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.

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.

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?