Indigenous Amazonian tribes used mood-altering compounds for centuries before modern medicine discovered antidepressants

Rocket fuel's toxic component, hydrazine, led to the discovery of a compound that unexpectedly improved patients' moods. This compound, iproniazid, was found to inhibit monoamine oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down mood-regulating neurotransmitters. This discovery paved the way for antidepressants. Indigenous Amazonian tribes unknowingly used similar compounds in ayahuasca, a brew containing DMT and MAO inhibitors, for centuries.