A group of scientists from around the world has discovered something special about certain drugs that can help people with a type of sadness called depression.
These drugs are not the usual type – they’re things like magic mushrooms and LSD. Sometimes, when people with depression take these, they feel better. But until now, no one knew exactly why.
The Experiments Begin
The team of scientists did some experiments to find out how these drugs work.
They took some cells, put them in a petri dish (a small round dish used for experiments), and added either LSD or a substance from magic mushrooms called psilocin.
Under a microscope, they saw something interesting. Some chemicals from the drugs stuck really well to a part of the cells called a receptor.
This receptor, named TrkB, is like a lock that certain chemicals can unlock. It’s the same receptor that some depression medicines try to unlock, but the LSD and psilocin did it even better.
They made a super-strong bond with the receptor, much stronger than regular medicine.
The Discovery
The strong bond with the receptor made the cells more flexible and changeable, a bit like how your muscles become stronger and more flexible when you exercise.
This ability to change and grow, called neuroplastic activity, is thought to help lessen the symptoms of depression.
The scientists were curious and decided to take their research further. They gave some mice a little bit of LSD or psilocin. These mice were not very happy because they had been put in stressful situations.
The Findings in Mice
After giving the drugs to the mice, the scientists looked at their brains. They found the same strong bonds between the drugs and the receptor that they had seen in the petri dishes.
And they noticed something else. The antidepressant effect, the way the drugs helped to reduce the sadness, wasn’t linked to the part of the drug that makes people see strange things, known as hallucinations.
It’s like having a toy that can whistle and light up at the same time, but finding out that the whistling part doesn’t need the lights to work.
This means that perhaps we can use these drugs to treat depression without making people experience strange visions or trips.
This new understanding can lead to better treatment for people with depression in the future.
If you care about depression, please read studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies that ultra-processed foods may make you feel depressed, and extra-virgin olive oil could reduce depression symptoms.
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
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