The Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality has published in the Official State Gazette the decision of 4 December awarding eleven grants to pursue research projects on drug addiction, within the call of the National Drug Plan. At this call, researchers from the Department of Experimental and Health Sciences have received two of these grants which started in early 2015 for a period of three years.

Olga Valverde, head of the Neurobiology of Behaviour Research Group (GReNeC), with a provision of 87,213 euros is to carry out the project " Effects of a maternal deprivation model on alcohol and cannabinoid consumption in adolescent mice".

Fernando Berrendero, researcher at the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology with a provision of 90,620 euros is to conduct the research: " Exposure to cannabinoids during adolescence and their influence on the regulation of aversive and rewarding associative memories: the role of the hypocretinergic system".

Effects of maternal deprivation on habits and consumption

Some young consumers of alcohol and cannabinoids are not aware of the dangers of consuming these substances at a vital time of great vulnerability. In addition, there are several environmental factors that have a decisive influence on the establishment, progression and maintenance of the process of addiction. For example, maternal deprivation or lack of maternal care of children can have long-term effects on adolescents and adults.

With this background, Olga Valverde's project suggests that the stress induced by maternal deprivation at an early age predisposes vulnerability in the consumption of alcohol and binge drinking and cannabinoid consumption during adolescence, and that later, in adulthood, the impact of this consumption can lead to the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms, especially altered cognitive, emotional and motivational functions. According to Olga Valverde, this research aims to "demonstrate the existence of a behavioural and neurochemical phenotype in the experimental animal exposed to a maternal deprivation model during the postnatal period".

Effects of cannabis consumption in the adult brain

Since it is estimated that young people start to consume cannabis at the age of 14.9 years, a time when the adolescent brain is maturing, rendering it more sensitive to the toxic effects of cannabis, Fernando Berrendero's project aims to study the effects of cannabinoid exposure during adolescence in the adult brain, at two levels.

As Berrendero explains: " first, we seek to measure the effects of exposure to cannabis in the modulation of rewarding associative memories related with relapse in drugs of abuse and secondly, given the known functions of the hypocretin/orexin system, in both emotional and addictive processes, we seek to study whether these neuropeptides are involved in the effects induced by cannabinoids".

The results of the project will help to deepen the understanding of the negative effects of cannabis use during adolescence as well as the development of new preventive and therapeutic approaches to avoid them.