Dr. Cameron, postdoctoral scholar at Stanford, discusses her seminal work characterizing DMT and the non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogen tabernanthalog during her PhD in the David Olson Lab at UC Davis.

To understand how psychedelics work, we use models of the human brain to systematically isolate effects on cells, circuits, and behaviors. These models include animal models – “in vivo,” commonly mice or rats, when behavior is particularly important – and cell cultures of lab-grown neurons – “in vitro,” when the molecular and cellular signaling mechanisms are particularly important. But what’s the point of giving animals and dishes of disembodied neurons psychedelics? After all, it’s unlikely they could “trip” like humans “trip.” How does this translate to the clinic? Ultimately, what even is the point of preclinical research?

In this episode, Stanford postdoctoral fellow Dr. Lindsay Cameron discusses her pioneering work as a doctoral student in the laboratory of Dr. David Olson at UC Davis, where she authored multiple game-changing papers. In two papers, Dr. Cameron characterizes the effects of the short-lasting, but extremely potent psychedelic DMT on behavior and neurophysiology in the rodent model. In 2021, she authored a paper characterizing an analog of the non-classical psychedelic ibogaine developed in the Olson laboratory called tabernanthalog (TBG). This paper is a case-in-point argument for the importance of preclinical research: based on what we know about the effects of the hallucinogenic, cardiotoxic, and anti-addictive drug ibogaine, Dr. Cameron progressively tests their novel compound in increasingly complex models of the brain – from plated cells, to zebrafish, to rodents – to demonstrate the potentially non-hallucinogenic, non-cardiotoxic, yet still anti-addictive properties of TBG. Because of the tests Dr. Cameron and her colleagues ran, we now have reason to think TBG could be a much safer and less costly alternative to plant/fungus derived psychedelics, which nonetheless preserves their neuroplastic and clinically useful properties. TBG is one of the proprietary compounds of Delix Therapeutics.

Dr. Cameron is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of Dr. Robert Malenka and Dr. Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University.

A selection of Dr. Cameron’s publications:

First author:

• Cameron & Olson 2022 “The evolution of the psychedelic revolution.” Neuropsychopharmacology.
• Cameron LP, et al. 2021 “A Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Analog with Therapeutic Potential.” Nature.
• Cameron LP, et al. 2019 “Chronic, Intermittent Microdoses of the Psychedelic N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Produce Positive Effects on Mood and Anxiety in Rodents.” ACS Chemical Neuroscience.
• Cameron LP, et al. 2018 “Effects of N, N-Dimethyltryptamine on Rat Behaviors Relevant to Anxiety and Depression.” ACS Chemical Neuroscience.
• Cameron & Olson, 2018 “Dark Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT).” ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

Other:

• Unger et al. 2020 “Directed Evolution of a Selective and Sensitive Serotonin Sensor via Machine Learning.” Cell.
• Ly et al. 2018 “Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity.” Cell Reports.