PSILOCYBIN UPDATE - PART ONE

In today’s show, we’ll explore the updated information about psilocybin and what this means for your brain health… and ultimately your moody-brain issues. I’ll break this into multiple parts so that this critical new information doesn’t get drowned by some of the less powerful information.

 Key Points in this episode
[ 16:27]    Decriminalization of Psilocybin
 [16:58]    Psilocybin and Bipolar Disorder
 [18:58]    Psilocybin VS Long Term Use Multi Drug Regimen
 [19:42]    Incorporate Psilocybin into a Total Lifestyle Approach for Mental Health

 Connect with Dr Brian Brown, the Moody Brain Expert
🌎https://DrBrianGBrown.com
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IG:@drbriangbrown
LinkedIn: @company/dr-brian-g-brown

 🧬Find more information about genetics, epigenetics and how they impact your overall health and performance🧬 in Dr Brian's FREE Master Class on Gene Hacking https://drbriangbrown.com/genehack/bootcamp

Transcript

ITZ_EP107_Psilocybin update

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

psilocybin, people, stages, brain, study, grant, functional MRI, neuroplasticity, question, TEDx, strategies, executive assistant, business, focus, marketing, antidepressant

 Dr Brian G Brown  00:00

This is all about the psilocybin update on the latest data, the latest research studies that have been published, since we last did an update and it's been a while since I've done an update. Information has trickled out fairly slowly this year, but it's starting to come out really rapidly now, and I want to start going over that information with you.

I am going to do some things because I am going to break this up into multiple parts because there's some really critical information and I'll explain that here in just a minute. That I don't want to get drowned out by some of less powerful information, if you will. And when we talk about studies, we're talking about power of studies. 

The one I'm leading off with today is an exceptionally powerful study. And I think you'll see why here in just a minute. So this first study we're going to discuss in today's episode was published in the journal Nature Medicine, by Dr. Richard Dawes and colleagues. Now, you've probably heard me say this before, but I'm gonna say it again, getting published as a researcher in a nature journal is exceptionally difficult. It's the creme de la creme of medical journals. So when you see a study when you see an author published in Nature Journal, you need to pay attention to it. 

Now I personally believe that this particular study that we're going to talk about today will be a benchmark study by which other studies will be compared in the future because it was so well designed, and because it also has a prominence and some prestige of being published in Nature Journal. 

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2022/04/422606/psilocybin-rewires-brain-people-depression

Now, what's so special about this study? Let's talk about that. The study actually consisted of two different phases. Now in phase one, they brought the study participants in, and they did functional MRI imaging a very detailed almost like a PET scan type of image on the brain with nothing in their system. And then they gave them a 25-milligram dose of psilocybin, which is an extremely low dose. 

It's what we consider the micro dosing range of psilocybin that given them a 25 milligram dose of psilocybin brought them back the next day and repeated the functional MRI imaging. So that was phase one, and phase two. Study participants were blindly randomized into one of two groups. They were either randomized into the psilocybin arm of the study, or they were randomized into the citalopram or Lexapro, arm of the study. 

Now, here's how that was set up. And I know you think these details are boring, but they mean something. They're very significant in the way they set this up. So, the patients that were in the psilocybin arm, were given 25 milligrams of psilocybin again, in two different doses three weeks apart. Plus, they were also given six weeks’ worth of placebo. They didn't know whether they were taking an antidepressant. They didn't know whether they were taking citalopram, for that matter. They didn't even know they were taking psilocybin to be quite honest with you. 

 Well, that was the first arm of the study, and the second group rather, sorry about that. The second group of people were randomized into blindly, the researchers didn't even know what group people were in until after the study. 

The study group that received psilocybin one milligram which is kind of a, I don't know, a colloquial phrase to put it as a spit in the wind. A one milligram dose doesn't really do much when it comes to psilocybin. We need to be up in that 25 milligram range to be quite honest. So one milligram dose of psilocybin really doesn't do anything but again, they received a one milligram dose two times three weeks apart. Plus, they received a six weeks’ worth of daily s-citalopram, and it was titrated to effect either 10 or 20 milligrams. 

Okay. So, here's what Dr. Daws and his colleagues found, and I'm going to quote this because I think it's critically important to hear the technicality of it, but to start understanding it, I'm going to break this down so don't get lost in the technical aspect of this. 

Now, this is Dr. Daws quoting.

“In both trials, the antidepressant response to psilocybin was rapid sustained and correlated with decreases in functional MRI, brain network modularity, implying that psilocybin acts antidepressant action may depend on a global increase in brain network integration. 

Now, network cartography is a fancy word for mapping. Network mapping analysis indicated the 5-HT2A receptors which is a serotonin receptor, 5-HT2A receptor rich, high order functional networks became more functionally interconnected, and flexible after psilocybin treatment. 

Now the antidepressant response to a citalopram was milder and no changes in brain network organization were observed on functional MRI”

Now, what does all this technical mumbo jumbo mean to the average everyday person and why does it even matter when it comes to your brain health? It matters significantly. Let me explain. 

Firstly, if you recall from a podcast episode that I did last February, also a psilocybin update episode. I discussed how big pharma and a big pharma backed study tried to show that psilocybin had literally no effect and a head-to-head study with s citalopram.

Dr Brian G Brown  06:18

And I went into detail, and you can go back and listen to that episode, but I went into great detail and explaining how that study was flawed and it should never should have been published and never should have been allowed to be published.

You can hear it here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/psilocybin-update-big-pharma-on-the-attack/id1596513668?i=1000550732299

And the fact of you'll go back and notice it was not published in Nature Journal.  It never would have made it because it was so poorly designed. Now this study is truly the one that we're talking about today. This study is truly something that a health professional can sink their chops into and use as support for prescribing psilocybin in the future. When psilocybin does become legalized. It's already becoming legalized in some states across the United States. 

Anyway, back to the interpretation of Dr. Dawes statements above. Here's what all that means. 

1-Number one, the antidepressant response with just two doses of psilocybin three weeks apart, was rapid and sustained. That's unheard of. We don't see that in the antidepressant world at all. You have to take it at least once a day there's some antidepressants that have to be taken multiple times per day. You just don't see this kind of effect. 

 2-And number two, the functional MRI or those high-resolution MRI images showed that neuroplasticity was in play.

Now, if you don't know what neuroplasticity means, it only means this the ability for the brain to change in structure or function in response to an experience. So, neuroplasticity plasticity is our brain's ability to change think of a child. A child has an amazing amount of high neuroplasticity in the brain. The brain is constantly evolving. It's constantly laying down new nerve and neuronal pathways in the brain. And it's just constantly evolving. 

We used to think that neuroplasticity went away in our early adult years and just didn't recapture that we now know that's not true. Neuroplasticity is an ongoing thing. Does it slow down with aging? Yes, it slows down with aging. 

But here's why psilocybin is important. And I believe we're going to see use of psilocybin in the future outside of strict mental health standards for treatment resistant depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, the list goes on at home. I think we're going to see it for the aging brain because it does increase neuroplasticity. Alright, all that being said, 

3-Number three. And the final thing the final point I want to make about the study that's really important. Is that psilocybin appears to dis-integrate old brain patterns and dis-integrate has a hyphen between the DIS and the integrate. 

Okay, don't think of a disintegration is like it's falling apart right before my very eyes. No, no, we're talking about dis-integration. So, psilocybin appears to affect this disintegration of old brain pattern networks. 

Now, let me explain this last piece a bit more because this last piece is ultimately one of the most exciting pieces of the study and it relates back to not only mental health treatment, but also relates back to aging brain treatment, and increasing neuroplasticity. 

Now, I recall when I was a kid, playing in the backyard and having fun, I love to play in the dirt. I love to get dirt under my fingernails, and it was just all ground into my hands. I mean, I looked horrible as a kid, because that was always playing in the dirt. And I loved making mud pies. Okay. Now for those of you listening, who had childhoods growing up through the 70s or 80s. You probably understand what I'm talking about. Those kids that grew up through the 90s. I'm not saying born in the 90s. But your childhood was in the bulk of the 90s. You may not be able to relate and definitely if you were born in 2000 and beyond, you definitely can't relate because kids just don't play in the dirt anymore. 

I don't understand it. I mean, we're a hand sanitizer generation. What can I say? I think our immune systems were stronger because we did play in the dirt. I think there's a lot of evidence to that. But anyway, I digress back to the subject. When I would build dirt mounds playing in the dirt one of my favorite things to do was to take a bucket of water as big or as big of a bucket of water as I can carry at that small age. And I would stand very still over the top of the peak of that mountain. And I would pour the water slowly at the very tip top peak of that mound of dirt now for anyone that's ever done this, played in the dirt use water playing with dirt. You know what happens? Once the dirt mound gets saturated with water. Little bitty rivers or streams of water begin to form going downhill on the sides of the mountain. And those rivers begin to cut trenches in that dirt. Right? 

Okay. Well, the same thing happens in your brain when you're dealing with anxiety. You're dealing with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, bipolar disorder. The list goes on and on. And on. The same thing happens in your brain. Your brain gets so used to functioning in these trenches in these dysfunctional patterns. That it literally can't get out of those ruts. So, the thought pattern immediately automatically follows that trench. Because if you were to leave that going back to our dirt mound analogy, if you were to leave it alone, let it dry out and then come back and pour water on the tip top. You don't even need to saturate the dirt anymore. The water is automatically going to follow those trenches and that's what happens over time in our brain. These trenches get cut deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. We call this response that the neurotransmitters go through. 

We call this Entrenched Neurotransmitter Responses okay. It just makes sense. That's an entrenchment of your nerve pathways. Okay, well, as it turns out, psilocybin in this study, as proven by the functional MRI images as high-resolution images was found telethon trench one, those dysfunctional brain pattern pathways. 

In other words, the old integrated dysfunctional patterns were dis-integrated, meaning they were smoothed over, they were rewritten. It was like we said, we're going to start with a new mound of dirt. We're going to fill in these trenches, we're going to pack on tight and smooth everything over so that we can develop new pathways. Now think of it. 

I've always taught patients this, taught clients this, think of this process that I've just described to you, as a virtual facelift for the brain. Now psilocybin helps get rid of the bad wrinkles in your brain and your thinking patterns in those neurological pathways. And then it gets rid of those wrinkles or trenches in this particular case. Now, this is very exciting. In fact, brain researchers have looked for something to do exactly what they found in this study. reversed that entrenchment, disintegrate, those bad nerve pathways, those entrenched nerve pathways, they've been looking for this. In fact, one might say it's the Holy Grail of brain research, and they've not been able to really make much headway in this area. Until psilocybin. Get the research world and people started understanding oh my gosh, we're seeing on functional MRI that, that low doses of psilocybin in the non-hallucinogenic realm. 

Low doses of psilocybin are actually rewriting brain pathways in a positive way. And relieving depression, relieving anxiety, treating post-traumatic stress disorder forever, 

like totally getting rid of it, helping attention deficit, hyperactive people, adults with their ADHD and guess what Mother Nature had it figured out all along. I think the most frustrating thing is that psilocybin.

 Dr Brian G Brown  15:08

has been criminalized. And if you go back and look at the history of how psilocybin was criminalized, it was back in the days in the in the late 70s, early 80s. Were they had discovered LSD, PCP, they were having issues with it on the streets, and they knew that psilocybin was out there, and they lumped it into that same category. So, when they outlawed or criminalized LSD and PCP, they actually criminalized psilocybin as well. And psilocybin really doesn't have that same history. It's a plant-based product. It's all natural, and it's very beneficial in the right doses with the right supervision. So, on, so forth. 

So, I think the decriminalization of psilocybin that we're seeing, starting to catch hold across the United States is critically important. It's critically important for people who struggle with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar, disorder, and then we'll talk about a study and one of the upcoming episodes as 

I'm walking through this multi part series on psilocybin of date that specifically talks about bipolar disorder and psilocybin because previously, I mean, psilocybin, was thought to be contraindicated, meaning you would not give it to a bipolar patient. And now we're starting to see the opposite. We're actually starting to see bipolar patients who've been given psilocybin in controlled settings, they're actually doing very well with it. We'll talk about some of the data that's out there and has come out since our last update related to that here in a future episode, but right now, I think the best thing that we can do is start educating ourselves because the day will come when I believe psilocybin will be decriminalized nationwide. 

Here's why I believe that there are current studies going on, since synthetic psilocybin. Okay. Now, does it mean that regular psilocybin, the non-synthetic plant-based version will be legal? No. I just believe that certain municipalities are going to start to decriminalize it, meaning they don't see an issue with it and they don't have a problem with it being prescribed or used in certain patient populations. Oregon is probably one of the pioneering states in this right now. And they're doing a bang-up job and using it clinically. I do think it needs to expand, but I also hold out hope and then I'm pretty confident that it will continue to expand as we get more research and more data out. 

Because if the big pharma companies who are going to make the synthetic psilocybin, they're not going to want natural psilocybin on the market, but I think municipalities, I think people in these municipalities in these cities are smart enough to see it for what it is and I think they're going to start demanding other of their local boards, their legislators, to say, Listen, we need to decriminalize this. Yes, it may be illegal and on a federal level. But we need to decriminalize this because it's that important. 

And I think what you're going to see, I think you're going to see when that happens, you're going to see more people using it for appropriate things, and you're going to see a lot less mental illness across the United States. 

I just know it, I've seen it and clients who actually use psilocybin and micro doses that their long term, 30, 40, 50-year experience with the mental health care system and treatment. It gets better and better and better to the point where they don't have to take the multiple drug regimen, the multi drug regimen that they're using from big pharma type sources, they just don't have to do it anymore. 

Is it a miracle drug? No, I don't think there is such a thing. Is it a total lifestyle approach? It is a total lifestyle approach. It's changing the way you eat, changing your sleep patterns, changing your exercise patterns. It's a global thing, but when you can incorporate this natural treatment as it relates to something as simple as psilocybin into your regimen. And do it correctly, at the correct doses for the correct length of time. Everything else seems to fall into place.

 And now we know why that happens. We're starting to understand the mechanics behind psilocybin and that's what the study was about. Seeing these functional MRI results was critical. And very important for us to have the data to understand that psilocybin is literally changing brain patterns in a positive way. 

Therapists know, psychologists know that when you have a person in therapy, you can rewrite brain neural pathways to a degree. There's no medication that doesn't that's big pharma generated, but therapy over long term and I'm talking about decades, can reroute and change for the positive neural pathways or some therapy modalities that will change neural pathways for the negative. 

I don't want to get into that because it's very controversial. But one of them uses a semi hypnotic state with either tap or eye movement, things like that. And there's actually some countries in Europe that have outlawed that technique because of the damage that it does and creating false neuro pathways, false memories and things like that. 

Again, a conversation for another day, but psilocybin is as close to the Holy Grail as we have when it comes to generating and improving and promoting neuroplasticity in the brain. And the effects that that has on mental health as well as aging are astounding. And we're going to see that more and more as we move forward. Month by month we're seeing more studies come out. And studies like this will actually just spurn more studies to go deeper and understand at a deeper level. 

How long this last, is it permanent? Is it temporary? What are we seeing over the long term? And I would imagine these scientists are already gearing up to follow these participants in this study over a long period of time, or create a new study; where they actually follow people over a long period of time, because that's going to be the next step in this holy grail type of movement that we're seeing with psilocybin. 

That's all I've got for today. And if you're curious to know more about just functional medicine, functional health of your brain, in any kind of way, if there's any question I can answer, please feel free to message me @ Dr. Brian G. Brown, on YouTube, on Facebook, on Instagram on LinkedIn. That's my handle at sign Dr. Brian G. Brown reached out to me, I'll be glad to answer any question that you might have. Most informed, most trusted and most grateful you spent this time with us today. Until next time, stay in the zone. I'm Dr. Brian Brown