The exploration of alternative therapeutics for hard-to-treat mental health disorders has brought into focus an array of psychedelics such as psilocybin, present in ‘magic mushrooms’, and LSD, substances once associated more with counterculture than clinical practice. Alongside ‘atypical’ psychedelics like ketamine and MDMA, these substances are increasingly being recognised for their potential therapeutic attributes.

The Constant Chatter of Neurons

“The brain isn’t like a computer that turns off when it’s not doing a particular task”, explains Alfonso Renart, the senior author of the study published in eLife. “There’s always a kind of background hum, a baseline activity that can sometimes make it seem as if the brain is chattering to itself”. The team’s study lifts the lid on how that baseline activity, the continuous stream of electrical impulses sent by neurons, impacts behaviour and decision-making.

The Champalimaud Foundation has an experimental robot called Wingy, which runs Chat GPT and is expected one day to be able to greet patients who come to its Clinical Centre. But will Wingy replace the people currently in charge of that job?, asked Pedro Garcia da Silva, neuroscientist and Scientific Coordinator at Champalimaud Research, during his talk at the Champalimaud Cancer Nurse Conference, which took place at the Foundation on May 19th.