NEUROLOGY
Psychedelic medicines offer a promising therapeutic approach in Neurology owing to their modulation of neuroinflammation, neuroplasticity, hippocampal neurogenesis, and increases in brain complexity.
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
From psychiatry to neurology: Psychedelics as prospective therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders. Kozlowska, Journal of Neurochemistry, 2021
Psychedelic medicines may have efficacy in the treatment and prevention of brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. Preclinical work has highlighted psychedelics’ ability to induce neuroplasticity and synaptogenesis, and neural progenitor cell proliferation. Psychedelics may also act as immunomodulators by reducing levels of proinflammatory biomarkers, including IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Their exact molecular mechanisms, and induction of cellular interactions, especially between neural and glial cells, leading to therapeutic efficacy, remain to be determined.
FUNCTIONAL DISORDERS
Psychedelic-assisted therapy for functional neurological disorders: A theoretical framework and review of prior reports. B Stewart. Pharmacology Res Perspect 2020
Functional neurological disorders (FNDs), which are sometimes also referred to as psychogenic neurological disorders or conversion disorder, are common disabling neuropsychiatric disorders with limited treatment options. FNDs can present with sensory and/or motor symptoms, and, though they may mimic other neurological conditions, they are thought to occur via mechanisms other than those related to identifiable structural neuropathology and, in many cases, appear to be triggered and sustained by recognizable psychological factors. There is intriguing preliminary evidence to support the use of psychedelic-assisted therapy in a growing number of psychiatric illnesses, including FNDs.
BRAIN INJURY
Psychedelics for Brain Injury: A Mini-Review. M Kahn, Frontiers in Neurology, 2021
Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are among the leading causes of disability. Even after engaging in rehabilitation, nearly half of patients with severe TBI requiring hospitalization are left with major disability. Despite decades of investigation, pharmacologic treatment of brain injury is still a field in its infancy. Recent clinical trials have begun into the use of psychedelic therapeutics for treatment of brain injury. This brief review aims to summarize the current state of the science's relevance to neurorehabilitation