Welcome to Grand Rounds at Blogmocracy General Hospital. Today’s Rounds are brought to you from the guys at Neuroscience who remind you, “Yes, It is in fact Brain Surgery”.
Today we are going to look at hallucinogenic treatment of neurological disorders.
For C.J. Hardin, an Army veteran, dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder is an everyday feat. After years of pills and therapy failed to help his disorder, Hardin knew he needed an alternative. So he turned to a surprising substitute that’s at the forefront of a revolution in neuroscience and medicine: psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.
A hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms has successfully lifted severe depression in previously untreatable patients.
Scientists at Imperial College London induced intense psychedelic trips in 12 people using high doses of the banned substance psilocybin.
A week after the experience all the volunteers were depression-free, and three months later five still had no symptoms of the condition.
Published in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, the study welcomes the results as “promising, but not completely compelling”.
Its authors are now seeking further funding from the Medical Research Council and other bodies to carry out fuller trials.
They conceded, however, that the use of a placebo control, a crucial component of thorough clinical trials, would be difficult as it would be obvious who was having a hallucinogenic experience and who was not.
The psilocybin is believed to cause relief from depression by targeting receptors in the brain and disrupting the Default Mode Network, which is responsible for sense of self and is overactive in depressed people.
However, the scientists did not rule out that the psychedelic trip could have caused an “awakening”, of the kind achieved by spiritual teaching, which also helped lift the depression.
Psylocybin and Cluster Headaches can be viewed here
Founded in 1986, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.
LSD and Psilocybin for Cluster Headaches: Preventing Pain,Saving Lives
This is testable material, just don’t get caught doing the lab portion of the exam. 😎
