Autism, serotonin, dopamine, and a potential role for therapeutic psilocybin

[TBRS1]

I don't know if these are local species or if they've been imported but Australia has a thriving truffle industry.

Truffle Hill: Home of Australia's Finest Black Truffles
Home of Australia’s first black truffle
Yarra Valley Truffles

Home of Australia's... says they're French truffles growing in Tasmania, so it seems somebody's having success.

 

[Outdated]

Home of Australia's... says they're French truffles growing in Tasmania, so it seems somebody's having success.

I didn't bother to look much in to those sites, I chose them purely for their locations - 3 different states. Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. These are 3 vastly different climates so I assume the truffles are being farmed in laboratories.

 

[Mary Terry]

Bad news is that, despite inoculated truffle trees being planted now for over 30 years, they are not producing.

Only the people selling the trees are making any money.

I see lots of cultures being sold for mushrooms that can't be grown.

Culinary truffles are being successfully grown in many states including the Pacific Northwest states of California, Oregon and Washington, and the Southeastern states of North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. The Southeast US is predicted to surpass European truffle production due to climate change in Spain (world's largest producer of truffles), France and Italy where increased dryness is occurring. The southern US is warm and humid, and oaks and loblolly pines are native trees here. Time will tell whether the US will surpass Europe in edible truffle production. It takes many years for a tree to produce truffles on its roots so it is a crop for the most patient of farmers.

There are lesser quality truffles that naturally grow all over the US, probably some on our tree farm in Mississippi, that lack that unique deliciousness of the famous white and black truffles of Europe.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Serotonin, also known as 5-Hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT.

Serotonin receptors are known as 5-HT receptors.

There are several types of 5-HT receptors in the brain. (5-HT2A, 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, and so on)

Psilocin is a 5-HT2A agonist (with a higher affinity for the receptor than endogenous serotonin)

SSRIs are 5-HT1 agonists.

If you want to dig into this, this is a great review from 2022.
Serotonin Receptors as Therapeutic Targets for ASDs
Serotonin Receptors as Therapeutic Targets for Autism Spectrum Disorder Treatment

A plausible explanation for why there is elevated levels of serotonin in the blood and low levels of serotonin in the brain in ASDs
Serotonin transporter availability in adults with autism—a positron emission tomography study - Molecular Psychiatry

Another plausible explanation, and/or additional reason for low levels of serotonin in the brain in ASDs. Genetic variations in a single DNA nucleotide, called a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP. Specific SNPs within the serotonin/5-HT2A gene appear to be associated with ASDs.
Association between autism spectrum disorder and polymorphisms in genes encoding serotine and dopamine receptors - Metabolic Brain Disease

 

[Neonatal RRT]

The serotonin 5-HT2A receptors are found in great density in an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The ACC is a "switchboard" responsible for (1) error detection, (2) conflict monitoring, (3) social evaluation, (4) rumination, (5) reward-based learning, (6) conscious responses, (7) social/emotional pain, (8) anxiety, (9) OCD behaviors, (10) depression, (11) PTSD, and (12) autism behaviors. Anterior cingulate cortex - Wikipedia

If psilocin, having a higher affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor than endogenous serotonin, can occupy those receptors and allow for proper functioning of the ACC, then it may be of great therapeutic value.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Very informative thread,