Psychhedels reminiscent of LSD and psilocybina (Active ingredient in magical mushrooms) is gaining increasingly more attention in psychiatry. Research suggests They can offer therapeutic advantages in conditions reminiscent of depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorders, dietary disorders and addiction.
Our research team Study whether N, N-Dimetytryptamine (DMT)Quickly acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is most frequently Incorrectly used substance in Great Britainpartly since it is legal, widely available and deeply rooted in social culture. While many individuals can enjoy alcohol sparselyIN significant number Fight to control their drinking. For these people, Excessive alcohol consumption It can lead to serious physical, mental and social consequences.
Traditional treatments don’t work for everybody, which is why we examine alternatives reminiscent of psychedelics, which may allow people to change their behavior in a single transformational experience.
DMT is Metabolized quickly within the body. When administered intravenousThe effects start almost immediately, often in a single to two minutes. However, these effects are short -lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.
Despite the short duration of many users, they describe this experience as very deep. They often report live visions, complex patterns and feeling in one other reality. In some cases, experience leads to a whole change in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, this experience is deeply significant and transformational.
But what happens within the brain presently and the way can it affect long -term behavior, reminiscent of a discount in alcohol consumption?
Neuroplasticity and addiction
Our team He is especially all for how psychedelics reminiscent of DMT can help within the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily increase neuroplasticityBrain ability to create new neural connections. This temporary reinforcement can open a window of flexibility, enabling some people more open to change.
For someone who got stuck in a heavy drinking cycle, this increased plasticity can help them break the old habits and develop healthier behavior. Basically, it might probably offer the brain Opportunity for “again” Sam and disturbing unhealthy patterns underlying addiction.
We also deal with reward and brain motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems affect the behavior related to pleasure, including food, sex and alcohol.
In individuals with Alcohol consumption disorderThese systems turn out to be hypersensitive to alcohol guidelines, often on the expense of other satisfying experiences. Some early studies He suggests that psychedelics can help “reset” these paths. We test this theory to see if DMT can reduce alcohol consumption by re -calibrating the brain prize system.
To examine these possibilities, we designed a study with drinking heavy, who’re motivated to reduce alcohol consumption. Each participant undergoes a radical screening test to be sure that they’re suitable for testing, and all sessions are conducted in a highly controlled, clinical environment with doctors and experienced researchers supervising this process.
The study includes three visits to our UCL laboratory. We use through the first and third visit Functional imaging of magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to measure brain activity and observe how different areas of the brain interact.
During scans, participants watch emotionally engaging movies that provide a more natural way of testing brain response compared to abstract tasks. This helps us assess how DMT can affect the brain function in real, emotionally charged situations.
During the second visit, the participants are randomly assigned to receive DMT, placebo or non -pryshedel medicine (D-CykLoserina Or Lisers). It is believed that these subszymical substances are believed Promote neuroplasticity Without inducing full psychedelic effects of DMT.
. The test is double blind – Neither participants nor scientists know which substance is run. This helps to eliminate bias and ensures that the outcomes are as reliable as possible.
In addition, we measure changes in brain activity during infusion of the drug with electroencephalography (EEG). EEG tracks the brain electrical signals and may help us predict which participants will almost certainly use DMT.
Participants also perform various psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision making. These data will help us understand how changes in brain function can relate to changes in behavior related to drinking.
What can we hope to discover
We are still within the technique of collecting data, but we’re excited whether DMT can lead to a major reduction in alcohol consumption. As scientists, it’s crucial for us to remain objective and permit the evidence to conduct our conclusions. By maintaining a “blind” test, until all results can be found, we be sure that our arrangements are objective and reliable.
If DMT proves to be effective in helping people to reduce alcohol consumption, especially for many who struggled with other treatments, it might probably pave the best way to a new approach to addiction therapy. Even if the outcomes are ambiguous, they may proceed to provide precious insight into the potential role of psychedels within the treatment of addiction and open new possibilities of future research.
It is very important to emphasize that these research takes place in a protected, controlled environment. Psychhedels are strong substances, and their effects could be unpredictable, especially outside the clinical settings. They usually are not a “magic ball” and usually are not suitable for everybody. The controlled setting allows us to examine our effects, while minimizing the chance for participants.
Having said that, we imagine in psychhedels offer a special opportunity To higher understand the brain and its ability to change. By examining how transformational experiences can affect behavior, we hope to contribute to the event of simpler treatment of addiction and other mental health conditions.