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Can psychedelics lend a hand you drink less alcohol? Our fresh study aims to find out
May
Psychhedels such as LSD and psilocybina (Energetic ingredient in magical mushrooms) is gaining more and more attention in psychiatry. Research suggests They can offer therapeutic benefits in conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorders, nutritional disorders and addiction.
Our research team Study whether N, N-Dimetytryptamine (DMT)Quickly acting psychedelic, can lend a hand people reduce alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is most often Incorrectly used substance in Great Britainpartly because it is legal, widely available and deeply rooted in social culture. While many people can enjoy alcohol in moderationIN significant number Fight to control their drinking. For these people, Excessive alcohol consumption It can lead to solemn physical, mental and social consequences.
Conventional treatments do not work for everyone, which is why we examine alternatives such as psychedelics, which can allow people to change their behavior in one transformational experience.
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DMT is Metabolized quickly in the body. When administered intravenousThe effects start almost immediately, usually in one to two minutes. However, these effects are compact -lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.
Despite the compact duration of many users, they describe this experience as very deep. They often report live visions, convoluted patterns and feeling in another reality. In some cases, experience leads to a complete change in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, this experience is deeply significant and transformational.
But what happens in the brain at this time and how can it affect long -term behavior, such as a reduction in alcohol consumption?
Read more: Psychodelical drugs can be almost as changing life as experiences about close death
Neuroplasticity and addiction
Our team He is particularly interested in how psychedelics such as DMT can lend a hand in the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily increase neuroplasticityBrain ability to create fresh neural connections. This transient reinforcement can open a window of flexibility, enabling some people more open to change.
For someone who got stuck in a massive drinking cycle, this increased plasticity can lend a hand them break the elderly habits and develop healthier behavior. Basically, it can offer the brain Opportunity for “again” Sam and disturbing unhealthy patterns underlying addiction.
We also focus on reward and brain motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems affect the behavior associated with pleasure, including food, sex and alcohol.
In people with Alcohol consumption disorderThese systems become hypersensitive to alcohol guidelines, often at the expense of other satisfying experiences. Some early studies He suggests that psychedelics can lend a hand “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 massive, who are motivated to reduce alcohol consumption. Each participant undergoes a thorough screening test to ensure that they are 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 operate during 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 offer 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 administered. This helps to eliminate bias and ensures that the results 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 can lend a hand us predict which participants will most likely operate DMT.
Participants also perform a number of psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision making. These data will lend a hand us understand how changes in brain function can relate to changes in behavior related to drinking.
What do we hope to discover
We are still in the process of collecting data, but we are excited whether DMT can lead to a significant reduction in alcohol consumption. As scientists, it is crucial for us to remain objective and allow the evidence to conduct our conclusions. By maintaining a “blind” test, until all results are available, we ensure that our arrangements are objective and reliable.
If DMT proves to be effective in helping people to reduce alcohol consumption, especially for those who struggled with other treatments, it can pave the way to a fresh approach to addiction therapy. Even if the results are ambiguous, they will continue to provide valuable insight into the potential role of psychedels in the treatment of addiction and open fresh possibilities of future research.
It is crucial to emphasize that these research takes place in a protected, controlled environment. Psychhedels are sturdy substances, and their effects can be unpredictable, especially outside the clinical settings. They are not a “magic ball” and are not suitable for everyone. The controlled setting allows us to examine our effects, while minimizing the risk for participants.
Having said that, we believe in psychhedels offer a special opportunity To better understand the brain and its ability to change. By examining how transformational experiences can affect behavior, we hope to contribute to the development of more effective treatment of addiction and other mental health conditions.
