Scientists Closer to Creating Psychedelic-Like Drugs That Work Without Hallucinations
In a new study this week, researchers describe their work with experimental compounds that could offer the mental…
By
Ed Cara
In a new study this week, researchers describe their work with experimental compounds that could offer the mental health benefits of a psychedelic drug, without causing people to trip out. Their early research, so far only conducted in mice, might someday provide people with more first-line treatments for illnesses like depression.
Psychedelics are currently being looked at as possible treatments for mental illness. There are now ongoing clinical trials of drugs like LSD and psilocybin (the main ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) for conditions including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, sometimes in combination with psychotherapy. Just this month, a new study found that psilocybin plus therapy appeared to be as effective as antidepressants in treating moderate to severe depression. A visual abstract of the team’s new study But while these drugs, long banned in the U.S., could soon be accepted as part of the toolbox for treating mental illness, their hallucinogenic side-effects will probably limit their potential for wide use, according to study author David Olson, a chemist at the University of California Davis.
“As a result, I think that psychedelics are likely to serve as the last line of defense if they are ever approved—reserved for patients who have tried everything else,” Olson told Gizmodo in an email. “In contrast, non-hallucinogenic analogs of psychedelics have greater potential for scalability, perhaps even becoming first-line therapies.”
Olson and his team have been at work trying to develop the next generation of psychiatric drugs—namely, drugs that can enhance the brain’s natural ability to rewire or create new connections when needed, known as neural plasticity. And because psychedelics have shown some promise in promoting neural plasticity, one aspect of their research has involved trying to create versions of these drugs that have fewer side effects and that wouldn’t require a long-term regimen.
Olson and his lab collaborated with fellow UCDavis researcher and biochemist Lin Tian and her team to develop a fluorescent sensor that can literally light up […]
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