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Post by snowmanomura on Mar 29, 2024 0:39:52 GMT -5
I'd just like to clarify, as an actual nerd scientist who literally studies brains, it has not been proven that mushrooms or LSD can repair neural pathways. I don't want to get into the weeds, but basically there's a lot we still don't understand, this type of research is very hard to do (mostly bc of drug laws and govt funding issues). There is some evidence that psilocybin and some other compounds in shrooms may promote neuroplasticity, but it's not like taking shrooms is gonna fix your "brain pathways", and especially not if youre taking it for fun. This isn't coming from some cursory search of PubMed, most of my research for the past 8 years has been on neuroplasticity and neurorehabilitation, including research proposals for studying the effects of psilocybin in non human primates.
it has not been proven that mushrooms or LSD can repair neural pathways.
I don’t think LSD does, but I definitely notice a beneficial uptick in positive brain function in the weeks after a mushroom trip. I don’t know about “neural pathways,” but Johns Hopkins is doing research with psilocybin therapy for depression, ptsd, and other mental illness. I’ve also had some good opportunities to look at myself after a mushroom trip and make positive changes- after a trip two years ago I quit nicotine cold turkey with no cravings. Threw my vape out at the first gas station I stopped at.
I'd just like to clarify, as an actual nerd scientist who literally studies brains, it has not been proven that mushrooms or LSD can repair neural pathways. I don't want to get into the weeds, but basically there's a lot we still don't understand, this type of research is very hard to do (mostly bc of drug laws and govt funding issues). There is some evidence that psilocybin and some other compounds in shrooms may promote neuroplasticity, but it's not like taking shrooms is gonna fix your "brain pathways", and especially not if youre taking it for fun. This isn't coming from some cursory search of PubMed, most of my research for the past 8 years has been on neuroplasticity and neurorehabilitation, including research proposals for studying the effects of psilocybin in non human primates.
yeah but in any of these "studies" did they listen to Pink Floyd's "Animals" when they were trippin
Post by Farrisbueller on Mar 29, 2024 8:25:44 GMT -5
Drug survivor really turned to shite
Cannabis will win because it's the least offensive party drug with medicinal benefit. Mushrooms are too socially fringe and Alcohol causes too many social and bodily mishaps
it has not been proven that mushrooms or LSD can repair neural pathways.
I don’t think LSD does, but I definitely notice a beneficial uptick in positive brain function in the weeks after a mushroom trip. I don’t know about “neural pathways,” but Johns Hopkins is doing research with psilocybin therapy for depression, ptsd, and other mental illness. I’ve also had some good opportunities to look at myself after a mushroom trip and make positive changes- after a trip two years ago I quit nicotine cold turkey with no cravings. Threw my vape out at the first gas station I stopped at.
i'm very happy for you! that's great. but i'd like to caution about conflating 'positive brain function' with 'changes in behavior and/or patterns of thought'. Neurophysiological and psychiatric responses to psychedelics are fundamentally different, yet intertwined processes, and it is difficult to unravel the objective from subjective effects. Yes, the most promising areas of research around psilocybin AND LSD have actually been around mental health issues, including addiction. I do want to caution though that this sort of work is still very much in its relative infancy, there are quite a few studies that are more observational and poorly randomized/controlled, and suffer from serious risk of bias and/or conflict (again, part of this is due to the difficulty of federal (NIH) funding and the need for private/commerical funding sources). Also, most of these studies pair psychedelics with some other sort of psychosocial intervention (e.g., therapy). Ultimately the mechanisms of action from an anatomical/functional context within the brain are still very unclear.
we have a pretty good understanding of the pharmocology and pharmacodynamics of these drugs (ie., action on serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling), however this doesn't directly translate to an understanding of how these drugs can drive neuroplasticity or long term changes in brain physiology related to specific disorders or function. We know that many drugs which act on dopaminergic reward centers CAN change 'brain pathways' in a way the causes physical dependence, or for example that MDMA can deplete serotonin in the brain leading to a a depressed state. Think about your brain as having a bunch of little factories that make supplies (neurotransmitters), deliver supplies, and receive the supplies. drugs mess up that whole supply chain - it's why they can be fun or addictive, because the brain will adapt to prolonged or chronic alterations in the supply chain. This is a form of neuroplasticity. however, genetic, social, life experiences, disease/injury, and a host of other factors influence these things. Neuroplasticity in general occurs all the time - it's how we learn! and occurs at molecular, cellular and systems levels within the brain, both anatomically (physical changes in how neurons connect to other neurons) and functionally (how different brain regions 'work' together).
our little supply chain is the molecular level. It's the most malleable and easily adaptable mechanism. There are a number of plasticity-related genes and molecules, but maybe on of the most important is brain derived neurotorophic factor (BDNF). It is a major driver of larger changes such as neurogenesis (getting new neurons), neuro protection, and dendritic growth (the branch-like spines that neurons use to communicate with other neurons). In many psychiatric and substance use disorders, BDNF supply is diminished in the brain. Upregulating BDNF is a major focal area for inducing neuroplasticity and an active area of research with psychedelics - there is evidence that LSD, DMT, and psilocybin CAN enhance gene expression for BDNF and it's precursors, however there clinical studies that look at cellular neuroplasticity are still somewhat lacking and results are a bit mixed. As a comparison - standard SSRI anti-depressants can raise BDNF levels as well because they act on similar receptor targets. MOST of what we know about molecular changes comes from in vitro animal studies where we can more easily measure these things (for example, dosing up mice, and then looking at brain slices or taking molecular measurements). For stuff like ayahuasca and mushroom studies, it's also not clear if it's the psychoactive compounds or other molecules that are causing these changes. These are different than clinical studies addressing the psychiatric responses to these drugs (again - there is a clear distinction between physiological and psychological changes). And overall, there is a severe lack of long term, longitudinal studies that address permanent changes in neuroplasticity and anatomical and functional brain changes associated with these drugs.
another key point here is that neuroplasticity itself does not connote positive or negative outcomes, only changes in structural or functional activity in the brain (and, these may be short lived - our brain is very adaptive). A VERY key point in harnessing the power of neuroplasticity for neurorehabilitation is trying to guide neuroplasticity. For example, I work with kids who have survived cancer or have sickle cell disease. Due to illness (or the treatment - radiation and chemo is hard on your brain) they often suffer from cognitive deficits in working memeory, processing, speed, attention, and other executive functions. We are trying to use neuromodulation (applying electrical or ultrasound stimulation) to regions of the brain to drive neuroplasticity. Delivering stimulation to say, frontal cortex, puts the brain in a 'metaplastic' state, i.e., ripe for neuroplastic changes. We pair this stimulation with targeted cognitive training, in the hopes that we actually CAN repair and/or mitigate some of the loss of 'brain pathways' from treatment or disease. But just delivering the stimulation doesn't impart cognitive improvement per se. For a very over simplified, but maybe relevant to this survior analogy - if you give someone a bunch of steroids but they don't work out, they aren't gonna be super jacked muscle man. If someone who has had a stroke and gets physical rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk or talk, this is due to 'repairing' the brain pathways that underlie these behaviors, either through neurogenesis (new neurons) or dendritic changes (new pathways). Pairing a neuromodulator (pharmacological, electrical, ultrasonic) that can enhance or induce a neuroplastic brain state can make this more effective. But, it's also possible that the brain may not fully recover. This is the sort of area of research i'm interested in with psychedelics, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen for me at this time.
tl; dr: psychedelics, including LSD, mushrooms, DMT, and ketamine have been studied for the effects on cellular and molecular pathways in the brain that can cause neuroplasticity (changes in structure and/or function). there is a clear distinction between objective and subjective responses to these drugs and how that influences physiological and psychological changes. it is a gross overstatement of what we know to say it's been proven these drugs repair neural pathways. they show a lot of promise for affecting brain chemistry than can lead to the long term changes, but it is still a very murky area of research. Psychiatric use cases have shown promise for treating mental illness and addiction, but it is unclear the mechanism and we can't yet untangle the objective and subjective effects of these drugs on those outcomes.
I don’t think LSD does, but I definitely notice a beneficial uptick in positive brain function in the weeks after a mushroom trip. I don’t know about “neural pathways,” but Johns Hopkins is doing research with psilocybin therapy for depression, ptsd, and other mental illness. I’ve also had some good opportunities to look at myself after a mushroom trip and make positive changes- after a trip two years ago I quit nicotine cold turkey with no cravings. Threw my vape out at the first gas station I stopped at.
i'm very happy for you! that's great. but i'd like to caution about conflating 'positive brain function' with 'changes in behavior and/or patterns of thought'. Neurophysiological and psychiatric responses to psychedelics are fundamentally different, yet intertwined processes, and it is difficult to unravel the objective from subjective effects. Yes, the most promising areas of research around psilocybin AND LSD have actually been around mental health issues, including addiction. I do want to caution though that this sort of work is still very much in its relative infancy, there are quite a few studies that are more observational and poorly randomized/controlled, and suffer from serious risk of bias and/or conflict (again, part of this is due to the difficulty of federal (NIH) funding and the need for private/commerical funding sources). Also, most of these studies pair psychedelics with some other sort of psychosocial intervention (e.g., therapy). Ultimately the mechanisms of action from an anatomical/functional context within the brain are still very unclear.
we have a pretty good understanding of the pharmocology and pharmacodynamics of these drugs (ie., action on serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling), however this doesn't directly translate to an understanding of how these drugs can drive neuroplasticity or long term changes in brain physiology related to specific disorders or function. We know that many drugs which act on dopaminergic reward centers CAN change 'brain pathways' in a way the causes physical dependence, or for example that MDMA can deplete serotonin in the brain leading to a a depressed state. Think about your brain as having a bunch of little factories that make supplies (neurotransmitters), deliver supplies, and receive the supplies. drugs mess up that whole supply chain - it's why they can be fun or addictive, because the brain will adapt to prolonged or chronic alterations in the supply chain. This is a form of neuroplasticity. however, genetic, social, life experiences, disease/injury, and a host of other factors influence these things. Neuroplasticity in general occurs all the time - it's how we learn! and occurs at molecular, cellular and systems levels within the brain, both anatomically (physical changes in how neurons connect to other neurons) and functionally (how different brain regions 'work' together).
our little supply chain is the molecular level. It's the most malleable and easily adaptable mechanism. There are a number of plasticity-related genes and molecules, but maybe on of the most important is brain derived neurotorophic factor (BDNF). It is a major driver of larger changes such as neurogenesis (getting new neurons), neuro protection, and dendritic growth (the branch-like spines that neurons use to communicate with other neurons). In many psychiatric and substance use disorders, BDNF supply is diminished in the brain. Upregulating BDNF is a major focal area for inducing neuroplasticity and an active area of research with psychedelics - there is evidence that LSD, DMT, and psilocybin CAN enhance gene expression for BDNF and it's precursors, however there clinical studies that look at cellular neuroplasticity are still somewhat lacking and results are a bit mixed. As a comparison - standard SSRI anti-depressants can raise BDNF levels as well because they act on similar receptor targets. MOST of what we know about molecular changes comes from in vitro animal studies where we can more easily measure these things (for example, dosing up mice, and then looking at brain slices or taking molecular measurements). For stuff like ayahuasca and mushroom studies, it's also not clear if it's the psychoactive compounds or other molecules that are causing these changes. These are different than clinical studies addressing the psychiatric responses to these drugs (again - there is a clear distinction between physiological and psychological changes). And overall, there is a severe lack of long term, longitudinal studies that address permanent changes in neuroplasticity and anatomical and functional brain changes associated with these drugs.
another key point here is that neuroplasticity itself does not connote positive or negative outcomes, only changes in structural or functional activity in the brain (and, these may be short lived - our brain is very adaptive). A VERY key point in harnessing the power of neuroplasticity for neurorehabilitation is trying to guide neuroplasticity. For example, I work with kids who have survived cancer or have sickle cell disease. Due to illness (or the treatment - radiation and chemo is hard on your brain) they often suffer from cognitive deficits in working memeory, processing, speed, attention, and other executive functions. We are trying to use neuromodulation (applying electrical or ultrasound stimulation) to regions of the brain to drive neuroplasticity. Delivering stimulation to say, frontal cortex, puts the brain in a 'metaplastic' state, i.e., ripe for neuroplastic changes. We pair this stimulation with targeted cognitive training, in the hopes that we actually CAN repair and/or mitigate some of the loss of 'brain pathways' from treatment or disease. But just delivering the stimulation doesn't impart cognitive improvement per se. For a very over simplified, but maybe relevant to this survior analogy - if you give someone a bunch of steroids but they don't work out, they aren't gonna be super jacked muscle man. If someone who has had a stroke and gets physical rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk or talk, this is due to 'repairing' the brain pathways that underlie these behaviors, either through neurogenesis (new neurons) or dendritic changes (new pathways). Pairing a neuromodulator (pharmacological, electrical, ultrasonic) that can enhance or induce a neuroplastic brain state can make this more effective. But, it's also possible that the brain may not fully recover. This is the sort of area of research i'm interested in with psychedelics, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen for me at this time.
tl; dr: psychedelics, including LSD, mushrooms, DMT, and ketamine have been studied for the effects on cellular and molecular pathways in the brain that can cause neuroplasticity (changes in structure and/or function). there is a clear distinction between objective and subjective responses to these drugs and how that influences physiological and psychological changes. it is a gross overstatement of what we know to say it's been proven these drugs repair neural pathways. they show a lot of promise for affecting brain chemistry than can lead to the long term changes, but it is still a very murky area of research. Psychiatric use cases have shown promise for treating mental illness and addiction, but it is unclear the mechanism and we can't yet untangle the objective and subjective effects of these drugs on those outcomes.
who were the lil booze hounds who snuck in last round to throw late votes on LSD?
we owe an apology to Molly but especially Lucy; they were told this was a safe space for them (a "hippie music festival forum," after all) and unfortunately it wasnt true
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
Has it been proven that alcohol repairs neural pathways?
no, it has been proven that it fucks them up lol.
luckily, there IS ample research to show that after about a year of quitting alcohol entirely, most brains are able to repair a good deal of the cognitive/neural damage that has been done. yay brains.
for people who were addicted, one of the hardest parts to grapple with in early months of sobriety is the ingrained triggers all around us in society--being in a bar, trigger; being at the grocery store near beer aisle, trigger; feeling stressed after a day of work, trigger. but each time you push past the craving and do somethin different than your body did when it reached for alcohol (order a kombucha at the bar, walk past the beer aisle at the store, take a walk instead of a drink after a stressful day), it helps rewire the brain's pathways that expect "DRINK" in those moments.
unfortunately, cell damage done by alcohol overuse IS permanent/irreversible.
"Different areas of the brain recover at different rates. Much of the lost functionality in the brain returns relatively quickly. Coordination, balance, and fine motor skills improve as brain volume recovers. Higher thought functions like focus and concentration take longer to improve since they are controlled by brain areas that recover volume more slowly. However, some of the brain shrinkage is due to brain cell death. Once brain cells die they do not regenerate, and the effect is permanent."
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
shuck
Bleary-Eyed Bonnawook Recap King & Upcoming Shows MVP
I don’t think LSD does, but I definitely notice a beneficial uptick in positive brain function in the weeks after a mushroom trip. I don’t know about “neural pathways,” but Johns Hopkins is doing research with psilocybin therapy for depression, ptsd, and other mental illness. I’ve also had some good opportunities to look at myself after a mushroom trip and make positive changes- after a trip two years ago I quit nicotine cold turkey with no cravings. Threw my vape out at the first gas station I stopped at.
i'm very happy for you! that's great. but i'd like to caution about conflating 'positive brain function' with 'changes in behavior and/or patterns of thought'. Neurophysiological and psychiatric responses to psychedelics are fundamentally different, yet intertwined processes, and it is difficult to unravel the objective from subjective effects. Yes, the most promising areas of research around psilocybin AND LSD have actually been around mental health issues, including addiction. I do want to caution though that this sort of work is still very much in its relative infancy, there are quite a few studies that are more observational and poorly randomized/controlled, and suffer from serious risk of bias and/or conflict (again, part of this is due to the difficulty of federal (NIH) funding and the need for private/commerical funding sources). Also, most of these studies pair psychedelics with some other sort of psychosocial intervention (e.g., therapy). Ultimately the mechanisms of action from an anatomical/functional context within the brain are still very unclear.
we have a pretty good understanding of the pharmocology and pharmacodynamics of these drugs (ie., action on serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling), however this doesn't directly translate to an understanding of how these drugs can drive neuroplasticity or long term changes in brain physiology related to specific disorders or function. We know that many drugs which act on dopaminergic reward centers CAN change 'brain pathways' in a way the causes physical dependence, or for example that MDMA can deplete serotonin in the brain leading to a a depressed state. Think about your brain as having a bunch of little factories that make supplies (neurotransmitters), deliver supplies, and receive the supplies. drugs mess up that whole supply chain - it's why they can be fun or addictive, because the brain will adapt to prolonged or chronic alterations in the supply chain. This is a form of neuroplasticity. however, genetic, social, life experiences, disease/injury, and a host of other factors influence these things. Neuroplasticity in general occurs all the time - it's how we learn! and occurs at molecular, cellular and systems levels within the brain, both anatomically (physical changes in how neurons connect to other neurons) and functionally (how different brain regions 'work' together).
our little supply chain is the molecular level. It's the most malleable and easily adaptable mechanism. There are a number of plasticity-related genes and molecules, but maybe on of the most important is brain derived neurotorophic factor (BDNF). It is a major driver of larger changes such as neurogenesis (getting new neurons), neuro protection, and dendritic growth (the branch-like spines that neurons use to communicate with other neurons). In many psychiatric and substance use disorders, BDNF supply is diminished in the brain. Upregulating BDNF is a major focal area for inducing neuroplasticity and an active area of research with psychedelics - there is evidence that LSD, DMT, and psilocybin CAN enhance gene expression for BDNF and it's precursors, however there clinical studies that look at cellular neuroplasticity are still somewhat lacking and results are a bit mixed. As a comparison - standard SSRI anti-depressants can raise BDNF levels as well because they act on similar receptor targets. MOST of what we know about molecular changes comes from in vitro animal studies where we can more easily measure these things (for example, dosing up mice, and then looking at brain slices or taking molecular measurements). For stuff like ayahuasca and mushroom studies, it's also not clear if it's the psychoactive compounds or other molecules that are causing these changes. These are different than clinical studies addressing the psychiatric responses to these drugs (again - there is a clear distinction between physiological and psychological changes). And overall, there is a severe lack of long term, longitudinal studies that address permanent changes in neuroplasticity and anatomical and functional brain changes associated with these drugs.
another key point here is that neuroplasticity itself does not connote positive or negative outcomes, only changes in structural or functional activity in the brain (and, these may be short lived - our brain is very adaptive). A VERY key point in harnessing the power of neuroplasticity for neurorehabilitation is trying to guide neuroplasticity. For example, I work with kids who have survived cancer or have sickle cell disease. Due to illness (or the treatment - radiation and chemo is hard on your brain) they often suffer from cognitive deficits in working memeory, processing, speed, attention, and other executive functions. We are trying to use neuromodulation (applying electrical or ultrasound stimulation) to regions of the brain to drive neuroplasticity. Delivering stimulation to say, frontal cortex, puts the brain in a 'metaplastic' state, i.e., ripe for neuroplastic changes. We pair this stimulation with targeted cognitive training, in the hopes that we actually CAN repair and/or mitigate some of the loss of 'brain pathways' from treatment or disease. But just delivering the stimulation doesn't impart cognitive improvement per se. For a very over simplified, but maybe relevant to this survior analogy - if you give someone a bunch of steroids but they don't work out, they aren't gonna be super jacked muscle man. If someone who has had a stroke and gets physical rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk or talk, this is due to 'repairing' the brain pathways that underlie these behaviors, either through neurogenesis (new neurons) or dendritic changes (new pathways). Pairing a neuromodulator (pharmacological, electrical, ultrasonic) that can enhance or induce a neuroplastic brain state can make this more effective. But, it's also possible that the brain may not fully recover. This is the sort of area of research i'm interested in with psychedelics, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen for me at this time.
tl; dr: psychedelics, including LSD, mushrooms, DMT, and ketamine have been studied for the effects on cellular and molecular pathways in the brain that can cause neuroplasticity (changes in structure and/or function). there is a clear distinction between objective and subjective responses to these drugs and how that influences physiological and psychological changes. it is a gross overstatement of what we know to say it's been proven these drugs repair neural pathways. they show a lot of promise for affecting brain chemistry than can lead to the long term changes, but it is still a very murky area of research. Psychiatric use cases have shown promise for treating mental illness and addiction, but it is unclear the mechanism and we can't yet untangle the objective and subjective effects of these drugs on those outcomes.
Do you want to dance while also thinking about all the ways you've failed as a human?
UPCOMING SHOWS 5/14 - Neil Young & Crazy Horse @ Forest Hills 6/8 and maybe 6/9 - Governors Ball 8/17 - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard @ Forest Hills 9/4 - Pearl Jam @ MSG 9/7 - Pearl Jam @ Wells Fargo Center 9/11 - St. Vincent @ Brooklyn Paramount
I don’t think LSD does, but I definitely notice a beneficial uptick in positive brain function in the weeks after a mushroom trip. I don’t know about “neural pathways,” but Johns Hopkins is doing research with psilocybin therapy for depression, ptsd, and other mental illness. I’ve also had some good opportunities to look at myself after a mushroom trip and make positive changes- after a trip two years ago I quit nicotine cold turkey with no cravings. Threw my vape out at the first gas station I stopped at.
i'm very happy for you! that's great. but i'd like to caution about conflating 'positive brain function' with 'changes in behavior and/or patterns of thought'. Neurophysiological and psychiatric responses to psychedelics are fundamentally different, yet intertwined processes, and it is difficult to unravel the objective from subjective effects. Yes, the most promising areas of research around psilocybin AND LSD have actually been around mental health issues, including addiction. I do want to caution though that this sort of work is still very much in its relative infancy, there are quite a few studies that are more observational and poorly randomized/controlled, and suffer from serious risk of bias and/or conflict (again, part of this is due to the difficulty of federal (NIH) funding and the need for private/commerical funding sources). Also, most of these studies pair psychedelics with some other sort of psychosocial intervention (e.g., therapy). Ultimately the mechanisms of action from an anatomical/functional context within the brain are still very unclear.
we have a pretty good understanding of the pharmocology and pharmacodynamics of these drugs (ie., action on serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling), however this doesn't directly translate to an understanding of how these drugs can drive neuroplasticity or long term changes in brain physiology related to specific disorders or function. We know that many drugs which act on dopaminergic reward centers CAN change 'brain pathways' in a way the causes physical dependence, or for example that MDMA can deplete serotonin in the brain leading to a a depressed state. Think about your brain as having a bunch of little factories that make supplies (neurotransmitters), deliver supplies, and receive the supplies. drugs mess up that whole supply chain - it's why they can be fun or addictive, because the brain will adapt to prolonged or chronic alterations in the supply chain. This is a form of neuroplasticity. however, genetic, social, life experiences, disease/injury, and a host of other factors influence these things. Neuroplasticity in general occurs all the time - it's how we learn! and occurs at molecular, cellular and systems levels within the brain, both anatomically (physical changes in how neurons connect to other neurons) and functionally (how different brain regions 'work' together).
our little supply chain is the molecular level. It's the most malleable and easily adaptable mechanism. There are a number of plasticity-related genes and molecules, but maybe on of the most important is brain derived neurotorophic factor (BDNF). It is a major driver of larger changes such as neurogenesis (getting new neurons), neuro protection, and dendritic growth (the branch-like spines that neurons use to communicate with other neurons). In many psychiatric and substance use disorders, BDNF supply is diminished in the brain. Upregulating BDNF is a major focal area for inducing neuroplasticity and an active area of research with psychedelics - there is evidence that LSD, DMT, and psilocybin CAN enhance gene expression for BDNF and it's precursors, however there clinical studies that look at cellular neuroplasticity are still somewhat lacking and results are a bit mixed. As a comparison - standard SSRI anti-depressants can raise BDNF levels as well because they act on similar receptor targets. MOST of what we know about molecular changes comes from in vitro animal studies where we can more easily measure these things (for example, dosing up mice, and then looking at brain slices or taking molecular measurements). For stuff like ayahuasca and mushroom studies, it's also not clear if it's the psychoactive compounds or other molecules that are causing these changes. These are different than clinical studies addressing the psychiatric responses to these drugs (again - there is a clear distinction between physiological and psychological changes). And overall, there is a severe lack of long term, longitudinal studies that address permanent changes in neuroplasticity and anatomical and functional brain changes associated with these drugs.
another key point here is that neuroplasticity itself does not connote positive or negative outcomes, only changes in structural or functional activity in the brain (and, these may be short lived - our brain is very adaptive). A VERY key point in harnessing the power of neuroplasticity for neurorehabilitation is trying to guide neuroplasticity. For example, I work with kids who have survived cancer or have sickle cell disease. Due to illness (or the treatment - radiation and chemo is hard on your brain) they often suffer from cognitive deficits in working memeory, processing, speed, attention, and other executive functions. We are trying to use neuromodulation (applying electrical or ultrasound stimulation) to regions of the brain to drive neuroplasticity. Delivering stimulation to say, frontal cortex, puts the brain in a 'metaplastic' state, i.e., ripe for neuroplastic changes. We pair this stimulation with targeted cognitive training, in the hopes that we actually CAN repair and/or mitigate some of the loss of 'brain pathways' from treatment or disease. But just delivering the stimulation doesn't impart cognitive improvement per se. For a very over simplified, but maybe relevant to this survior analogy - if you give someone a bunch of steroids but they don't work out, they aren't gonna be super jacked muscle man. If someone who has had a stroke and gets physical rehabilitation to regain the ability to walk or talk, this is due to 'repairing' the brain pathways that underlie these behaviors, either through neurogenesis (new neurons) or dendritic changes (new pathways). Pairing a neuromodulator (pharmacological, electrical, ultrasonic) that can enhance or induce a neuroplastic brain state can make this more effective. But, it's also possible that the brain may not fully recover. This is the sort of area of research i'm interested in with psychedelics, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen for me at this time.
tl; dr: psychedelics, including LSD, mushrooms, DMT, and ketamine have been studied for the effects on cellular and molecular pathways in the brain that can cause neuroplasticity (changes in structure and/or function). there is a clear distinction between objective and subjective responses to these drugs and how that influences physiological and psychological changes. it is a gross overstatement of what we know to say it's been proven these drugs repair neural pathways. they show a lot of promise for affecting brain chemistry than can lead to the long term changes, but it is still a very murky area of research. Psychiatric use cases have shown promise for treating mental illness and addiction, but it is unclear the mechanism and we can't yet untangle the objective and subjective effects of these drugs on those outcomes.
Hey, Snowman. Take that neuroscience talk over here: inforoo.com/thread/38135/snowmans-brain-thread This is where we argue about which drugs made us more friends or made us shit ourselves at a music festival
For those of you unfamiliar with 1-Octen-3-ol, this is aka octenol or “mushroom alcohol.” It attracts biting insects to feast on your blood. Not good.
However Health News has this important comment on combining the worst 2 remaining
Risks of mixing alcohol and psychedelic mushrooms
The risks associated with combining alcohol and psychedelic mushrooms are numerous and should not be taken lightly. One significant risk is increased intoxication.
incinnati Ohio babeyyyy
