A New Study Investigates Daytime Cognitive Performance
Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology and Austin Hospital in Australia conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled study to assess the impact of taking CBD each night on daytime cognitive performance and mood. The participants experience insomnia, but the study was not focused on CBD’s impact on sleep. The results found that taking CBD each night did not negatively impact cognitive functioning, but it did have a positive effect in other ways.
In this study, 30 participants took a placebo each night for a week. Then, half the participants took 150 mg of CBD for two weeks, and half took a placebo. This was a blind dosing period, meaning the participants did not know what they were taking.
CBD was taken sublingually 60 minutes before bedtime. The participants were evaluated using the CogPro system. This assessment measures attention, reasoning, executive function, working and episodic memory and information processing. The examinations were conducted at the beginning of week one and then at the end of each week during the two-week phase.
The results found that CBD did not affect daytime cognitive performance. It was also reported that the participants taking CBD experienced greater calmness, clear-headedness and coordination.
The only side effect noted was that people taking CBD were more likely to experience dry mouth than those taking the placebo. The 150 mg CBD amount was based on a December 2020 Therapeutic Goods Administration recommendation for the over-the-counter sale of low-dose CBD products by a pharmacist without a prescription. The government has not yet approved the recommendation, so it has not been implemented.
The project researchers recommended holding additional controlled trials with larger participant groups. The different trials could include participants experiencing different types of sleep issues.
It is estimated that 50-70 million Americans experience sleep problems. Many people find that over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids cause daytime mental grogginess, creating a new issue. CBD may offer an alternative for improving sleep but without causing mental fog. Hopefully, more research projects addressing the impact of CBD at night on neurofunctioning during the day will be initiated soon.
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