NIDA Funding Research On Effects Of Psychedelics On Addiction

Written by: MADELINE FERGUSON

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) plans to provide $1.5 million in funding in order to research how psychedelics can help treat addiction.

NIDA is currently seeking proposals from researchers for studies relevant to the subject. They will award four bids with funding beginning in 2024. Both nonprofit and for-profit businesses are able to submit proposals along with Universities and government agencies.

“While broad theoretical frameworks for the mechanisms of psychedelic-induced neurobiological and behavioral changes have been recently posited, empirical tests and refinements of these overarching theoretical frameworks are necessary to move the field forward,” NIDA said in a notice for one of the clinical trial opportunities.

The research wants to look at how, why and if the use of psychedelics like psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and ayahuasca has an impact on treating addictions.

“There is insufficient data available on the biological mechanisms by which psychedelics affect brain function and there is a need for understanding which of their multiple targets are important for therapeutic efficacy and which are responsible for adverse effects, if any,” the research proposal states.

The federal agency listed some questions they would like to find answers to based on the research, some of the most intriguing questions include:

What, if any, core changes to neurobiology do these compounds facilitate that account for their wide-ranging clinical potential?

What are the roles of psychedelic compounds in altering the dynamics of large-scale brain networks and specific circuits?

How do the underlying network connectivity and task evoked activation scale with and/or predict the magnitude and duration of the observed effects of psychedelics?

Now, to be clear, emerging research on the topic of the use of psychedelics in the treatment of many mental health conditions, including addiction, already exists. This new money intends to further that research and make this treatment more usable and accepted by answering the more profound questions and filling in some of the “knowledge gaps” about how exactly the compounds work when it comes to the biology and chemical makeups of these substances.

Many people can share anecdotal stories of psilocybin trips helping them break free of addiction or ayahuasca ceremonies helping them recover from trauma they didn’t realize was fueling addictive behaviors and now those widespread stories of healing are finally being studied which can help make these medicines more widely available for those in need of healing.