PSYCHEDELICS, TECHNOLOGY & ELON MUSK’S PIG
By: Chris Davison
Tags: Psychedelics, Elon Musk, Psilocybin, Mental Health, Dmt

A look at how the application of technology to the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy industry could have profound implications, and also the commonality with Elon Musk’s pig and the emerging computer-brain interface industry.

For those following the subject, the use of Psychedelic compounds to enhance the work of Psychotherapists to treat patients suffering from mental health disorders has enormous potential. This is a familiar narrative that can be traced back to the 1960s when LSD (a potent psychedelic) was widely regarded by the medical community as an effective treatment for alcohol addiction.

Unfortunately, for therapists and patients alike, the politically driven classification of LSD and other psychedelics as Schedule 1 drugs by the U.S government in the early 1960s ended all hopes of clinical use within psychotherapy for decades.

But now, not only are we witnessing the re-introduction of Psychedelics into the regulated mental health treatment ecosystem, but the addition of another psychotherapy-enhancing tool that could transform the accessibility and long-term effectiveness of these treatments. Technology.

Recent advancements in software and medical hardware have resulted in a set of psychotherapy tools that were simply not available in the 1960s. The combination of technology and psychedelics, to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy, is not only intriguing but potentially life-changing for millions of patients.

The technology community has always had an affiliation with psychedelic compounds — from LSD’s early introduction to Silicon Valley to enhance the creativity of engineers, to the more recent micro-dosing practices advocated by several high-profile entrepreneurs and developers.

There are now signs of a commercial movement to create the most effective technology products with resources being gathered to push these developments forward. Industry pioneers are now building software as medical devices or ‘Digital Therapeutics’ to work alongside their psychedelic and psychotherapy treatments.

WHAT ARE DIGITAL THERAPEUTICS?

Digital Therapeutics have been commonplace in the life sciences and biotech industry for several years now. The official definition states:

‘Digital Therapeutics is a subset of digital health, are evidence-based therapeutic interventions driven by high-quality software programs to prevent, manage and treat medical disorder or disease’.

According to the FDA/EMA (European Commission), software within this category is classified as a medical device (Class 2). This means they are treated as a physical medical device and therefore must be registered, audited, approved and regulated– similar to the way drugs adhere to regulatory processes, with strict risk management and design controls processes in place throughout the product lifecycle. This makes perfect sense, as any product that has a measurable effect on a patient's physical or mental state should be regulated to ensure safety.

HOW IS THE INDUSTRY REACTING?

Digital Therapeutics specifically designed for the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy industry is on the rise as market leaders start investing heavily in these products.

Mindhealth (recently acquired by Mydecine), a mobile app startup, released their mobile app specifically tailored for the psychedelic industry, allowing remote and virtual therapy sessions with clinicians and tracking emotional states of the patient throughout and in between sessions.

Field Trip Health’s comprehensive digital offering includes an educational tool, preparing patients for clinic visits, and helping educate them in between sessions, digitally replicating a safe and secure environment. These factors are essential for a positive set and setting, normally created by a skilled therapist working within a tailor-made clinical environment.

Popular breathwork and meditation apps like Calm have had phenomenal success globally and the integration of these techniques within digital therapeutics in the psychedelic industry is already on the roadmap.

THE FUTURE

There are several other technology applications that sit outside of the traditional Digital Therapeutics definition, that promise huge potential and can provide a solution to upcoming issues faced by the industry with scalability.

One such potential issue is the length of time an experience can last. In the case of Psilocybin, this can be for 5–7 hours. This may be impractical for many patients and stretch the resources of clinics once the volume of patients increases over time.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques are promising to enable the development of Psilocybin derivatives that result in a shorter experience. Cyclica and Entheogenix are currently working in partnership to do just this, as well as investigating the potential removal of side effects such as nausea experienced by a small, but significant, number of patients.

Augmented and Virtual Reality software for use within psychedelic sessions is already in the works. Soundself, a type of ‘technodelic’ product, claims to alter the state of consciousness through Virtual and Augmented Reality.

With the potential development of future short-acting psychedelics, such as DMT, the time within treatment sessions will need to be utilised as efficiently as possible, with technology providing a vital platform to achieve this and maximise the positive patient outcomes.

INDIVIDUALISED TREATMENTS

Digital Biomarkers (phenomenological traits of a patient) can be measured and then bespoke dosing and treatment regimes determined automatically, suitable for each individual.

The psychedelic compound (e.g. Ketamine vs Psilocybin vs MDMA) most likely to be more effective and tolerable for an individual patient, can be determined ahead of the clinical session.

This is all in addition to the bespoke digital therapeutic treatment regimes that help prepare and bridge the gap between clinic sessions with a therapist.

Looking even further ahead, to virtual worlds — think online gaming giant Fortnite (familiar with the term the Metaverse?). Could VR and psychedelics provide a platform for virtual mental health clinics? In a world where 12 million people signed up for a virtual gig to see Travis Scott perform, anything is possible. This could seem fantastical at this stage, but stranger things have happened already…

ELON MUSK’S PIG

And now we come to Elon Musk’s Pig.

Recently, in a demonstration watched by millions online, Elon Musk the CEO of Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company, demonstrated how individually firing neurons from a Pig were being recorded and measured in a live setting. The hope is to one day, be able to identify and then stimulate individual or groups of neurons to trigger a neuronal chain event that would then result in a physical response or to prevent misfiring neurons, in humans. The potential for the treatment of Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Paralysis and many other neurological disorders, including depression and addiction, is huge.

The excitement around this technology is based upon neurostimulation and neuroplasticity, something that is known to increase in patients during a psychedelic experience. Could there be a merging of these technologies in the future, or even a measurement and investigation into the psychedelic experience on the neuronal level, that could provide profound insights into the mechanics of these compounds?

As investment pours into the industry, digital therapeutics and technology will not only increase the long-term effectiveness of treatment regimes, but also improve accessibility and affordability for many. If the ultimate goal of many of the industry leaders is to treat the 300m+ sufferers of mental health disorders then technology must, and will be, a priority. Watch this space….