In this episode of Psychedelics Weekly, the rest of the team is out or at Cannadelic, so a new voice steps up to the plate: Julian Bost, who works with the Vital team and handles the majority of our email, records his first podcast with Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience, friend of the show, and speaker at Convergence: Manesh Girn.
You may remember the team covering some articles at the end of December and early January that were quite confusing and immediately met with a response of: “yea, we should have someone on to explain this to us.” This is that episode, with Manesh breaking down three very scientific articles into much simpler terms (at least we hope).
He covers:
“The psychotomimetic ketamine disrupts the transfer of late sensory information in the corticothalamic network,” which found that ketamine created hyperconnectivity in rodents’ brains, impairing their ability to process sensory input, which could lead to a better understanding of schizophrenia;
“Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers,”: which showed an interaction between psilocybin and the stress system, immune system, and central nervous system – showing a greater recognition for how the immune system and inflammation are involved in disorders;
And a paper he co-wrote with Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and many others, “Canalization and plasticity in psychopathology,” which aims to reframe neuroplasticity, disorders, and psychedelic interventions, and leads to a discussion on how adaptive thought patterns develop, the ability to relearn as “Temperature or Entropy Mediated Plasticity (TEMP),” Daniel Kahneman’s idea of fast and slow thinking, early trauma intervention, and the concept of viewing mental illness as a process rather than an identity.
As confusing (at least to the layperson) research seems to pop up daily, we may have Manesh on from time to time to help us understand some of these studies. How did he do? Did he clear up any of these articles for you? And should Julian be on the podcast more?
Links
YouTube: The Psychedelic Scientist
Psychedelics Today: PT258 – Manesh Girn – Psychedelics and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Creativity
Psychedelics Weekly on YouTube
Sciencedirect.com: Canalization and plasticity in psychopathology
Wikipedia.org: Thinking, Fast and Slow
