Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics Content

Anti-Anxiety and Hallucination-Like Effects of Psychedelics Mediated by Distinct Neural Circuits

Andy Fell — November 14, 2024 - 10:06am

New research suggests that it could be possible to separate treatment from hallucinations when developing new drugs based on psychedelics. The anti-anxiety andhallucination-inducing qualities of psychedelic drugs work through different neural circuits, according to research using a mouse model. The work is published Nov. 15 in Science.

Exploring the Psychedelics Within Us

Andy Fell — October 21, 2024 - 3:00pm

Our bodies are pharmaceutical factories. From the hormones that regulate our blood sugar to the neurotransmitters that act as the body’s natural painkillers, these endogenous — produced within the body — chemicals ensure our functionality and survival.

But did you know that our bodies also naturally produce psychedelics?

In the 1950s, researchers found chemical signatures of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in mammalian bodies, including in humans.

New Method Tracks How Psychedelics Affect Neurons in Minutes

Andy Fell — August 05, 2024 - 10:22am

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a rapid, noninvasive tool to track the neurons and biomolecules activated in the brain by psychedelic drugs. The protein-based tool, which is called Ca^2+-activated Split-TurboID, or CaST, is described in research published in Nature Methods.