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

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2023

⏱️ 157 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, my guest is Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, distinguished professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of leading researchers in the study of how psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD and DMT can change the human brain and in doing so, be used to successfully treat various mental health challenges such as major depression, anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addiction. He explains how psilocybin induces sustained changes in adaptive brain wiring and cognition. We discuss the key components of safe and effective psychedelic journeys, the role of hallucinations, the use of eye-masks to encourage people to “go internal,” and music, as well as what effective therapist support consists of before, during and after the session (also known as integration). We discuss micodosing vs. macrodosing and how researchers control for placebo effects in psychedelic research. We also discuss the current legal landscape around psychedelic therapies. Psychedelic therapies are fast emerging as powerful and soon-to-be mainstream treatments for medical health disorders, but they are not without their risks. As such, this episode ought to be of use to anyone interested in brain plasticity, mental health, psychology or neuroscience. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman Levels: https://levels.link/huberman HVMN: https://hvmn.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Momentous: https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman The Brain Body Contract https://hubermanlab.com/tour Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris (00:02:12) Sponsors: Eight Sleep, Levels, HVMN (00:05:41) The Brain-Body Contract (00:06:31) Origin of the Word: “Psychedelics”; Pharmacology (00:12:05) Psychedelics & Revealing the Unconscious Mind, Psychotherapy (00:17:32) Microdosing (00:26:08) Psilocybin vs. Magic Mushroom Doses (00:28:28) “Psychedelic-Therapy”, Music (00:35:12) Sponsor: AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:36:26) Psychedelic Journey: “Trust, Let Go, Be Open” (00:43:01) Negative Emotions, Fear & Psychedelics (00:46:21) Global Functional Connectivity, Serotonin 2A Receptor; Subjective Experiences (00:52:33) Pharmacology: Therapeutics without Psychedelic Effects; SSRIs (00:58:45) Psilocybin & Depression; Long-Term Effects: Connectivity & Neuroplasticity (01:09:14) Sponsor: LMNT (01:10:26) Psilocybin Therapy & Anorexia (01:12:56) Integration Phase & Psychedelic-Therapy; Meditation (01:19:50) First-Time Psychedelic Use, “Entropic Brain Effect”, Neuroplasticity, Cognition (01:30:16) Fibromyalgia & Psychedelic Treatment; MDMA Therapy & “Inner Healer” (01:38:55) Placebo Response & Psychedelic Therapy (01:41:39) LSD & Psychedelic-Therapy, Micro-Dose (01:48:19) Combination Psilocybin-MDMA Therapy (01:56:06) DMT “Rocketship” & Serotonin 2A Receptors; Ibogaine (02:01:04) “Ego Dissolution”, Cocaine vs. Psychedelics; Relapses (02:12:26) Psychedelics & Legal Landscape; Decriminalization (02:17:54) MDMA, Trauma & Clinical Trials; Future Regulatory (FDA) Approval? (02:23:25) Psilocybin & Current Clinical Trials (02:28:41) Mental Health & Psychedelic Treatment, Safeguards, Paradigm Shift (02:34:39) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Uberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.8	I'm Andrew Uberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.0	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today my guest is Dr. Robin Carrhart Harris.
0:17.7	Dr. Carrhart Harris is a distinguished professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.
0:24.7	He is one of the leading researchers in the field of psychedelics and how they change
0:28.6	neural circuitry in the brain. His laboratory is responsible for understanding, for instance,
0:33.5	how psilocybin, also sometimes referred to as magic mushrooms, change neural circuitry in the brain
0:39.0	such that new ideas and new forms of learning occur. His laboratory is also responsible for
0:44.4	carrying out various clinical trials, some of which have demonstrated that appropriate
0:48.7	dosages of psilocybin can alleviate major depression in more than 67% of people that take the drug.
0:55.5	Now this is not to say that everybody should take psilocybin and today's discussion describes
0:59.8	both the clinical trials and why treatments with psychedelics in some cases work and in some cases
1:04.7	do not work in order to treat major depression. As well as discussions around psilocybin,
1:09.7	Lycurgic acid diethylamides sometimes also referred to as LSD, as well as DMT, and how these change
1:16.4	of the brain and how those brain changes can relate to changes in mental health as it relates to
1:21.5	depression and other psychiatric challenges, as well as how psychedelics are being applied in order
1:26.2	to change neural circuitry for sake of expanding different aspects of the human mind, including
1:31.1	creativity, intelligence, and much more. During today's discussion, Dr. Carhartt Harris teaches us
1:36.8	about the history of the study of psychedelics, as well as how the legislature, that is the laws
1:42.2	surrounding psychedelics are evolving in the United States and elsewhere for the use of psychedelics
1:47.6	to treat psychiatric challenges. By the end of today's discussion, you will have a thorough understanding
1:52.0	of how psychedelics work, both in the short term during the actual journey or trip. In fact,
	...

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