Psychedelics as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience August 21, 2020 Simon Vann Jones, Allison O’kelly 60 citations
No disease-modifying treatments currently exist for Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. Recent research on psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, along with anecdotal reports of cognitive benefits from micro-dosing, suggests these compounds may have therapeutic potential for psychiatric and neurological conditions by stimulating neurogenesis, provoking neuroplastic changes, and reducing neuroinflammation. This makes them interesting candidates for dementia therapeutics. This mini-review examines the basic science and current clinical evidence for using psychedelics, particularly micro-dosing LSD and psilocybin, to treat dementia, especially early Alzheimer's disease.