The Science of Psychedelics for Mental Health | Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

This section of the episode develops the topic through the following source points: ANDREW HUBERMAN: Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. [MUSIC PLAYING] I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris. Dr. Carhart-Harris is a distinguished professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of the leading researchers in the field of psychedelics and how they change neural circuitry in the brain. His laboratory is responsible for understanding, for instance, how psilocybin, also sometimes referred to as magic mushrooms change neural circuitry in the brain, such that new ideas and new forms of learning occur. His laboratory is also responsible for carrying out various clinical trials, some of which have demonstrated that appropriate dosages of psilocybin can alleviate major depression in more than 67% of people that take the drug. Now, this is not to say that everybody should take psilocybin, and today's discussion describes both the clinical trials and why treatments with psychedelics in some cases work and in some cases do not work in order to treat major depression. As well as discussions around psilocybin, lysogenic acid diethylamide, sometimes also referred to as LSD, as well as DMT. And how these change the brain, and how those brain changes can relate to changes in mental health, as it relates to depression and other psychiatric challenges, as well as how psychedelics are being applied in order to change neural circuitry for sake of expanding different aspects of the human mind, including creativity, intelligence, and much more.