THC appears to modulate pain perception, possibly through effects partly related to cognition and emotion

Further insight into the analgesic potential of medicinal cannabis has been published in a recent report appearing in the prestigious journal, Neurology. 15 people with the notoriously difficult to manage form of chronic pain arising from radicular neuropathy pain were assessed using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Pain assessments and functional resting state brain scans were performed at baseline and after sublingual administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The administration of this cannabinoid significantly reduced patients’ pain compared to placebo, and analgesia was correlated with a reduction in functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and the sensorimotor cortex (the degree of this reduction was predictive of the response to THC), and both of these brain areas are major cognitive-emotional modulation loci.