BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders worldwide. First-line treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have significant limitations, including delayed onset of therapeutic effects and treatment resistance in about 30% of patients. Increasing evidence suggests that acute administration of s...
Background and objective: Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders worldwide and affect all age groups. Current pharmacological treatments, such as selective serotonergic reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) and benzodiazepines, have limitations in terms of adverse effects and efficacy, which highlights the need for alternative therapies....
Objectives: For English, the validated part of Psychedelic Experience Scale (PES48) is a four-factor structure called the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). The other validated part of the PES48 consists of four more factors: two more mystical factors (paradoxicality and connectedness, which together with the MEQ30 form the MEQ40), and two more non-m...
The primary objective of this study is to investigate the safety, feasibility, and tolerability of psilocybin treatment in individuals with functional impairment due to psychiatric symptoms. The secondary objective of this study is to determine whether individuals with functional impairments due to psychiatric symptoms will experience statistically significa...
Introduced in 2014 and revised in 2018, the entropic brain hypothesis has accrued a wealth of supportive evidence. The hypothesis states that- along a dimension of breadth of conscious experience- ‘expansive states’ reliably exhibit increased brain entropy whereas the inverse applies for states of no or reduced consciousness. Examples of expansive states inc...
Introduced in 2014 and revised in 2018, the entropic brain hypothesis has accrued a wealth of supportive evidence. The hypothesis states that- along a dimension of breadth of conscious experience- ‘expansive states’ reliably exhibit increased brain entropy whereas the inverse applies for states of no or reduced consciousness. Examples of expansive states inc...
ObjectiveThe authors critically examine the evidence base for psilocybin administered with psychological support/therapy (PST) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and offer practical recommendations to guide future research endeavors.MethodsPubMed was searched for English-language articles from January 1998 to November 2023, using the search term "psil...
Over a decade after the first edition of "Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction," this chapter revisits the field at a critical juncture, marked by both persistent challenges and emerging opportunities. We reflect on the translational gap that has stalled the development of new treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD), despite decades of promising pr...
BackgroundPeripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are often used as a biomarker for the rapid plasticity-promoting effects of ketamine, psychedelics, and other psychoplastogens in humans. However, studies analyzing peripheral BDNF after psychoplastogen exposure show mixed results. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to test whether the rapi...
The recent review of a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) highlighted epistemological and methodological challenges for evidence assessments. Similar challenges will also be faced in reviews of other compounds in early- and late-stage development, like psi...
The recent review of a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) highlighted epistemological and methodological challenges for evidence assessments. Similar challenges will also be faced in reviews of other compounds in early- and late-stage development, like psi...
The recent review of a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) highlighted epistemological and methodological challenges for evidence assessments. Similar challenges will also be faced in reviews of other compounds in early- and late-stage development, like psi...
Over the past decade there has been a surge in interest in placebo-controlled trials using non-classical 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and classical psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) to treat neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the success and reliability of these trials depend on t...
Background Hallucinogens attract research as alternatives to the commonly used medications to treat major depressive and anxiety disorders. Aims Assess hallucinogens’ efficacy for managing depressive and anxiety symptoms and evaluate their safety profiles. Method In five databases, we searched for randomized controlled trials of hallucinogens targeting depre...
Introduction: Treatment-outcome expectancies are an individual’s beliefs about how a medical or psychological intervention will affect them and others. These response expectancies represent serious potential confounds to clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapies for a variety of conditions because of difficulties associated with blinding psychedelic ...
Introduction: Studies of psychedelic-assisted therapy with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and related substances show clinical promise but inadequately assess side effects. Measuring side effects is challenging because they are not always easily differentiated from treatment effects or disease symptoms and show high heterogeneity, variable duration and impact, and s...
Introduction: Studies of psychedelic-assisted therapy with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and related substances show clinical promise but inadequately assess side effects. Measuring side effects is challenging because they are not always easily differentiated from treatment effects or disease symptoms and show high heterogeneity, variable duration and impact, and s...
Recent years have seen a resurgence in randomized, placebo controlled trials (RCTs) utilizing non-classical psychedelics (e.g. 3,4-methyl enedioxy methamphetamine [MDMA]), and classical psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], and N,N-dimethyltryptamine [DMT/ayahuasca]) in conjunction with assisted therapy (AT) for psychiatric disorde...
To the Editor According to the study protocol, the recently published study by Aaronson et al1 was carried out “to assess effectiveness of 25 mg of psilocybin in [15] patients with treatment-resistant type 2 bipolar depression.” We see 3 concerns.
