Researchers at Colorado State University’s Department of Biomedical Sciences recently determined that certain lab mice, when exposed to psilocybin, experienced reduced cravings for fentanyl. Notably, the effect was only observed in female mice.
The study, published in August in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, also found that the psychedelic did not cause anxiety-like behaviors.
“It is very exciting to see that fentanyl-related behaviors can respond to psychedelic compounds, especially given how serious the opioid crisis is in our country. Some of the interesting sex differences revealed in this work also raise important questions about the complexity of female biology and the role of hormones in why individuals may respond differently to psychedelics.” — First author Tiffini Lovell, CSU biomedical sciences Ph.D. student, in a statement
“We do not yet know exactly how psychedelics work, and the effects have been described as similar to how rebooting a computer can restore function,” said Dr. Ana Clara Bobadilla, assistant biomedical sciences professor and co-author of the study. “One thing we do know is that psychedelics can increase neuroplasticity, while in addiction, repeated drug exposure creates strong, inflexible pathways in the brain. So, one hypothesis is that psychedelics can activate and open other networks and pathways that the brain can take.”
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that causes more drug overdoses in the U.S. than any other substance.
Ganjapreneur: Offering daily insights since 2014, the leading digital business journal for cannabis industry professionals. Subscribe to the newsletter to join our community of over 40,000 ganjapreneurs.
