Preclinical support for using psychedelics to treat alcohol use disorders
A psychedelic found in mushrooms is emerging as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorders. This possibility is due to a compound the body converts the psychedelic into called psilocin, but psilocin’s mechanisms remain unclear. Researchers, led by Sarah Magee and Melissa Herman at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explored whether psilocin targets neurons in the central amygdala involved in emotional processing and stress to alter alcohol use in their JNeurosci paper. Herman emphasizes that ...