Psychedelics & Neurostimulation for Brain Rewiring | Dr. Nolan Williams

About this video

Dr. Nolan Williams, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, joins Huberman to discuss psychedelics and neurostimulation for treating depression and other mood disorders. Dr. Williams’s laboratory combines transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can activate or quiet brain circuits, with treatments including ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and other experimental compounds, and with neuroplasticity and learning protocols. They review each drug’s history, current clinical and legal status and safety profile, and efforts to modify psychedelics to retain antidepressant or anti-trauma effects without hallucinogenic properties. Huberman notes Dr. Williams reports ketamine’s antidepressant effects may not arise from its dissociative effects. In the middle excerpt Dr. Williams offers an evolutionary account of why the brain holds onto unhelpful rules and negatively charged memories, and why psychedelic exposure can allow people to see an old problem in a new way.

Key takeaways

• Dr. Williams combines transcranial magnetic stimulation with psychedelic and other treatments for depression.
• Dr. Williams discusses efforts to keep therapeutic effects while removing hallucinogenic properties.
• Huberman notes Dr. Williams’s view that ketamine’s benefit may not come from dissociation.
• Dr. Williams offers an evolutionary explanation for persistent, unhelpful memories and rules.
• Huberman describes recruitment for Dr. Williams’s Brain Stimulation Laboratory trials.

Episode details: published October 10, 2022 · 410.9K views · 2:48:55 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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