In an experiment conducted on flies and rats, scientists from the University of California, Davis, found that psychedelic substances—including LSD and DMT—promoted neurites, the development of brain cells that process and transmit information. While it’s still too early to apply the research to the human brain, the effects could prove fruitful for people struggling with mental illness, since disorders like depression and PTSD are often linked with damaged neurites in the prefrontal cortex.
We talked to Daniel Oberhaus, a Motherboard reporter who covers psychedelics, about the implications of the recent findings.
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