#  David Olson (UC Davis) 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **April 11, 2024** 

 04:15PM - 05:15PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Pfizer Lecture Hall**  



 

 



 

 Title: Psychedelics and Related Plasticity-Promoting Neurotherapeutics  
  
Cortical atrophy underlies a wide variety of brain diseases including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorder. Recently, our group discovered that psychedelics and related molecules, such as DMT, LSD, and MDMA, rapidly promote the growth of cortical neurons, providing a potential explanation for their long-lasting therapeutic effects after a single dose. However, these first-generation compounds suffer from one or more issues that limit their clinical scalability including hallucinogenic effects, cardiotoxicity, and psychostimulant properties. I will discuss the development of chemical and molecular tools for studying the mechanism(s) of action of psychedelics as well as our efforts to engineer non-hallucinogenic analogs of these compounds that produce similar sustained therapeutic behavioral effects after a single administration. Understanding the fundamental biochemical mechanisms that give rise to compound-induced neuroplasticity will be essential for developing safer and more effective neurotherapeutics for a variety of brain disorders.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Woodward CCB Departmental Colloquium ](/seminars/woodward-ccb-departmental-colloquium)
 
 

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