faster heart rate during exercise makes people feel that they are exerting themselves more.

The researchers acknowledge that the study has a number of potentially important limitations. The participants were far from representative of the general population, so the results may not generalise more broadly. Also, because they knew when they had used cannabis, how they felt while on the treadmill could have been affected by how they expected to feel. Even so, the team argues, this new work “marks an important first step in a nascent field.”

Other research has found that cannabis — and the ingredient THC, especially — can affect psychomotor skills, and lead to feelings of paranoia, anxiety, and tiredness, at least for some users. But if further work confirms that cannabis can make workouts feel more fun and shows that it can be safe for most people to use while exercising, the drug might potentially help people to get off the couch. Angela Bryan, one of the study’s US-based authors, commented in a statement, “We have an epidemic of sedentary lifestyle in this country and we need new tools to try to get people to move their bodies in ways that are enjoyable. If cannabis is one of those tools, we need to explore it, keeping in mind both the harms and the benefits.”

SOURCE:

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/runners-high-could-cannabis-exercise-encourage-fitness(accessed 4.3.24)