Your brain on psychedelics with Gül Dölen

The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

What can octopuses on MDMA teach us about sociability? That’s what neuroscientist and psychedelics researcher Gül Dölen wanted to find out. The creatures are antisocial with a brain structure very different from humans, but on the drug ecstasy, octopuses wanted to hang out with each other – and were even “touchy-feely.” Dölen has been doing groundbreaking work with MDMA and other hallucinogens to learn how they affect brains and unlock their therapeutic potential. She has a particular interest in critical periods in brain development, when humans are open to learning something new and meaningful from the environment. It’s a fascinating time to be researching MDMA, psilocybin, LSD and other psychedelics as they show increasing potential to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD and addiction…but they are no magic pill.