Scientists at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, have found that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) could help treat certain psychiatric disorders.
For the first time, they discovered one of the possible mechanisms of LSD that can increase social interaction, which could “help unlock potential therapeutic applications in treating certain psychiatric diseases, including anxiety and alcohol use disorders,” according to Medical Xpress.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Psychoactive drugs, including LSD, were popular in the 70s and now they have been gaining popularity. Many young professionals regularly take micro-doses of non-hallucinogenic LSD to boost their cognition, productivity, concentration, focus, and creativity. However, it is unclear how LSD works on the brain to boost cognition.
The researchers of McGill University conducted a study on mice, administering a low-dose LSD for seven days. The experiment resulted in a significant increase in the sociability of the mice.
The first author of the study Dr. Danilo De Gregorio said, “This increased sociability occurs because the LSD activates the serotonin 5-HT2A receptors and the AMPA receptors – which is a glutamate receptor, the main brain excitatory neurotransmitters – in the prefrontal cortex and also activates a cellular protein called mTORC 1. These three factors, taken together, promote social interaction in mice, which is the equivalent of empathy and social behavior in humans.”
The researchers noted that the main outcome of their research is the ability to describe the underlying mechanism for the behavioral effect that results in LSD increasing feelings of empathy, including a greater connection to the world and a sense of being part of a large community, according to Medical Xpress.
Co-lead author of the study Prof. Nahum Sonenberg said, “The fact that LSD binds the 5-HT2A receptor was previously known. The novelty of this research is to have identified that the prosocial effects of LSD activate the 5-HT2 receptors, which in turn activate the excitatory synapses of the AMPA receptor as well as the protein complex mTORC1, which has been demonstrated to be dysregulated in diseases with social deficits such as autism spectrum disorder.”
Since the researchers have now found that LSD does increase social interaction in mice, they hope to continue their work and test the ability of the drug to treat mutant mice having behavioral deficits that are similar to those in humans, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and social anxiety disorders.
They also hope to eventually explore whether low-dose LSD might have a similar effect in humans and whether it could be used as a safe and viable therapeutic option.
Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, the co-lead author of the study, said, “Social interaction is a fundamental characteristic of human behavior. These hallucinogenic compounds, which, at low doses, are able to increase sociability may help to better understand the pharmacology and neurobiology of social behavior and, ultimately, to develop and discover novel and safer drugs for mental disorders.” The article originally appeared on Medical Xpress.
