Psilocybin has been shown to induce fast and sustained symptoms improvements across various psychiatric conditions, yet its long-term mechanisms of action are not fully understood. Initial evidence suggests that longitudinal functional and structural brain changes implicate fronto-striatal-thalamic (FST) circuitry, a broad system involved in goal-directed be...
A central challenge in neuroscience is understanding how the human brain is organised to support optimal functioning and adaptability. One approach to characterise complex brain dynamics is by artificially perturbing whole-brain models. Here, we asked whether whole-brain organisation under perturbation in major depressive disorder (MDD) changes after interve...
Abstract Rationale: Major depressive disorder (MDD) shows marked sex differences in prevalence, symptomatology, and treatment response. However, women remain underrepresented in many clinical trials, and sex-specific treatment outcomes are rarely examined. Objectives This study reanalyzed data from a randomized controlled trial comparing psilocybin and escit...
In recent decades, the psychedelic psilocybin has been studied as a potential treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), offering an alternative to traditional antidepressants. However, the brain changes underlying the clinical effects of different interventions remain unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of psilocybin and a conventional antidepres...
Psychedelics have robust effects on acute brain function and long-term behavior but whether they also cause enduring functional and anatomical brain changes is largely unknown. In an exploratory, placebo-controlled, within-subjects, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study in 28 healthy, entirely psychedelic-naive participants...
BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that psychedelics may, under certain conditions, decrease authoritarian attitudes, but larger and more rigorously designed studies are needed to confirm these findings. AIMS: We aimed to examine the effects of psychedelic use on authoritarian attitudes. METHODS: Using data from three separate studies with different desi...
Upwards of 50% of people do not respond to the primary treatment modalities for major depressive disorder (MDD), which has led to increased attention and use of alternative methods, including exercise and psychedelics. While interventions using either exercise or psychedelics have demonstrated largely positive results in isolation, their synergistic potentia...
Recent clinical trial data suggests that ratings on depression scales are lowered after psilocybin therapy compared to placebo, though it is unclear what neuropsychological mechanisms underpin these effects. This study compared psilocybin, with an established antidepressant, escitalopram, to investigate whether there are shared or distinct effects on emotion...
Serotonergic psychedelics and 3,4-methylendioxtmethamphetamine (MDMA) are promising treatments for mental disorders with a continuously evolving evidence base. We searched Pubmed/Scopus/clinical trial registries up to 08july2025 for double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing MDMA or serotonergic psychedelics in patients with mental disorders. P...
Psychedelics are undergoing a clinical research renaissance, with compounds such as psilocybin advancing to Phase 3 trials for treatment-resistant depression and receiving fast-track or breakthrough designations from regulatory agencies. Despite this progress, the field lacks standardized terminology to guide clinical development, dosing, safety monitoring, ...
Abstract Background: Psychedelics can acutely induce mystical experiences and elevated positive mood, which may contribute to the potential benefits of psychedelic therapy. However, there remains limited understanding of the occurrence and importance of specific positive emotional experiences within psychedelic therapy. Therefore, we examined the effects of ...
Introduction: Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, has shown therapeutic potential in treating mental health disorders by, amongst the many effects, promoting neuroplasticity and reorganising functional connectivity across cortical and subcortical networks involved in emotion and cognition. Veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) often experience chr...
Conventional antidepressants show moderate efficacy in treating major depressive disorder. Psychedelic-assisted therapy holds promise, yet individual responses vary, underscoring the need for predictive tools to guide treatment selection. Here, we present graphTRIP (graph-based Treatment Response Interpretability and Prediction) - a geometric deep learning a...
BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. A large proportion of patients fail to respond to first-line treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or clomipramine. Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin, a serotonin receptor agonist, might be efficacious. We ...
BACKGROUND: Military veterans are at risk of various mental health conditions, with profound implications for post-deployment quality of life. Current treatment options encounter high dropout rates and non-responsiveness, and overlook the importance of community building in veterans' holistic recovery. Preliminary research suggests psychedelics offer therape...
Introduction: Psychedelics, such as psilocybin, are increasingly recognized for their propensity to elicit powerful subjective experiences that carry personal meaning. While research has demonstrated the capacity for these compounds to promote psychological wellbeing, it has yet to be shown to what extent they modulate "meaning in life", a specific contribut...
