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LSD may offer viable treatment for certain mental disorders
McGill study a step in understanding the mechanism of psychedelics’ impact on brain and potential for therapeutic use
Researchers from McGill University have discovered, for the first time, one of the possible mechanisms that contributes to the ability of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to increase social interaction. The findings, which could help unlock potential therapeutic applications in treating certain psychiatric diseases, including anxiety and alcohol use disorders, are published in the journal PNAS.
Psychedelic drugs, including LSD, were popular in the 1970s and have been gaining popularity over the past decade, with reports of young professionals claiming to regularly take small non-hallucinogenic micro-doses of LSD to boost their productivity and creativity and to increase their empathy. The mechanism of action of LSD on the brain, however, has remained a mystery.
Melissa Shin
Joseph Bakish began his career as a financial advisor in 2005 as a fresh graduate of Montreal’s McGill University, sporting braces, a $200 suit and scuffed shoes.
“I still have the suit and shoes, but lost the braces,” joked Bakish, who is now portfolio manager and director of wealth management with Bakish Wealth (a unit of Richardson Wealth Ltd.) in Pointe-Claire, Que.
Bakish, 38, received the 2020 Top Under 40 Award from the Investment Industry Association of Canada in December after being nominated for the accolade in each of the three preceding years. (
Investment Executive sponsors the Top Under 40 award.)
Bakish’s first advisor job was at Investors Group Inc., where his older brother, Nick who was nominated for the Top Under 40 award in 2015 and 2016 was a branch manager. The brothers teamed up in 2010 and moved their practice to Richardson Wealth in 2015. Bakish acquired his elder brother’s book in 2020, and Nick became Bakish Wealth’s relatio
The findings could rapidly influence global public health policy for testing strategies.
“Previous studies on the performance of saliva tests showed mixed results, but most of them compared saliva tests to the standard nasal swab test, as if it was a perfect test,” says Guillaume Butler-Laporte, a microbiologist and fellow in infectious diseases, with a background in mathematics and statistics at McGill University. “Interestingly, there are no perfect tests for COVID-19.”
Using statistical methods for the evaluation of diagnostic tests in the absence of a perfect reference standard, the researchers performed a systematic review of 16 studies comparing the two types of tests (n = 5922 patients).
Quebec pins all its hopes on the vaccine, but experts say action is needed on multiple fronts
The province s pandemic exit strategy leans heavily on mass vaccination, but experts argue there s a need for bold action to curb transmission. It doesn t appear to be forthcoming.
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