November 14, 2024
View or download a transcript of this episode
In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychiatrist and mental health researcher Chuck Raison. Chuck’s work centers on understanding how ancient practices can change our conscious experience. He’s a leader in studying the links between inflammation, stress, and depression, and how meditation and other practices can influence those dynamics. This conversation covers many topics, including:
- ancient practices and conscious experience;
- Tibetan tummo practice;
- the role of inflammation in depression;
- sickness behavior;
- links between stress and inflammation;
- the placebo response;
- psychedelics as a novel treatment for depression;
- investigating the role of memory in transcendent experiences;
- body temperature and emotions;
- and the precious gift of awareness.
Charles (Chuck) Raison, MD, is a Professor of Human Ecology and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also serves as Director of Clinical and Translational Research for Usona Institute, as Director of the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, Director of Research on Spiritual Health for Emory Healthcare and as Visiting Professor in the Center for the Study of Human Health at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Chuck’s research focuses on novel mechanisms involved in the development and treatment of major depression and other stress-related emotional and physical conditions, as well as examining the physical and behavioral effects of compassion training. More recently, he has taken a leadership role in the development of psychedelic medicines as potential treatments for major depression.
Chuck was named one of the world’s most influential researchers by Web of Science for the decade of 2010-2019, and received the Raymond Pearl Award from the Human Biology Association for contributions to our understanding of evolutionary biocultural origins of mental health and illness. He has written two books, most recently The New Mind-Body Science of Depression (2017), and his scientific publications have been cited over 30,000 times. In 2024, Chuck received the Emory University Science on Spiritual Health Torch and Trumpet Award “for a career devoted to the mental and spiritual health of humanity by responding and attending to suffering with a compassionate heart and a keen scientific mind.”
Resources
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Usona Institute
Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center
Emory University Spiritual Health
Emory University Center for the Study of Human Health
- Paper: Co-administration of midazolam and psilocybin: differential effects on subjective quality versus memory of the psychedelic experience. Translational Psychiatry (2024)
- Paper: The antidepressant effect of whole-body hyperthermia is associated with the classical interleukin-6 signaling pathway. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2024)
- Paper: Single-Dose Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder. JAMA (2023)
- Paper: Pathogen-Host Defense in the Evolution of Depression: Insights into Epidemiology, Genetics, Bioregional Differences and Female Preponderance. Neuropsychopharmacology (2017)
- Paper: Whole-Body Hyperthermia for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry (2016)