6 Comments

Oh, my. Prof Dolen shows that, though a psilocybin or MDMA trip lasts 3-6 hours (as we know), they re-open up the critical period for re-learning for 2-3 weeks? If this is true, I think she should be in line for the Nobel Prize. The implications are staggering.

There's a fascinating chapter around Prof Dolen and her work in Rachel Nuwer's book on the history of MDMA, I Feel Love.

And thanks for the link, Ms. Hu, on the overview on critical periods in Cell! Sorry I was so tardy on this article!

Expand full comment

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, and for the link.

Expand full comment

So interesting! Thank you. Octopuses are amazing.

Expand full comment

I would appreciate some further explanation of what the term "critical period" means. Thanks

Expand full comment

Hi Wren — critical periods are windows of time when an organism is primed and ready to learn. For instance, there are critical periods for vision, and among human infants, for learning language. They're also sometimes called "sensitive periods." One could easily teach an entire class on this, so I'm afraid my comment won't be comprehensive, but if you're curious to learn more, this is a good overview: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(07)01519-9.pdf

Expand full comment

Great interview. Very informative. Nice job on that!

Expand full comment