NEW PILLS FOR THE MIND

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A Talk with

[12.2.03]

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NEW PILLS FOR THE MIND (SAMUEL BARONDES): I'm interested in the ways that chemicals influence mental processes. Most of these chemicals are brain proteins whose structure and expression are controlled by genes. But some of them are simple chemicals such as serotonin and norepinephrine, which transmit signals in the brain, signals that are important for experiencing emotions. These simple chemicals are also of great interest because their actions in the brain are influenced by widely used psychiatric drugs, such as Prozac. It was, in fact, the accidental discovery of several mind-altering drugs in the middle of the 20th century that drew me into research on brain functions and mental illness. The most legendary of these discoveries was made in 1943 by Albert Hoffman, a... Go to conversation

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