Mice on Magic Mushrooms
What can twitching mice reveal about the human brain?
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (dts.podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
How do you know if a mouse is on a psychedelic? It might just shake its head. This behavior, known as the head-twitch response, signals whether a molecule is a psychedelic-like hallucinogen. Head twitch is one tool used by pharmaceutical companies racing to develop new mental health drugs. But does a mouse experience an altered state like a human? Do animals have mystical experiences? And what can we really learn about the brain, or even human consciousness, from these unwitting rodent psychonauts?
For a transcript of this episode, please visit this link.