Ayahuasca might protect the brain from stress-induced damage, primate study finds
A new study on marmosets suggests ayahuasca could protect the brain from physical damage caused by chronic stress, pointing to the psychedelic brew's potential as a preventative treatment for depression.
A study conducted on common marmosets, a species of small New World monkey native to Brazil, suggests that ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant brew, might protect the brain from stress-induced damage. The research, published in Translational Psychiatry, involved dividing 6 juvenile marmosets into three groups: isolation, family, and ayahuasca.
The isolation group was separated from their families and housed in cages for 9 weeks to induce chronic social stress, resembling depression in humans. The ayahuasca group received three doses of ayahuasca tea by oral gavage over a period of 50 days, with the first dose administered three days before isolation commenced. The study found that the isolation group experienced a significant reduction in neuronal volume in the somatosensory cortex, a brain region affected by depression.
Conversely, the ayahuasca group maintained neuronal volume similar to the family group, indicating that ayahuasca might mitigate the adverse effects of isolation on neuronal volume. However, the study's authors caution that these findings, while promising, are based on a small sample size and should not be generalized to humans.
The paper, authored by Luiz Roberto Fernandes Pereira and his colleagues, underscores the potential of ayahuasca as a therapeutic agent but also highlights the need for further research to confirm its effects in humans.
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