HWNI member Gül Dölen, professor of neuroscience and psychology, is well known for her lab’s discovery that psychedelics can reopen critical periods for learning in the brain, making the brain more able to change in response to experience. This idea is behind the use of psychedelics, followed by therapy, as a potential treatment for psychiatric disorders such as PTSD.
Dölen’s lab is now exploring whether psychedelics can be used to help restore motor function in stroke patients. On February 9, they launched a clinical trial for stroke patients with motor impairment who are given psychedelics, and then play a video game so their brains can relearn motor skills.
Learn more about the clinical trial, Dölen’s new lab, and her work in octopuses in an article from UC Berkeley Letters & Science.
