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...
Currently, the most actively investigated rapidly acting antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or anti PTSD agents, include psychedelics e.g. psilocybin, LSD, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca; non-hallucinogenic entactogens, e.g. MDMA; psychoplastogens which rapidly promote neuroplasticity, e.g. ibogaine, ketamine and esketamine; and other atypicals e.g. dextrom...
This study aims to determine the safety and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in improving alcohol-related outcomes among adults with severe alcohol use disorder in a a double-blind, dose-comparison concurrent control, randomized trial. Participants will undergo structured psychotherapy and will be randomized to two psilocybin session...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental condition in which prenatal stress and long-lasting disruptions of excitatory-inhibitory (E/I) balance have been implicated as key vulnerability factors. Although established pharmacological and behavioral treatments are effective for many individuals, they are not universally ...
The Redefine Study (COMP202) is testing COMP360 to see if it may reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms when administered alongside monitoring and support from a trained study team. COMP360 is a lab-made form of the naturally occurring chemical compound psilocybin.
The integration of psychedelics and music in therapeutic settings is gaining recognition for its potential to enhance mental health outcomes. This review synthesizes current evidence on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this synergy, focusing on receptor-level pathways (e.g., 5-HT2A receptor agonism, BDNF-TrkB signaling) and neural circuit dynamics (...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent social-communication deficits, cognitive rigidity, and atypical sensory processing. Current pharmacological treatments, including risperidone and aripiprazole, provide only limited symptomatic relief and do not address the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Converging evidence implicates dysre...
Disorders of consciousness pose major therapeutic challenges owing to the complexity of underlying brain dysfunctions. Current pharmacological interventions explored in disorders of consciousness target distinct molecular systems, including dopaminergic modulators (amantadine, levodopa, apomorphine, bromocriptine, selegiline, methylphenidate, and modafinil),...
Serotonergic psychedelics have attracted considerable interest as promising therapeutic agents. However, the molecular mechanisms linking their acute hallucinogenic-like effects to longer-lasting neuroplastic responses remain incompletely understood, partly because of the scarcity of native neural models suitable for mechanistic studies. Here, we developed a...
Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to modify synaptic connections and reorganize neural circuits, underpinning cognitive function, emotional regulation, and recovery from injury. Recent advances have redefined adult neuroplasticity as more dynamic and therapeutically accessible than previously thought, spurring investigation into pharmacologi...
Psychedelic compounds, particularly psilocybin, have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic potential for mental health disorders through mechanisms involving structural neural plasticity. This comprehensive review examines recent breakthrough research revealing how psilocybin triggers activity-dependent rewiring of large-scale cortical networks. Using monosyna...
Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed unprecedented insights into how psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, induces therapeutic neural plasticity. This paper reviews groundbreaking research conducted by Cornell University and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which employed genetically modified rabies virus for monosynaptic c...
Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of two administrations of COMP360 in participants with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) This is a phase III, international, multi-centre, randomised, parallel group, fixed repeat dose, double-blind, controlled study. The study population will include participants aged ≥18 years with TRD. Overall, 568 participants are to...
Abstract Recent clinical breakthroughs hold great promise for the application of psilocybin in the treatments of psychological disorders, such as depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psilocybin is a psychedelic whose metabolite, psilocin, is a 5-HT2A receptor agonist. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms for the effects of psilocybin ...
Approximately 15% of pregnant women experience postpartum depression (PPD). Even with currently available antidepressant treatments, many women will continue to be impaired by symptoms. Psychedelic therapy offers a promising transdiagnostic therapeutic strategy for several mental health disorders, and early results from current trials suggest that serotonerg...
Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of a single administration of COMP360 in participants with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) This is a phase III, international, multi-centre, randomised, parallel group, fixed single-dose, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The study population will include participants aged ≥18 years with TRD. Overall, 255 partici...
Classical psychedelics, like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and psilocybin, can alter perception, emotion, and cognition, and have shown promise as 're-purposed' treatments for some psychiatric disorders. Recent trials have, e.g., demonstrated rapid and sustained symptom relief in treatment-resistant depression. While promisi...
Emerging evidence suggests that classical psychedelics may offer therapeutic potential for opioid use disorder (OUD) by alleviating key hallmarks such as altered reward processing and dependence. However, the mechanisms behind these effects remain unclear. Our data demonstrate that a single administration of the psychedelic psilocybin (PSI) reduces condition...
Abstract For many, cognitive and affective health declines through typical aging. Although cognitive and affective symptoms are often studied in isolation, they share substantial overlap, and arise, in part, from common biological processes. Aging is accompanied by diminished neural plasticity, heightened neuroinflammation, and widespread alterations in the ...
BackgroundOver the past ten years, several psychedelic compounds, including tryptamines like lysergic acid diethylamide/LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and dimethyltryptamine/DMT, have been tested in clinical trials for a range of psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and depression. While these compounds are relatively available for treatment, ketamine and it...
