UC Davis researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their interaction with the brain.
In new research led by the University of California, Davis, researchers found that non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelic drugs promote neuroplasticity through the same biochemical pathway as psychedelics. However, unlike psychedelics, they don’t activate genes long thought to be key players in that process.
The College of Letters and Science at UC Davis has selected two projects for its L&S Unites initiative which grants up to $120,000 for research on cutting-edge multidisciplinary research to help advance knowledge and address society’s most pressing problems.
University of California, Davis, researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential. The research highlights the new drug’s potential as a treatment option for conditions like schizophrenia, where psychedelics are not prescribed for safety reasons.
In a study appearing in Nature Chemistry, researchers at the University of California, Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics (IPN) report the successful total synthesis of ibogaine, ibogaine analogues and related compounds from pyridine — a relatively inexpensive and widely available chemical.
Delix Therapeutics recently announced that the first neuroplastogen drug based on UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics (IPN) research will be tested in patients with major depressive disorder.
New research shows that the anti-anxiety and hallucinogenic-like effects of a psychedelic drug work through different neural circuits. The study, in a mouse model, shows that it could be possible to separate treatment from hallucinations when developing new drugs based on psychedelics.
Our bodies are pharmaceutical factories, but did you know that our bodies also naturally produce psychedelics? Why do we make them? How do they work? What are their functions? And can we leverage them to mitigate neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions? The UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics is exploring those questions.
