While people have touted the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for decades, it’s only been within the last five years that UC Davis researchers discovered that compounds like LSD, DMT and psilocybin promote neuroplasticity, spurring the growth and strengthening of neurons and their connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. But how do you strip a psychedelic of its hallucinogenic properties? David Olson, founding director of the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics, walks us through this process.
We’ve all heard the advice, “Eat more fiber.”
But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. As part of a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health-funded project, UC Davis scientists are building a library of biomarkers associated with specific fiber food sources as they pass through the gut. The goal is to build a comprehensive understanding of the structural diversity of fibers and how those structures influence digestive health.
The Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences at the University of Pennsylvania recently gave David Olson, founding director of the UC Davis institute, its Rising Star Award in Neurobiology of Psychedelics. The award, according to Penn, honors a researcher “at the forefront of unraveling the mechanisms underlying the actions of psychedelics in the brain or translating these discoveries into interventions that preserve, restore and enhance brain function.”
Three researchers from UC Davis have been awarded a total $1.2 million grant over four years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to generate high-quality synthetic data using artificial intelligence and machine learning that may potentially help physicians predict, diagnose and treat diseases.
Language is an intricate tool of expression, and UC Davis linguistics doctoral candidate Peter Torres has unraveled some of its complexities by analyzing doctor-patient conversations about opioid use and addiction.
Tom Nesbitt (B.A., psychology, ’75, and M.D. ’79) is stepping in as interim vice chancellor of UC Davis Human Health Sciences while the university conducts a search for permanent leadership for UC Davis Health.