A Brief Review on the Potential of Psychedelics for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Depression
International Journal of Molecular Sciences August 7, 2023 Alexander Pilozzi, Simmie Foster, David Mischoulon et al. 16 citations
Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of senile dementia, will impose a growing societal and healthcare burden as the population ages. With few treatments for symptomatic relief and unknown causes, more research is urgently needed. Psychedelic drugs target AD-related psychological pathology and symptoms such as depression. Through microdosing, they may help combat the disease by eliciting psychiatric benefits via serotonin and dopamine pathways. This review examines studied benefits of a few psychedelic compounds that may show promise in treating AD and attenuating its depressive symptoms. The putative mechanism of action is that psychedelics act mainly as serotonin receptor agonists and induce potential beneficial effects for treating AD and related depression.