Name: Researchers Synthesise a Psychedelic That Could Treat Depression Without Hallucinations
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Researchers Synthesise a Psychedelic That Could Treat Depression Without Hallucinations

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Recently advances have shown that psychedelics have for treating mental health conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and . But psychedelics can come with serious side effects, like cardiac toxicity and their infamous hallucinations."Psychedelics are some of the most powerful drugs we know of that affect the brain," chemist David Olson from University of California. "It's unbelievable how little we know about them."So University of California neuroscientist Lindsay Cameron, Olsen and colleagues decided to take a closer look and see if they could mess with a psychedelic compound in a way that allows them to keep its useful features, but do away with the more dangerous parts.After extracting the psychedelic compound from the African rainforest shrub , the researchers used a drug-designing technique called to identify which part of the ibogaine molecule induces structural changes in brain cells in laboratory cultures and animals.They named their resulting synthetic molecule tabernanthalog (TBG).Cameron and team then treated alcohol-addicted mice and heroin-addicted rats with TBG. Not only did a single dose allow the mice to stop drinking, the compound had a long-lasting effect on rats trained to self-administer doses of heroin, reducing their tendency to seek out the drug. Even when presented with cues that reminded them of their addiction, the rats generally avoided relapsing.Experiments in zebrafish also showed TBG has a lower toxicity level than the original ibogaine compound. It also doesn't cause mice to twitch their heads in a way that indicates they're hallucinating, and it appears to be increasing connectivity between nerve cells.When mice were handled and forced to swim for a stretch of six minutes - activities known to stress them out without causing harm - a dose of TBG helped chill them out again, giving it an antidepressant quality similar to ."Not only does TBG potently promote neuronal growth, it also produces antidepressant-like behavioural responses and reduces alcohol - but not sucrose - consumption in mice," the in their paper.While current antidepressants are certainly helpful, figuring out which one works for you involves a horrifying game of trial and error with your brain. This can be a nauseating nightmare that makes you feel far worse before a turn for the better, and can go on for up to eight weeks before it can finally be established if the drug is even working. After that, ongoing side-effects of antidepressants include insomnia, dizziness, weight gain, and, in some people, the drug's positive effect can .Unlike those medications, psychedelics are thought to change underlying brain circuitry rather than just masking symptoms. A found they promote structural and functional neural changes in the prefrontal cortex of rats."However, a causal link between psychedelic-induced neuronal growth and behaviour has yet to be established in either humans or rodents," the team .A day after rats were treated with TBG, their brain cells were observed to develop more connecting branches () - but Cameron and team still have to work out if this change in structure is linked to the observed changes in the animals' behaviour."With the exception of 18-methoxycoronaridine, which is currently in phase II , very few ibogaine analogues have demonstrated this level of safety while also producing therapeutic effects," the .There is still much to work out, but these structural changes may be helpful for treating more than one problem."We've been focused on treating one psychiatric disease at a time, but we know that these illnesses overlap," Olson . "It might be possible to treat multiple diseases with the same drug."With almost with mental health disorders worldwide, those of us relying on external help with our brain chemistry would sorely love another, potentially safer option.

Recently advances have shown that psychedelics have for treating mental health conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and . But psychedelics can come with serious side effects, like cardiac toxicity and their infamous hallucinations."Psychedelics are some of the most powerful drugs we know of that affect the brain," chemist David Olson from University of California. "It's unbelievable how little we know about them."So University of California neuroscientist Lindsay Cameron, Olsen and colleagues decided to take a closer look and see if they could mess with a psychedelic compound in a way...

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Tessa Koumoundouros is Journalist and editorial assistant at ScienceAlert. She is fascinated by all living things, so it’s no surprise she mainly writes about biology, health, and the environment.  Tessa has contributed behind the scenes at The Conversation and the Climate Council, and her science reporting has been published by Lateral Magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Science with honors, majoring in zoology and genetics, and a Masters in Science Communication. She also worked as an exotics veterinary nurse, before joining the ScienceAlert editorial team in 2018.  She is an accomplished illustrator and designer, and puts her skills to work when curating incredible images for ScienceAlert’s social media, and designing infographics such as the This Week in Science series.  In her spare time, Tessa loves exploring wild places, stalking wildlife with a camera, reading, and drawing.

Researchers Synthesise a Psychedelic That Could Treat Depression Without Hallucinations

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