AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: [I]t seemed like there might finally be an opening for psychedelics to become a part of the medical mainstream. … U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently told members of Congress that he wants to expedite the approval of psychedelic treatments.
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RASCOE: So how do psychedelics work in the brain?
CARLSON: [R]esearchers think psychedelics work by increasing something called neuroplasticity. And I talked to one neuroscientist about this.
DAVID OLSON: My name’s David Olson, and I’m a chemical neuroscientist.
CARLSON: He researches psychedelics … and used this metaphor I’ve come across a few times, which is that the neurons in the human brain are kind of like trees.
Related on the SLP
CARLSON: And just like in a healthy forest where the trees are thick with branches and leaves, a healthy brain is buzzing. It’s full of growth, connections.
CARLSON: But when people have conditions like depression…
OLSON: It looks like wintertime.
CARLSON: So existing treatments like SSRIs … can also help these connections regrow, but they can often take weeks or even months …. So when it comes to psychedelics, the idea is that they could make this happen in a matter of hours or days.
