Psychedelics as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia

No disease-modifying treatments currently exist for Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. Recent research on psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, along with anecdotal reports of cognitive benefits from micro-dosing, suggests these compounds may have therapeutic potential for psychiatric and neurological conditions by stimulating neurogenesis, provoking neuroplastic changes, and reducing neuroinflammation. This makes them interesting candidates for dementia therapeutics. This mini-review examines the basic science and current clinical evidence for using psychedelics, particularly micro-dosing LSD and psilocybin, to treat dementia, especially early Alzheimer's disease.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Currently, there are no disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or any other dementia subtype. The renaissance in psychedelic research in recent years, in particular studies involving psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), coupled with anecdotal reports of cognitive benefits from micro-dosing, suggests that they may have a therapeutic role in a range of psychiatric and neurological conditions due to their potential to stimulate neurogenesis, provoke neuroplastic changes and reduce neuroinflammation. This inevitably makes them interesting candidates for therapeutics in dementia. This mini-review will look at the basic science and current clinical evidence for the role of psychedelics in treating dementia, especially early AD, with a particular focus on micro-dosing of the classical psychedelics LSD and psilocybin.