Cannabis and human creativity: hyper-priming, eureka moments and intermittent abstinence
Cannabis has undeniably been used to prime our imagination and creativity for centuries. As critical thinkers of all walks of life explore the use and impact of cannabis on today's society, one cannot omit the clear ability of the plant to bestow eureka moments upon our senses. Some have termed this experience hyper-priming #http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20122742, or the ability to transcend different areas of knowledge to build connections between seemingly unrelated fields.
Scientific insight should be applied to harness the potential benefits of cannabis hyper-priming and to make it into an effect cognitive tool. Recent research suggests that chronic cannabis use reduces the expression of Cannabinoid 1 receptors (CB1R) in several areas of the human brain. It was also observed that upon controlled abstinence #http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26858993, CB1R expression is restored to full potential after only 48 hours.
Conventional wisdom would thus have it that intermittent abstinence at intervals of 24-48hours, by restoring CB1R expression would provide for enhanced hyper-priming leading to more efficient use of cannabis for cognitive insight. Forget that plant with the 1001 molecules, think about the billion possible ways to use it more effectively to achieve originality and productivity through transcendence.
Sow away!
Good term, and good to know the research supports it. Be interesting to see if initial findings – based on 36 patients and 38 control subjects — hold up with wider testing.
Thanks for your thoughts, I agree that small sample sizes can be misleading. It is interesting to note that studies writ large can sometimes produce erratic results due to the large amounts of variables introduced by such endeavours. E.g. from an unrelated albeit very interesting field