Serotonergic Psychedelics—A Revival
This lecture took the participants on a historical walk of the use of serotonergic psychedelics, from the earliest recorded evidence of 6000 years ago, to their listing as scheduled drugs of abuse and to the recent revival of interest in their potent behavioral effects.
Vidita Vaidya described the experimental evidence in animal models that highlight the ability of these agents to potently modulate mood behavior. The talk also discussed the neurocircuits and molecular pathways targeted by these fascinating compounds, speculating on future breakthrough therapies for mood dysfunction.
About the Neuroscientist
Vidita Vaidya received her undergraduate training in Life Science and Biochemistry at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. She obtained her doctoral degree in Neuroscience at Yale University, and after postdoctoral fellowships at the Karolinska Institute and Oxford University, she returned to a faculty position at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. She is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences and the Indian Academy of Sciences. She received the National Bioscientist Award in 2012 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Sciences in 2015. Her research group is interested in understanding the neurocircuitry of emotion, its modulation by life experience, and the alterations in emotional neurocircuitry that underlie complex psychiatric disorders like depression. She is committed to mentorship, equity, and diversity in STEM.
