Sukhmani Kooner, Pune
Psychedelics, often linked to dependence and misuse, may be the key to treating patients with depression and anxiety, according to scientists.
Recently the findings of a new research by Vidita A. Vaidya in collaboration with researchers from Cornell, Columbia and Yale, conducted at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, were published in the journal Neuron.
These findings may lead to the development of new mental health treatments by helping researchers better understand how psychedelics may reduce anxiety. The researchers conducted animal studies to show a decrease in anxiety-like symptoms due to the intricate interplay between the psychedelic drug, the receptors, and the neurons in a particular part of the brain.
Serotonin is a chemical messenger that affects mood, emotions, hunger, and sleep patterns by sending impulses between nerve cells. Serotonergic psychedelics are a type of drugs that mainly affect the brain’s serotonin system by acting on proteins called serotonin receptors, which are activated when serotonin attaches to them and helps transfer messages. The 5-HT2A receptor is one of the most important receptors. Common examples of serotonergic psychedelics are LSD and psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms.
The team used the serotonergic psychedelic DOI (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine) in their research, focusing on the ventral hippocampus (vHpc), a critical area which affects emotional regulation. They found that DOI specifically targeted fast-firing parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons, which help in regulating signals related to stress and anxiety. They did so by boosting their activity and calming anxiety-related brain circuits.
However, according to Vaidya this process took nearly a decade. She explained, “Identifying this region of the brain took us around three years because we had to deliver the drug to different areas of the brain to determine where it was working.” Once identified, they manipulated the receptors on these neurons to observe effects on anxiety.
Vaidya states that the study’s findings will help develop drugs for anxiety that avoid psychedelic effects by targeting specific pathways. This understanding will also guide clinical researchers studying psilocybin by indicating which brain areas to focus on, enhancing the efficiency of human trials. Additionally, the findings allow researchers to target other brain receptors, helping separate anxiety-reducing effects from psychedelic side effects. The study confirmed that hallucinations are generated in a different brain circuit than anxiety modulation.