A Single Dose of Psilocybin Grew New Neural Connections Within Hours | Alex Kwan | Episode 30

 

Nick talks to applied physicist and neuroscientist, Dr. Alex Kwan. His lab studies how neuropsychiatric drugs, such as psilocybin and ketamine, affect neural circuits in the brain’s of mice. They discuss how his lab actually conducts this research, and what they have discovered so far. They also look at some real data: images and movies of neurons in the brain. About Nick Jikomes: Nick is a neuroscientist and podcast host. He is currently Director of Science & Innovation at Leafly, the world's largest cannabis information resource. He received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University and a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 0:00:00 Episode Intro 0:02:15 Alex Kwan Intro / Imaging Mouse Brains 0:08:41 Psilocybin 0:21:00 Mouse Models of Depression & Ketamine 0:27:08 Psilocybin & Neural Plasticity 0:30:24 Movies & Images From Alex's Lab 0:42:48 Plasticity & Depression 0:58:20 Polypharmacy & "Dirty Drugs" 1:11:14 Alex's Research & Education Background 1:16:05 Final Thoughts