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A research group led by Complutense University of Madrid has shown, in animal models, that ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea used for centuries in Amazonian communities for shamanic purposes, is capable of forming neurons and other brain cells, making it a potential therapy for psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
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According to the university, “One of the main natural components of Amazonian ayahuasca tea, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), promotes neurogenesis – the formation of new neurons.”
In addition to neurons, the mixture used for shamanic purposes also induces the formation of other neuron cells such as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, according to the institution.
“This ability to modulate brain plasticity indicates that it has great therapeutic potential for a wide range of psychiatric disorders and neurological, including neurodegenerative diseases ”, explains José Ángel Morales, researcher in the Department of Cell Biology at UCM and Ciberned.
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The study, published in Translational psychiatry -Affiliate of Nature– collects the results of four years of in vitro and in vivo experimentation on mice, demonstrating in the latter “a greater cognitive capacity when treated with this substance”, according to José Antonio López, researcher at UCM Faculty of Psychology and co-author of the work.
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Ayahuasca is the result of mix two Amazon plants: the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the chacruna bush (Psychotria viridis).
“In ayahuasca, DMT binds to a brain serotonin receptor type 2A, and it is then that its hallucinogenic effect is enhanced. In this research, this binding is made to another receptor, the sigma type, which does not have these effects. which considerably facilitates future administration to patients “.
The group explains it in neurodegenerative diseases, the death of certain types of neurons causes the symptoms of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The human being has the ability to generate new neuron cells, but it depends on other factors and it is not always possible.
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“The challenge would be to activate this ability to form neurons that we have fallen asleep and in this way to be able to replace neurons that die from the disease. This work demonstrates that DMT is able to activate neural stem cells and form new neurons, ”concludes Morales.
* With information from Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit from the Complutense University of Madrid
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