Estrogen and THC

Ryan Maddox
Psych

The journal entry titled Estrogen Improves Response Accuracy and Attenuates the Disruptive
Effects of 9 -THC in Ovariectomized Rats Responding Under a Multiple Schedule of Repeated
Acquisition and Performance1 written by Jill M. Daniel, Peter J. Winsauer, Ian N. Brauner, and
Joseph M. Moerschbaecher was written to show the consequences and behavior of the two
being delivered to Ovariectomized rats. The research shows Estrogen improves response
accuracy and weakens the effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol.
Because of the Ovariectomy, each rat served as its own control. One half of the Ovariectomized
rats received Estrogen and the other half received cholesterol. The hormones were delivered
via pellets. While the hormones were being delivered, they also train the rats to give a response
to a series of 4 keys.The task was to press their nose on the keys in a specific order (e.g.,
centerleftrightcenter). Completing it in the correct sequence would turn the key lights off and
reset the keys. After each second successful response, the rat was rewarded food. If the rats
got the response incorrect, the error would be followed by a five second timeout. Incorrect
responses do not reset the keys.
Replacement of Estrogen in Ovariectomized rats has shown to reduce the ability of
Tetrahydrocannabinol to slow down the rate of response and increase the percentage of error
compared to the ones given cholesterol. The rats that received Estrogen alone has shown to
improve the accuracy of response and the percentage of response rate showed no significant
response compared to the control. The Estrogen rats showed a significantly lower percentage of
errors compared to the ones that received cholesterol.
1 Behavioral Neuroscience Copyright 2002 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
2002, Vol. 116, No. 6, 989998

The researchers have come to the conclusion that Estrogen does indeed attenuate the
effects of THC and improves the response accuracy of the Ovariectomized rats. One important
finding is that estrogen is shown to decrease the ability of THC to decrease the response
accuracy and rate. Estrogen alone has shown to improve the accuracy of response without
affecting the rate of response.
In conclusion, This could mean that THC may affects females differently than males. It
wasnt surprising to find out that THC slows down the rate of response and response accuracy.
One surprising thing i found was that Estrogen significantly affects the hippocampus of the
brain. There are many cannabinoids in the hippocampus so it makes sense that estrogen would
affect it.