Awhile back we started a Slack group for psychedelic science.

Researchers used it to organize meetups and panels at conferences. We discuss papers, including a lively discussion now of the Lu et al. preprint.

DM @mikaelpalner.bsky.social or I if you work in academia and want to join

Happy to share our latest paper from @viditavaidya.bsky.social lab uncovering potent effects of Withania somnifera on neuronal mitochondrial biogenesis and energetics via BDNF and SIRT1 signaling - implicating these effects in its pleiotropic neuroprotective and stress adaptive actions.

Withania Somnifera (Ashwagandha) has been used for centuries in Indian traditional medicine as an 'adaptogen' that boosts stress resilience, but the cellular mechanisms and key beneficial bioactives that drive putative neuroprotective effects remain unclear..

Psyched that we got the green light for a new Gordon conference on #psychedelics in 2025! #GRCPsychedelics

Save the date: 7/13-7/18/2025 at Bryant University in Rhode Island.

Look forward to organizing with Vlad Vyazovskiy @viditavaidya.bsky.social @melissaherman.bsky.social

Excited about this study, in which we tested the hypothesis that thyroid hormones are a missing molecular link between experience of early-life stress and downstream transcriptional changes in the VTA. A side project that I hope we can follow for many more years

Published! This paper was a huge effort by Sero Patel & Shannon Bennett. We found that molecular changes in NAc after #earlylifestress correspond to molecular signatures of antidepressant treatment failure- across species & drug classes- esp among females www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2305776120