Rachel Carlson

It's not, actually. Even the guy who first synthesized LSD in the 1930s, Albert Hoffman, worked on finding derivatives of the drug that didn't give people hallucinations. Oh, wow. But some scientists say those hallucinations are the whole point. Hmm. I asked Albert Garcia-Romeo about this. He's a psychologist and psychopharmacologist at Johns Hopkins University.

He told me that we really do need more treatment options for conditions like depression, especially for people who can't take classic psychedelics.

He told me that we really do need more treatment options for conditions like depression, especially for people who can't take classic psychedelics.

He told me that we really do need more treatment options for conditions like depression, especially for people who can't take classic psychedelics.

Albert says these big experiences can play a role in how people feel after taking a drug like a psychedelic.

Albert says these big experiences can play a role in how people feel after taking a drug like a psychedelic.

Albert says these big experiences can play a role in how people feel after taking a drug like a psychedelic.

That is the question. We're talking about what could be next for psychedelic medicine. I'm Rachel Carlson.

That is the question. We're talking about what could be next for psychedelic medicine. I'm Rachel Carlson.

That is the question. We're talking about what could be next for psychedelic medicine. I'm Rachel Carlson.

Yeah, Gina, first we have to understand what people think drugs like psychedelics and ketamine even do in the brain. Yeah. So I want you to picture the neurons in the human brain as one big tree. Okay, I'm closing my eyes. I'm doing it. The neurons have something called dendrites. Those are like the branches of the tree. Okay. And then those branches have these tiny nubs called dendritic spines.

Yeah, Gina, first we have to understand what people think drugs like psychedelics and ketamine even do in the brain. Yeah. So I want you to picture the neurons in the human brain as one big tree. Okay, I'm closing my eyes. I'm doing it. The neurons have something called dendrites. Those are like the branches of the tree. Okay. And then those branches have these tiny nubs called dendritic spines.

Yeah, Gina, first we have to understand what people think drugs like psychedelics and ketamine even do in the brain. Yeah. So I want you to picture the neurons in the human brain as one big tree. Okay, I'm closing my eyes. I'm doing it. The neurons have something called dendrites. Those are like the branches of the tree. Okay. And then those branches have these tiny nubs called dendritic spines.

Okay, like leaves? Yeah, like leaves. And these leaves, or spines, are the sites where neurons in the brain communicate with each other. In a healthy brain, you can think of these really lush, leafy trees. Imagine squirrels are hopping between branches.

Okay, like leaves? Yeah, like leaves. And these leaves, or spines, are the sites where neurons in the brain communicate with each other. In a healthy brain, you can think of these really lush, leafy trees. Imagine squirrels are hopping between branches.

Okay, like leaves? Yeah, like leaves. And these leaves, or spines, are the sites where neurons in the brain communicate with each other. In a healthy brain, you can think of these really lush, leafy trees. Imagine squirrels are hopping between branches.

Yeah. And David says that when researchers eventually started studying the effects of ketamine on depression in animals, they saw that it seemed to help do this. And it worked much faster than the kinds of antidepressants we'd been using since the 1980s. So that's like Prozac, Zoloft, things like that.

Yeah. And David says that when researchers eventually started studying the effects of ketamine on depression in animals, they saw that it seemed to help do this. And it worked much faster than the kinds of antidepressants we'd been using since the 1980s. So that's like Prozac, Zoloft, things like that.

Yeah. And David says that when researchers eventually started studying the effects of ketamine on depression in animals, they saw that it seemed to help do this. And it worked much faster than the kinds of antidepressants we'd been using since the 1980s. So that's like Prozac, Zoloft, things like that.

Yeah. David told me that he and lots of other researchers started looking for other compounds that could also do something like this, quickly help regrow these mental forests, these sites of connection in the brain. He coined a term for drugs like this. He called them psychoplastogens. Okay. And that includes psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin. A.K.A.