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29

30

TOP: AUGUSTO ZAMBONATO. BOTTOM: DANIEL DOMINGUEZ/CERN

January/February 2018^ DISCOVER^37

Psychedelic Drug Tapped

for PTSD Therapy

❯

A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS is one step closer

to bringing an unexpected drug into the fray

to help treat mental illness: ecstasy.

Psychotherapy that incorporates MDMA,

the primary ingredient of ecstasy, was designated

in August as a Food and Drug Administration

“breakthrough therapy” for severe post-traumatic

stress disorder. In other words, the therapy is on

the fast track toward approval.

“If you were to develop a drug to treat PTSD,

you’d want it to do exactly what MDMA does,” says

Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

(MAPS), which funds and conducts the research.

When patients use MDMA, their memories and

emotions become more vivid. And in this state,

patients experience less fear and anxiety attached to

their memories — enough to begin talking about and

engaging with their trauma under the supervision of

a therapist in a safe environment.

MAPS’ phase 2 trial, which ended in 2016, found

that 68 percent of patients no longer had PTSD

diagnoses. The next clinical trials start in spring

2018. Over 12 weeks, patients will have three daylong
      MDMA-assisted sessions and a dozen 90-minute
      therapy sessions with no drugs.

“It’s known there isn’t a perfect solution for PTSD,”

says Doblin. Various styles of therapy and some

medications can fail for many patients. Time will tell

if MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can change that.

— DEVI SHASTRI

A Charming New Particle

❯

PHYSICISTS HAVE FOUND

hundreds of particles made of

quarks over the years. Protons

and neutrons, for example, are made

from “up” and “down” quarks,

the two most common and

lightest of the six so-called

flavors of quarks. But the

latest particle discovery,

announced at CERN in

July, stands out because

it’s composed of one

up quark and two of an uncommon

quark flavor called charm.

Theories predicted the new particle

— dubbed c+c+ (pronounced ka-sigh-

see-see-plus-plus) — more than 30

years ago, but charm quarks

are rare and about five

times heavier than

up quarks, making

them unlikely particle ingredients.

It took three years of high-energy

data collection to find enough c+c+

particles for physicists to be confident

in the discovery.

The insights into how the two

charm quarks interact will lead to a

better understanding of how these

tiny components of the universe

work together, including new

predictions of exotic particles.

”Up” quark — SYLVIA MORROW

“Charm”

quarks

Meet the new

particle, (^) c+c+.