At Western Washington University, Associate Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience Josh Kaplan is working to unlock the science behind CBD and how it interacts with the brain.
Cannabis-based medicine has been gaining traction in the medical field, but its potential has yet to be fully understood by researchers.
Kaplan was recently awarded a $400,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will help fund new lab equipment and pay the student researchers Kaplan employs throughout the year, allowing his team to continue their research in the lab.
Since 2015, Kaplan’s research has focused on the entourage effect, which aims to identify how CBD reacts when combined with terpenes — the compounds found in cannabis and other plants. Kaplan wants to find out how it can aid in treatments for certain medical conditions.
“A number of these different conditions, which include autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy, have similar kinds of underlying mechanisms in the brain that are affected. We believe that if we understand how cannabinoids can impact one of those, it can extend to others,” Kaplan said.
Student researchers have played a crucial role in these findings.
Gabi Quinn, a senior member of the lab team, was drawn to Kaplan’s cannabis research after taking a course he taught on psychopharmacology, the study of medication use in treating medical disorders.
“I was fascinated by how little we know about cannabis in a therapeutic context, largely due to stigma and legal barriers,” Quinn said in an email.
The research team uses patch-clamp electrophysiology, which involves breaking into a single neuron and measuring changes in the voltage and flow of ions in the cell, Quinn said.
“This technique allows us to see how different blends affect the brain on a cellular level, helping us determine which formulations to study further in behavioral tests,” Quinn said.
Aashir Ahmed, an undergraduate in the lab, was also drawn to the lab’s focus on the pharmacological mechanisms of CBD.
“By understanding CBD’s mechanism of action in the brain, we can identify novel therapeutic targets for neuropsychiatric disorders,” Ahmed said in an email. “This could empower clinicians to prescribe cannabis-based treatments with greater confidence and broaden public acceptance.”
The lab is also held to high ethical standards due to the research being primarily focused on children in pediatric conditions within autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy.
“In the conditions that we’ve been looking at, the patient struggles with their quality of life because they’re either directly suffering from epileptic seizures, cognitive impairment or severe social impairments that prevent their integration into society,” Kaplan said.
While CBD has a safer profile compared to THC, the intoxicating cannabinoid, it has potential side effects like gastrointestinal distress and liver complications.
“If we're thinking about using cannabis to treat pediatric conditions, we'd like to avoid using anything that's going to substantially mess up brain development, and that's why we're avoiding THC in our research,” Kaplan said.
In the future, Kaplan wants to see more physicians consider CBD as a potential treatment and where cannabis-based medicine is better understood.
“I’d like them to be able to inform their patients with some sort of knowledge that was generated from a laboratory, as opposed to guesswork or just anecdotal reports,” Kaplan said.
Doc. D’s CBD Apothecary is a Bellingham-based company that sells CBD-infused products.
Dan Finley, owner of Doc. D’s, wrote in an email that much of the brand’s marketing is focused on educating the public about the difference between CBD and THC.
When working with the Better Business Bureau to get accreditation, the company had to address certain phrases on their website.
“We were explicitly told not to write 'inflammation,’ even though it’s a natural anti-inflammatory, because that is considered a medical term,” Finley said.
When participating at markets, they hand out brochures with FAQs, answering common questions people may have about CBD, he said. But the stigma surrounding the difference between CBD and THC still holds strong.
“We have some people who do not approach our booth at all because of the stigma. I overheard when a woman told her son to not approach because ‘we stay away from drugs,’” Finley said.
Quinn hopes the research done in Kaplan’s lab will help destigmatize CBD and show how it can be a powerful tool for different disorders.
“I also hope we can make our current CBD-based therapeutics more effective and accessible to improve the quality of life in many individuals,” said Quinn.
McKenna Kilayko (she/her) is a campus life reporter for The Front. She is in her second year at Western, working towards majoring in journalism with a minor in French. You can often find her drinking an iced matcha latte, DJing for Western’s radio station, KUGS, or complaining about the lack of sun. You can contact her at mckennakilayko.thefront@gmail.com.
