Deep connections drive psychedelic research

Astronomers rarely attempt space travel. Marine biologists are not necessarily certified SCUBA divers.

Yet Alex Kwan is often asked if he takes psychedelic drugs.

"There is a sector of people who feel strongly that, as researcher in this topic, you should have the subjective experience and try some of the compounds," said Kwan, Ph.D. '09, professor of biomedical engineering in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering and a driving force in Cornell's growing multidisciplinary investigation into the relationship between psychedelics and the brain. "There are other people who think that could cloud your judgment. So there are arguments on both sides. But it's not something I've tried myself."

From Timothy Leary's provocative experiments with LSD to the CIA's infamous MKUltra program, the early attempts to research psychedelic drugs were not exactly models of scientific rigor. But as hallucinogens gain more support from the medical community as a potential treatment for severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder - and with the U.S. government relaxing its regulatory constraints - there remains a vast gap in understanding how the drugs work on the brain.

In recent years, Kwan and other Cornell researchers have made crucial discoveries about the basic neurobiology and mechanics behind psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin. They've shown how psychedelics rewire the brain's neural pathways and affect its blood flow, how the compounds influence animal behavior, and have developed minimally invasive electrodes that record long-term changes in neural activity in mice - and potentially humans.

"There's a lot of excitement about using psychedelics in our society, but our actual understanding of the drug remains quite poor," Kwan said. "The promise is so great, but the thing that I strive for, and what Cornell can contribute, is the basic understanding of the science. We need to fill in the rigor that should be there to balance the promise and the excitement."