 Many people don't realize that depression is actually one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and about a third of patients don't respond to current treatments. Mind altering drugs are already being used in the clinic. Ketamine is being prescribed off-labeled to treat depression and MDMA is entering phase three clinical trials to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It's pretty obvious to me that it's important for us to understand exactly how these drugs are affecting the nervous system. One of the hallmarks of depression and anxiety disorders is the atrophy of neurons in a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which tends to regulate fear and reward. Now a potential strategy for treating these diseases would be to use plasticity promoting molecules to promote the growth of these critical neurons. Some people think that treatment with a psychedelic drug is a lot like hitting the brain's reset button. Others think that these drugs facilitate psychotherapy by promoting an introspective state. What our group has found is that these drugs actually impact the structure of neurons. We think that psychedelic compounds and other plasticity promoting molecules that we refer to as psychopathogens can actually be used to rewire the brain into fixed pathological circuits. I think that these compounds offer the fastest path to finding effective therapies for these debilitating diseases, but eventually I see them being replaced by better next generation compounds that lack a lot of these side effects. The ultimate goal is to help people with mood and anxiety disorders. I think we need to use all of the tools in our arsenal, including psychedelics, to find a solution to this problem.