Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: Molding a New Way of Thinking

First-of-its-kind research has showed why psychedelics are so therapeutic. It all starts with the brain.

Photo by Bret Kavanaugh on Unsplash

“It was like when you defrag the hard drive on your computer, I experienced blocks going into place, things being rearranged in my mind, I visualized as it was all put into order, a beautiful experience with these gold blocks going into black drawers that would illuminate and I thought: ‘My brain is being defragged, how brilliant is that!” — Patient 11

Psychedelics are making a comeback. Over the past decade we have seen some unprecedented results in modern psychiatry; from psilocybin treating depression, to LSD treating alcoholism. It’s been a fascinating journey so far into how psychedelic compounds can be so useful in treating many mental afflictions.

However, while scientists are making giant steps in the right direction, there still remains an overarching issue: we are yet to fully understand which psychedelic effects, in the brain, are responsible for these groundbreaking clinical improvements.

Although, this might be changing.

A concerted worldwide effort into the study of psychedelics has seen an immense amount of research being conducted. With this, more…