Unmet Need
Impairment of neuronal function in adults is challenging to treat. No pharmaceutical interventions have shown promise in restoring cognitive and motor function after acute neurologic injury, as is the case in recovery following transient ischemic attack or stroke. Treatment of neurologic, cognitive, and motor impairment in the mature brain is hindered by limited brain plasticity. Plasticity in early brain development is due in part to open critical periods- developmental epochs that promote proper circuit organization and learning. Critical periods in the mature brain are closed, limiting social or motor learning. Therefore, there is a need to identify pharmacologic agents that can open critical periods to aid in the therapeutic treatment of motor and cognitive impairment.
Value Proposition
· The use of psychedelics in this context expands the druggable landscape for intractable neurologic disorders (e.g., stroke).
· This adjunct therapy could be used in combination with either pharmaceutical intervention or physical therapy to restore neurologic function following impairment.
Technology Description
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a strategy that implements psychedelic therapy to reopen critical periods involved in social reward learning and post-stroke motor learning. Mice given the psychedelic compound MDMA exhibited a greater degree of prosocial behavior following conditioning compared to those that received the psychostimulant cocaine. Moreover, MDMA assisted in the recovery of motor tasks in a mouse model of stroke. These data reveal that adjunct psychedelic therapy enables recovery from developmental or acute neurologic impairment.
Stage of Development
The researchers have conducted translational studies in mouse models to demonstrate the reopening of critical periods and its impact on prosocial behavior and post-stroke motor learning.
Publication
Nardou R, Lewis EM, Rothhaas R, et al. Oxytocin-dependent reopening of a social reward learning critical period with MDMA. Nature (London). 2019;569(7754):116-120. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30944474. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1075-9.
