A combination of the plant-derived compound ibogaine with magnesium, given alongside complementary treatments, led to large improvements in functioning, PTSD, depression, and anxiety in 30 male Special Operations Forces veterans with mild traumatic brain injury. Functioning improved significantly both immediately after treatment and one month later, with very large effects on PTSD, depression, and anxiety at one month. No serious adverse events occurred. The authors call for controlled trials to confirm these initial open-label findings.
A single ibogaine treatment was associated with improvements in processing speed, executive functions, verbal fluency, and verbal learning among U.S. Special Operations Veterans with histories of combat, blast exposure, and traumatic brain injury. Thirty participants completed neuropsychological testing before and after treatment, and 27 returned for one-month follow-up. Scores on the WAIS-IV Processing Speed Index, Delis-Kaplan Color Word test, verbal fluency, and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test improved significantly. No negative cognitive effects were observed up to one month post-treatment. The findings suggest ibogaine may have therapeutic potential for cognition after traumatic brain injury, though further research is needed.