Rachel Carlson

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.

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.

Yeah. And just to be clear, Gina, a lot of this research is happening in animals. So scientists think that something similar is happening in humans, but but they don't know enough yet about how these drugs work to say for sure. Still, David says that it got researchers thinking, what if people didn't have to take a drug every single day?

Yeah. And just to be clear, Gina, a lot of this research is happening in animals. So scientists think that something similar is happening in humans, but but they don't know enough yet about how these drugs work to say for sure. Still, David says that it got researchers thinking, what if people didn't have to take a drug every single day?

Yeah. And just to be clear, Gina, a lot of this research is happening in animals. So scientists think that something similar is happening in humans, but but they don't know enough yet about how these drugs work to say for sure. Still, David says that it got researchers thinking, what if people didn't have to take a drug every single day?

There is a version of ketamine that the FDA approved in 2019 to treat depression that didn't respond to our current treatments like SSRIs. It's a nose spray called Spravato. But even that requires patients to go to a clinic. They have to stay there for at least a couple of hours while they get the treatment. And they need someone else to drive them home because ketamine can make people dissociate.

There is a version of ketamine that the FDA approved in 2019 to treat depression that didn't respond to our current treatments like SSRIs. It's a nose spray called Spravato. But even that requires patients to go to a clinic. They have to stay there for at least a couple of hours while they get the treatment. And they need someone else to drive them home because ketamine can make people dissociate.

There is a version of ketamine that the FDA approved in 2019 to treat depression that didn't respond to our current treatments like SSRIs. It's a nose spray called Spravato. But even that requires patients to go to a clinic. They have to stay there for at least a couple of hours while they get the treatment. And they need someone else to drive them home because ketamine can make people dissociate.

Oh. So researchers like David are trying to figure out, are there drugs that have similar effects on the brain without all the trippy side effects?

Oh. So researchers like David are trying to figure out, are there drugs that have similar effects on the brain without all the trippy side effects?

Oh. So researchers like David are trying to figure out, are there drugs that have similar effects on the brain without all the trippy side effects?

Yeah, exactly. Plus, right now, psychedelics are mostly extremely restricted, controlled drugs.

Yeah, exactly. Plus, right now, psychedelics are mostly extremely restricted, controlled drugs.

Yeah, exactly. Plus, right now, psychedelics are mostly extremely restricted, controlled drugs.

Yeah, I mean, testing whether something could potentially make a person hallucinate is really tricky, as I'm sure you can imagine. Researchers know certain receptors in our brains are involved in the hallucinogenic effect of psychedelics and ketamine. So companies like Delix are basically trying to make drugs that are like distant cousins of magic mushrooms or ketamine.

Yeah, I mean, testing whether something could potentially make a person hallucinate is really tricky, as I'm sure you can imagine. Researchers know certain receptors in our brains are involved in the hallucinogenic effect of psychedelics and ketamine. So companies like Delix are basically trying to make drugs that are like distant cousins of magic mushrooms or ketamine.

Yeah, I mean, testing whether something could potentially make a person hallucinate is really tricky, as I'm sure you can imagine. Researchers know certain receptors in our brains are involved in the hallucinogenic effect of psychedelics and ketamine. So companies like Delix are basically trying to make drugs that are like distant cousins of magic mushrooms or ketamine.

They help those trees in our brain grow new leaves, but they don't make people hallucinate. Okay, so do we know if these like non-hallucinogenic drugs work? It's definitely still up for debate, but Delix has a drug called DLX-1. It's in clinical trials now. I talked to the company's head of research and development, Eliseo Salinas.

They help those trees in our brain grow new leaves, but they don't make people hallucinate. Okay, so do we know if these like non-hallucinogenic drugs work? It's definitely still up for debate, but Delix has a drug called DLX-1. It's in clinical trials now. I talked to the company's head of research and development, Eliseo Salinas.

They help those trees in our brain grow new leaves, but they don't make people hallucinate. Okay, so do we know if these like non-hallucinogenic drugs work? It's definitely still up for debate, but Delix has a drug called DLX-1. It's in clinical trials now. I talked to the company's head of research and development, Eliseo Salinas.