The pace of psychedelic research continued its acceleration during 2021, culminating in several fascinating and groundbreaking studies. As the year comes to a close, Psychedelic Science Review is acknowledging some of the outstanding research papers of 2021.
This year, the Editor’s Choice Award for the best study on psychedelics and neurochemistry goes to Dr. Lindsay Cameron of the University of California Davis and her research team, which included Dr. John McCorvy and Dr. David Olson.
Published in Nature, Dr. Cameron and her team reported on identifying, engineering, synthesizing and testing a novel compound they named ‘tabernanthalog,’ a non-hallucinogenic analog of the psychedelic compound ibogaine.1 Psychedelic Science Review summarized the study in an article titled, “Researchers Synthesize Novel Compound, Tabernanthalog, a Non-Hallucinogenic Ibogaine Analog.”
The research team found that tabernanthalog is water soluble, non-toxic, and non-hallucinogenic. There is also the added benefit that the compound can be synthesized in a single step. Additional testing found that tabernanthalog “…promoted structural neural plasticity, reduced alcohol- and heroin-seeking behavior, and produced antidepressant-like effects in rodents.”
Barbara E. Bauer, MS
Barb is the former Editor and one of the founders of Psychedelic Science Review. She is currently a contributing writer. Her goal is making accurate and concise psychedelic science research assessable so that researchers and private citizens can make informed decisions.