Psilocybin for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Frontiers in Neuroscience July 10, 2024 Siyi Zheng, Rong Ma, Yang Yang et al. 23 citations
Psilocybin, the psychoactive alkaloid in hallucinogenic mushrooms, may offer a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Its active metabolite, psilocin, modulates the 5-HT2A receptor, leading to heightened neural plasticity, reduced inflammation, and improvements in cognitive functions such as creativity, cognitive flexibility, and emotional facial recognition. Psilocybin also shows promise in alleviating anxiety and depression symptoms in AD patients. The review discusses strategies to mitigate hallucinogenic side effects and addresses ethical and legal considerations, proposing therapeutic potential for psilocybin in managing Alzheimer's disease.