Psychedelics are having a moment in medicine  but what do we actually know about how they work, and could they help an aging brain? In this episode, Dr. Dani Cabral talks with James Hosobe, a biomedical research analyst with a background in medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, and psychedelic policy, to unpack the science, the hype, and the very real open questions around psychedelic-assisted therapy especially for older adults facing conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

The conversation was sparked by patients and families reaching out after seeing news coverage of a woman with significant cognitive and functional impairment who reportedly improved after psilocybin use. Dr. Dani and James dig into why that single case report can’t tell us what we want it to and what would actually need to happen for psychedelics to become a legitimate tool in brain health.

James Hosobe is a biomedical research analyst with the Arizona Department of Health Services, where his work spans preclinical and clinical research, psychedelic policy, and evidence-based public health. 

How to Find James Hosobe:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hosobe

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5ht2andjames/ 

Resources Mentioned

• Roland Griffiths’ Johns Hopkins research on psychedelic experiences Griffiths, R.R., Richards, W.A., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2006). Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology, 187(3), 268–283. Griffiths, R., Richards, W., Johnson, M., McCann, U., & Jesse, R. (2008). Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 621–632.

• Robin Carhart-Harris’s REBUS model (Relaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics) Carhart-Harris, R.L. & Friston, K.J. (2019). REBUS and the anarchic brain: Toward a unified model of the brain action of psychedelics. Pharmacological Reviews, 71(3), 316–344.

• Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (Penguin Press, 2018)

• Dr. Gül Dölen’s research on the “critical period” (Johns Hopkins / UC Berkeley) — note: corrects the name mentioned in the episode audio, “Ben Gould Dolan,” to Dr. Gül Dölen Nardou, R., Sawyer, E., Song, Y.J., et al., & Dölen, G. (2023). Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period. Nature, 618(7966), 790–798.

• David Olson’s work on non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens (UC Davis) Cameron, L.P., Tombari, R.J., Lu, J., et al., & Olson, D.E. (2021). A non-hallucinogenic psychedelic analogue with therapeutic potential. Nature, 589(7842), 474–479.

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