BioScope

A UC Davis Graduate Student Blog

Tag: Mental Health

You Don’t Have to Be a Monk to Meditate

By

On September 23, 2020

In scientist_2.0, scientist_2.0_wellness

Anxiety, depression, insomnia — we all experience stress in one form or another and often on a daily basis. Most of us would like to think we’d do anything to diminish these hurdles to happiness, though it’s likely you’ve heard much praise for meditation yet never committed to giving the practice a proper go.

Perhaps you feel meditation is more effort than it’s worth, or that you’ll never master the skill because your mind is the kind that never rests. However, meditation is not meant to be complicated, nor does it have to be time consuming.

In her Nature Career Column article titled Building a meditation routine for a more productive, creative and happier scientific life, Ana Pineda, PhD shows us how simple meditation can be, offering four easy tips to begin practicing mindfulness meditation routinely in a way that’s achievable for everyone.

Scientists like Dr. Pineda are part of the growing number of individuals discovering mindfulness meditation as a free and uncomplicated way of alleviating stress and boosting productivity, focus, and creativity. If you haven’t tried mindful meditation yet or gave up too quickly on it once before, perhaps it’s time to give the practice an honest shot.

Stay healthy. Stay thirsty.

Nina Cueva

 

Resource suggestion made by: Yulong Liu

Edited by: Sydney Wyatt

It’s time to get deep (TMS).

By

On August 4, 2020

In main_pub

Written by Jen Baily 

Edited by Anna Feitzinger

Illustration by Sydney Wyatt

 

As I sit with earplugs in my ears, a tight velcro cap and a firmly secured helmet on my head, my right hand and right eye twitch of their own accord while the magnetic field creates a drumroll sensation two inches into my skull. It only lasts three seconds, but repeats over twenty minutes until my session is complete. This will continue every day for a month, then twice a week for two months. 

As someone with drug-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD), there are few options available to treat my symptoms, especially after being on the maximum doses of 5 different medications over the last few years. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), colloquially known as shock therapy, is often used as a last resort; however, it can cause severe memory loss and brain damage. Anecdotally, I’ve known friends that have undergone ECT who were never the same, which took it off the table for me. It wasn’t until meeting a psychiatrist to manage my medications that I learned about deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), and how it is a non-invasive procedure for which I was a good candidate.

From the paragraphs above, as well as the name dTMS, you probably get the idea that dTMS is a deep, skull-penetrating magnetic pulse. How can this be used specifically to treat depression? The idea behind dTMS is to use this magnetic field to affect neurons, which act as conductors.

 In 1985, Anthony Barker and his associates produced the first transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device. It was based on Faraday’s discovery in 1881, where a magnetic field was created by running electricity through a coil. By rapidly switching the magnetic field’s intensity or direction, you can depolarize neurons in a specific region of the brain. Though not fully fleshed out, it is thought that increasing the neural activity in the mood center of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), may be the mechanism by which dTMS alleviates symptoms of depression. 

The treatment targets the DLPFC on the right side of your head. The psychiatrist or technician finds the DLPFC  by applying magnetic pulses until your hands begin to twitch, indicating the magnetic fields have reached the motor cortex.   This allows the doctors to position the helmet containing the magnets over the DLPFC and to induce the firing of neurons in the area. dTMS is akin to Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) machine, except dTMS is specialized to stimulate the brain while TENS is inTENded (pun) to reduce pain. Nevertheless, the principle of manipulating the nervous system to the benefit of the patient remains the same. The neural activity  caused by the dTMS magnets increases expression of brain derived growth factor (BDGF), increased neural outgrowth and connectivity in rats (Paus, 2011), and showed a major elevation in mood of patients relative to a placebo treatment during clinical trials (Yates, 2016). BDGF accomplishes these tasks due to its role in development, maturation, and maintenance of neurons. 

By increasing the activity of neurons in the brain regions typically affected in patients with MDD, a burst of growth is thought to follow the acute/intense phase of treatment, when a patient is going in every day. During the second phase, where a patient is treated a few times a week, the activity is thought to be maintained while the brain adjusts. Relative to previous models of the TMS technology, deep TMS has an excitingly high “remission rate of 32.6 in active deep TMS (vs 14.6 sham treatment)” (Levkovitz, 2015). Remission of MDD is typically thought to be a significant decrease in depressive symptoms for longer than 4-6 months (Frank, 1991). While this may seem like a low number, for someone suffering from depression, any reduction in symptoms can be helpful, and full remission of symptoms can allow someone to function normally. For the third of patients who’ve never felt relief, this is life-changing.

After extensive studies on rats and clinical trials on humans, the FDA approved dTMS use for patients who had failed 2 or more medications during their current episode of depression. Because dTMS is not a medication, simply a locally applied magnetic field, it is without the usual side effects such as “weight gain, sexual dysfunction, nausea, tremors, dry mouth, diarrhea, headaches, constipation, sweating, sleepiness or anxiety” that are associated with antidepressant use (History of dTMS). What’s wonderful, in my opinion, is that the patient can drive to and from their appointment. There are minimal side effects that usually dissolve shortly after a treatment session. Apart from the super magnets being quite noisy, the strangeness of the feeling itself, and occasionally scalp tenderness, it really is an amazing option for patients with drug-resistant MDD.

If dTMS is such a wonder “cure” for depression and anxiety related disorders, 1) why haven’t more people heard of it and 2) why don’t more people utilize this technology? To address question one, I’ll quote my lovely psychiatrist, “stigma.” There is a certain stigma associated with a daily treatment regime, especially one that requires transportation to a clinic. Though effective, it is a new technology and can often be lumped together with ECT in the public eye, which can be a traumatic experience for patients. To address question two, dTMS is very expensive. UC student health insurance is quite good for mental health services, but even then, I had to fail out of 5 medications and rate at a specific level of depressive symptoms prior to any coverage for almost a year. Failing out of medications involved either severe side effects or lack of effect for 16 weeks of treatment. If the insurance company doesn’t think you’ve gone hard enough for long enough, they can request that you take higher doses of medication prior to approval. All this is associated with the side effects mentioned previously, and during this time the patient is suffering. Additionally, a patient may be suffering to the point of suicidal ideation, but is functional enough to score below the required threshold on a PHQ-9 form. If a patient battling with depression must be their own advocate while on heavy medications and experiencing symptoms, getting to a place where dTMS is possible can be difficult. However, things are starting to change for the better.

As dTMS becomes a more mainstream treatment option, more and more patients are seeking it out to ameliorate their symptoms. Along with the patients themselves feeling better, those in their lives are able to notice improvements. My own partner told me that I was able to carry a conversation for significantly longer after a month of treatment relative to my depressive episode. As more and more people notice the impact that this treatment has on their loved ones, word will spread. Additionally, within the past 10 years, mental health stigma has significantly decreased. Now, I can openly talk about my own experience with minimal impact to my career prospects, and am still viewed as a functional and contributing member to my community.

In learning about dTMS for my own sake, I was amazed by the scientific literature behind it. The technology brings together physics and physicians, neuroscientists and patients. Through their creative and thorough research, hope has been brought to many suffering with MDD, myself included. If you or someone you know has struggled with a severe depressive episode, perhaps now is a good time to discuss dTMS with your physician  or other new technologies as treatment options. And always remember, reach out if you need help. You’ll be surprised by how many people and how many treatments out there can help.

 

On campus services – UCD specific

https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/strategic-plan/task-forces/mental-health

  • Individual counseling
  • Couples counseling
  • Group therapy
  • Skills groups
  • Case management
  • Career counseling
  • Outreach to the campus community

They only work if you use them.

 

Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs

Group therapy at a hospital location, often using cognitive behavioral therapy, with access to on-call psychiatrist and nurse.

 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

Online Chat – Lifeline

1-800-273-8255

 

“Warm Line” – Talk to trained listeners before a crisis: Visit http://www.warmline.org/ to find the number for your area.

Talk to trained listeners over text: https://www.crisistextline.org/

 

References

http://www.brainefit.net/history-of-tms.html

Yates E, Balu G. Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Promising Drug-Free Treatment Modality in the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain. Del Med J. 2016;88(3):90‐92.

Johnson, Mark. “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: Mechanisms, Clinical Application and Evidence.” Reviews in pain vol. 1,1 (2007): 7-11. doi:10.1177/204946370700100103

Levkovitz, Y., Isserles, M., Padberg, F., Lisanby, S. H., Bystritsky, A., Xia, G., … Zangen, A. (2015). Efficacy and safety of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for major depression: a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 14(1), 64–73. doi:10.1002/wps.20199

Tomáš Paus  Manuel A. Castro‐Alamancos  Michael Petrides (2011). Cortico‐cortical connectivity of the human mid‐dorsolateral frontal cortex and its modulation by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. European Journal of Neuroscience. 14(8), 1405-1411. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0953-816x.2001.01757.x

Frank E, Prien RF, Jarrett RB, Keller MB, Kupfer DJ, Lavori PW, Rush AJ, Weissman MM. Conceptualization and rationale for consensus definitions of terms in major depressive disorder. Remission, recovery, relapse, and recurrence. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1991 Sep; 48(9):851-5.

Maintaining Social Connections While Sheltering in Place

By

On March 31, 2020

In scientist_2.0, scientist_2.0_wellness

Hello there, from my apartment to yours.

 

As of this Thursday, the United States surpassed both China and Italy to become the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic. While the coronavirus continues to spread and millions of Americans self-isolate with no end in sight, many find themselves battling an inconspicuous enemy indoors: loneliness. The current practice of social distancing and sheltering in place is causing what some have termed a loneliness epidemic. As social creatures, this necessary practice can be difficult to sustain, since it prohibits us from interacting in person and holding social gatherings.

 

Loneliness also increases our risk for depression and anxiety, decreases our ability to respond to stress, and can weaken our immune systems, which effectively increases our susceptibility to contracting illnesses such as COVID-19. For these reasons, it’s important that we not only maintain calm and stop hoarding toilet paper and absurd amounts of perishable goods, but that we find unique ways of interacting and maintaining our social connections during these uncertain times. So, instead of panic scrolling through social media, consider listening to The Happiness Lab podcast by Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos and learn how to recreate a sense of togetherness and keep calm in their Coronavirus bonus series.

 

Additionally, if you’re experiencing heightened levels of stress, anxiety or need assistance managing an anxiety disorder, you may find the following articles helpful:

 

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/coronavirus-anxiety.htm 

 

Social distancing doesn’t have to mean social disengagement. Rather, this unique experience is an opportunity to come together and realize that, as cliche as it sounds, we’re all in this together. Afterall, it’s during times of crisis that it’s most important to remain connected.

 

  • Nina

 

Edited by Sydney Wyatt

Source suggested by Yulong Liu

 

For any content suggestions or general recommendations, please email to UCDBioScope@gmail.com and put science 2.0 in the title.

 

My experiences navigating mental illness as a graduate student  

By

On September 24, 2019

In main_pub

Written By: Jennifer Baily

Edited By: Emily Davis

Trigger warning: references to suicide

 

I was diagnosed with depression during my sophomore year of college, but I also remember an instance where at 12 years old, I prayed for the strength to end my own life; this was not an unfamiliar feeling. I was lucky enough to be well-supported during several life-changing experiences throughout adolescence and college, thanks to friends, family, and undergraduate student resources. What I didn’t know was the extent to which my mood disorder would affect my graduate experience, whose signs and symptoms were never communicated to me by mental health professionals.

For 3 months during my second year of graduate school, I was convinced that I had mononucleosis. I was exhausted and drinking two energy drinks a day, to the point where it became a joke amongst my lab mates. I was tested for everything you can think of, including the suspected mono, B12 levels, and even thyroid disease. My doctor recognized the exhaustion, lack of appetite, and social isolation for what it was – the beginning of a major depressive episode.

Instead of agreeing to increasing my dose of antidepressants, I was convinced that it was stress related to an upcoming qualifying exam, 3 months in the future. Despite sincerely believing that I was fine, my doctor heavily encouraged me to meet with her every two weeks to monitor my health. A fellow graduate student suggested that I start counseling again, which I did at the Student Health Center on campus. Counseling helped to a certain extent. We talked about how to strategize getting through difficult situations and conversations, and how to practice self-care. 

Unfortunately, the on campus clinic was unable to provide adequate care because I didn’t know how necessary it was to communicate what was going on internally; until recently, I was unaware that my near-constant suicidal thoughts were not a part of the day to day human experience. My mental illness manifests itself through using work, reading, and planning as coping mechanisms to avoid sitting with these thoughts. In my experience, high-functioning depression flies under the radar in an environment where many are working long hours with few results.

I lost ten pounds in a month. With concerted effort, I gained most of it back, but my bones always seemed to hurt with a dull ache. During a major depressive episode, the brain’s pain threshold is lowered – normal aches and pains become distracting to the point of affecting your ability to function. I didn’t know that one side effect of extreme depression was a state called “pseudo-dementia”, where the patient cannot form long term memories; I certainly struggled recalling basic facts about myself, even more so those which I had studied in preparation for my qualifying exam.

The exam itself, and 8 months preceding, are a blur of exhaustion that I can barely recall. I knew that I had not presented my best work, and was disappointed that the months of rigorous preparation did not support me during current mental state. I spiraled. A month later, a good friend came by to see if I wanted to grab coffee. I had been staring at my computer, desperately trying to make sense of the jumble of words before me, immediately forgetting sentences after discovering their meaning. 

In chatting with her, I opened up about how living through the week, even more the rest of my life, was exhausting to even think about. I seemingly always had thoughts, but now I had a plan. That day, when I was already at my breaking point, several minor instances brought me to my knees. My friends tried to explain the facts of the situation for what it was, something that can easily be overcome. I was beyond thoughts and plans. I told my friends over text that I should just kill myself, and I believed it. 

In that moment, I didn’t recognize myself, my life, or anything valuable. When you struggle, refusing assistance for nearly 6 months, you reach a level of pain and suffering that is absolutely crushing. I will not go into detail further because that is not the point of this article. What I will say is that without incredible friends supporting me in a time of great need, I would not be here. I don’t know if I can adequately thank them.

The next morning, I sent a message to my doctor explaining the situation and finally agreeing that there was a problem and to up the dose of my antidepressants. I was not in my right mind, thinking that this was an adequate solution. If you or anyone you know feels this way, immediate professional help is absolutely required. The doctor called me repeatedly, and made me an appointment with the on-call psychiatrist, despite me arguing that I had a really important time course experiment, which I – in that moment – valued more than my own life.

Needless to say, I got the help that I needed. My PI was incredibly supportive about my hospitalization, giving me the time that I needed to get better. Normally, involuntary hospitalization would be the route, but because I didn’t cause any actual harm (thank you friends who came over), the on-call psychiatrist placed me in a partial hospitalization program (PHP). Consenting to voluntary hospitalization was the most difficult and humbling experience of my life so far. In a PHP, as opposed to involuntary, you get to go home at night and on the weekends, after going over a safety crisis plan with your provider. I am so grateful that my student health insurance plan covered the ~$24,000 of care.

I was picked up by an unmarked, white van the following morning, and was taken to a nearby hospital. There I met amazing and diverse people struggling with the same illness. For the first time, I felt understood, albeit a little crazy. I was overjoyed to eat slimy hospital-cooked fish because I hadn’t been able to feed myself in a few days. I was given medication and finally slept after getting a cumulative three hours of sleep over the preceding three days. During my time in a partial hospitalization program, we learned more about the biology of our illnesses, and which coping skills could help us in the situations that brought us there in the first place. I returned to work, with some hitches, after being transferred to an intensive outpatient program where I attended a shorter series of therapy and workshops.

Some people thought I had taken a vacation, while others had heard rumors that I had begun a planned leave program. Coming back, I was wracked with shame and guilt. I thought that once I fixed myself, all my other problems with school, lab work, and personal relationships would be fixed as well. My release from the hospital did not mark an end to the fragility of my situation. I struggled with the idea that I was more inferior than I already felt because of my mood disorder (imposter syndrome anyone?). I watched a horror movie with a suicide scene, was unable to control my tears in the theater, and didn’t sleep for a few days. I still had trouble focusing, making reading even brief reviews incredibly difficult. Sometimes I still think that it would be easier to simply disappear. But I know that these thoughts will pass and do not influence how I choose to live my life. 

All this to say, if you are or if you have a graduate student struggling with mental illness, you are not alone. Based on statistics provided by the student health center at UC Davis, “15.5% of undergraduates seriously considered suicide (3.6% increase since 2015), 2.6% had attempted, nearly doubling  since 2015’s 1.5%, and 8% of graduate students reported seriously considering suicide”. 

I want this article to encourage those who are in a similar situation that, with help, things will get better, to help mentors who may not understand the level to which their mentees may be affected, and to validate the experience of other graduate students struggling with mental illness. Not only are you not alone, but there are many people and resources ready to help, so long as you take advantage of them. Some of these resources I didn’t know about until after being hospitalized, and I continue to learn about more as I open up about my experience.

 

On campus services – UCD specific

https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/strategic-plan/task-forces/mental-health

  • Individual counseling
  • Couples counseling
  • Group therapy
  • Skills groups
  • Case management
  • Career counseling
  • Outreach to the campus community

They only work if you use them.

 

Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs

Group therapy at a hospital location, often using cognitive behavioral therapy, with access to on-call psychiatrist and nurse.

 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

Online Chat – Lifeline

1-800-273-8255

 

“Warm Line” – Talk to trained listeners before a crisis

Visit http://www.warmline.org/ to find the number for your area.

Psychedelics in Biology and Mental Health 

By

On August 23, 2019

In main_pub

Written by Keith Fraga

Edited by Mikaela Louie

 

Psychedelic drugs are often taboo in US culture particularly since their extensive criminalization in 1970. Substances like LSD, MDMA, DMT, and those derived from fungi like psilocybin, are drugs known to have hallucinogenic effects on humans. The ability of these substances to produce mind-altering experiences lead to massive efforts to control their study and use.

However, restrictive policies surrounding psychoactive and other mind-altering substances may be changing. For example, cannabis is undergoing rapid social and legal acceptance in the US. The City of Oakland legalized the recreational use of magic mushrooms in June, another potent hallucinogenic. Substances such as ayahuasca have a long history as a traditional medicine. Whatever impact psychedelics have on treating debilitating mental illnesses deserves experimental study and mechanistic understanding. Indeed, psychedelics are in several clinical trials to treat various mental illnesses, like depression, anxiety, PTSD, with the potential to be applied to many more mental health conditions. UC Davis researchers recently published an article in Cell on a study of psychedelics’ effects on neural plasticity.  

Diving into the literature, I wanted to answer a few specific questions. What is the history of psychedelic research? Where did restrictive policies surrounding psychedelics come from in the first place? What has contributed to the thawing of restrictions on clinical psychedelic use ? How has biology and neuroscience changed our understanding of these substances? And lastly, what do we not know and where should we be cautious?

 

HISTORY

The history of psychedelic drugs help us understand their possible future. Psychedelics refer to many substances, and naturally occurring psychedelics such as psilocybin or ayahuasca have been consumed by humans for centuries. Others are more recent in human history, being chemically synthesized in the late/early 19th-20th centuries. When consumed, psychedelics generally cause an altered state of perception. Often these altered states affect tethers to reality, mirroring what happens in psychosis. The history and story of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is an important example of the use and study of psychedelic drugs.

LSD was first synthesized by Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann in 1938. Hofmann set out to synthesize compounds that could be used for blood vessel constriction, which could help in medical applications to reduce blood loss. After accidental contact with LSD, Hofmann found that this compound had hallucinogenic properties. 

Hofmann self-administered doses of LSD to test and observe its effects, becoming convinced of LSD’s potency to address mental illness. Hofmann contributed to the spread of LSD from doctor to doctor, making its way to the US. It was quickly found that LSD had potent therapeutic effects for treating various psychological conditions and became wildly presubscribed by therapists across the US and Europe.

 

USE AND REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES

An important aspect to the rise in LSD usage was the prescription and research by independent, unregulated clinics and therapists. In this unregulated climate, LSD found its way out of the laboratory and into the 1960s US counter-culture. The culture around psychedelic research and usage at this time was very exploratory. As with the initial discovery and subsequent spread of LSD, therapists and researchers self-experimented and shared these compounds without discretion.

The obvious potent effects of LSD spurred a generation’s worth of compelling, rigorous research. Figure 1, shown below, depicts the relative citation rate for the terms “psychedelic” or “lysergic acid diethylamide” in any journal article title/abstract. The years between 1950-1970 can be called the “golden-age” of clinical and basic research on uses for LSD. During this period, much was learned about LSD’s effects on human psychology, crucial observations on the aspects of psychedelic “trips”, effective uses of LSD in psychedelic assisted therapy, all of which are now being re-examined with modern medical and biological methods.

 

Figure 1: Citation rate for words “psychedelic” or “Lysergeic acid diethylamide” in journal article title/abstracts. The data series in blue is just for “psychedelic” or “Lysergeic acid diethylamide”, while the red series is a separate search with additional search terms for other psychedelic substances. Find the interactive version here.

 

It is also clear from Figure 1 is the “golden-age” of LSD research rapidly came to an end. In response to growing concerns for unregulated, unethical use of LSD, the Food and Drug Administration adopted new policies restricting the use, possession, and manufacturing of these drugs. A series of legal policies were installed in the ‘60s to curtail the use, possession, manufacturing, and research into these compounds, culminating in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970. The CSA is the legal authority that established the Schedule system for controlled substances. Schedule I is the most restrictive category of compounds. With strict policies and massive legal consequences for inappropriate use of these substances, many researchers and therapists in the field ceased their work.

 

THAWING OF RESTRICTIONS ON PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCH 

It is difficult to identify a singular cause for the increase in interest and research on psychedelics. That being said, I find two specific developments particularly informative to the growing acceptance of psychedelic research. First is the research on how psychedelics can improve the quality of life for patients with life-threatening disease or terminal illness. Patients with life-threatening diseases, terminal illness, and associated chronic pain experience lower quality of life, higher rates of depression, and lower life-expectancy. While researching for this article, I found the following interview with Michael Pollan, a journalist who studies the impacts of psychedelics and their potential growing role in society. In this interview, he relates what sparked his interest in therapeutic use of psychedelics was their ability to improve the mental health of terminally ill patients. Numerous recent studies and reviews have recently contributed to this area of research. Psychedelics in end-of-life care was actually studied in the 60’s, and it is now being revived. Current research on therapeutic effects of psychedelics has demonstrated they can dispel anxiety, fear, and despair in these patients safely, and social taboos and legal policies are slowly changing in order to increase access and study of these benefits.

Psychedelic assisted therapy is also being explored for an array of mental health conditions. Numerous psychotherapy drug trials currently ongoing. The MultiDisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a central scientific research coalition propeling psychotherapy trials forward. MAPS independently supports trials for psychotherapy with a wide array of substances to tackle a diverse set of mental health conditions. Specifically, MAPS is currently working with the FDA for MDMA assisted psycho-therapy.   

Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy presents an alternative therapy regimen for mental illness in part because of the global effects psychedelics have in the brain. A significant hypothesis in this field is psychedelics and psychiatric medications address mental illness at different scales. Psychiatric medications, like antidepressants, offer to rectify chemical and functional imbalances in the brain. These often target specific neuro-transmitter/receptor imbalances. However, psychedelics impact brain activity at a systems level, disrupting default neural networks and activating connections between disparate regions of the brain. The golden-age of psychedelic research in ‘60s intuitively reached many of these ideas concerning the global effects in the brain psychedelics have. With modern developments in science, medicine, and biology, researchers can interrogate psychedelic compounds’ effects on brain function at greater resolution. 

 

A BIOLOGICAL MAGNIFYING GLASS TO PSYCHEDELICS

A significant motivation of this article is a study by a team of UC Davis scientists studying the effects that a battery of psychedelic drugs have on structure and dynamics of neurons. This study experimentally demonstrated that many psychedelic compounds promote neurons to make new synapses, growth of new neuron axons, and altered neurophysiological functionality. In part, this is why psychedelic compounds are termed by the authors of this study “psychoplastogens” for their ability to promote plasticity at the level of the brain. These investigators also experimentally tested mechanistic models for how these large-scale structural and functional changes in response to psychedelics. Investigations similar to the UC Davis study represent how advanced techniques in biology can garner quantitative insights into the mode of action for these potent compounds. 

A greater understanding of how psychedelics functionally work in the brain can lead to the generation of new compounds that have similar functional effects demonstrated in the above study, with the idea being these newly designed compounds may induce similar subjective experiences, or “trips”. In other words, the generation of novel “psychoplastogens” is possible when we learn more about what determines their function in the brain. Alternatively, psychoplastogens can be used to perturb aspects of the brain to piece together the mechanisms for subjective experience. Biology has a rich tradition of using tools to perturb a biological system and measuring its output to uncover the mechanisms that make it work in the first place. Psychedelics can serve a similar role in potentially understanding perception, cognition, and consciousness.    

 

CAUTIONARY TALES

Nearly every editorial, podcast, or interview I have heard on this subject includes strong cautionary tales. Psychoactive drugs can have unintended consequences.The mind-altering capabilities for these drugs are so potent that they may do more harm than good for some people, which is one reason why I am particularly excited about the prospect of trained therapists guiding a patient’s trip. How the chemistry of these molecules and their therapeutic use come together to help people is an exciting new venture in medicine.

 

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