Mental disorders represent a major global health problem, with depression being one of the most prevalent and disabling conditions worldwide. Growing evidence suggests that the serotonergic system, particularly the 5-HT2A receptor, plays an important role in modulating mood and cognitive processes, constituting a key pharmacological target for several psycho...
The past decade has seen a huge increase in clinical research with psychedelic drugs and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), which have revealed great potential for treating mental health conditions. Given this progress in research, as well as the current unmet clinical need of millions of patients, in 2023, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administrat...
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocin were once relegated to the fringes of medical research because of their association with counterculture movements and a perceived concern about harm through recreational use, and their consequent legal prohibition in the early 1970s. However, these drugs are now experiencing a renaissance in the field of psychiatry ...
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...
Psychedelics have garnered great attention in recent years as treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression because of their ability to alter consciousness and afflicted cognitive processes with lasting effects. We aimed to characterise how psychedelics are currently being investigated to treat substance use disorders (SUD...
The acute subjective effects of serotonin (5-HT)2A receptor stimulation with psilocybin in humans are mostly positive. However, negative effects such as anxiety, paranoid thinking, or loss of trust towards other people are common effects, depending on the dose administered, the personality traits of the person consuming it (set), or the environment in which ...
The goal of this study is to learn how psilocybin delivered with mindfulness-based therapy may help symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is an assessor-blinded, randomized, controlled study in participants with PTSD. The study will investigate the changes in brain activity, connectivity, and microstructural neuroplasticity assessed using EE...
In the past decade, interest in studying psychedelic compounds as potential therapeutic agents has resurged. These studies carefully exclude individuals at risk for developing psychotic symptoms in response to psychedelic use. Given the potential for psychedelics to be established as treatments in psychiatry, it is important to more robustly understand their...
This study is being conducted to evaluate how of 30 days of intermittently microdosed psilocybin affects mood, cognition, subjective well-being and structural/functional MRI results compared to a placebo. Investigators hypothesize that compared to placebo, 30 days of intermittently microdosed psilocybin will produce observable changes in mood, cognition, sub...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a major clinical challenge and is typically defined as the persistence of depressive symptoms despite at least two adequate antidepressant trials. Individuals with TRD experience substantial morbidity, impaired functioning, and elevated suicide risk, highlighting the need for therapeutic strategies beyond incremen...
Psychedelics have re-emerged as promising therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. While their beneficial effects are largely attributed to serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor activation, psychedelics exhibit substantial diversity in chemical structure, receptor bindin...
This scoping review aims to comprehensively map and synthesize the breadth of evidence from original research on the relationship between psilocybin and health, spanning clinical trials, epidemiological surveys, mechanistic experiments, and cross-sectional attitudinal studies. The review uses 145 references and builds its evidence map from 216 original studi...
Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy and safety of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) for adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: A PROSPERO-registered search (CRD42024561979) of CENTRAL, Scopus, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE (2010-2024) identified clinical trials assessing PAP. Risk of bias was assessed usin...
Psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound in Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, has gained considerable attention for its therapeutic potential. Current research focuses only on isolated psilocybin, neglecting the broader pharmacological and cultural use of the whole mushroom. This perspective advocates for an integrative approach that includes standardised P. c...
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes persistent neurobehavioral deficits and increases the risk of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and cognitive dysfunction linked to disrupted neuroplasticity, neuroinflammation, and serotonergic (5-HT) signaling. No effective pharmacotherapies exist for chronic TBI. Psilocybin, a psychedelic 5-HT2A rece...
A single dose of psilocybin may provide rapid relief for people with major depressive disorder (MDD), with benefits emerging within days and lasting for several weeks, according to a randomized clinical trial published May 15 in JAMA Network Open. Researchers of the study, “Short-Term and Late-Term Effects of Psilocybin on Symptoms in Major Depression: A Ran...
Patients with treatment-resistant depression who received psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy showed clinically meaningful improvement in depressive symptoms relative to placebo, a Phase 2b trial has found. However, the study did not show a significant effect on the primary outcome of treatment response 6 weeks after the first of two doses of psilocybin. Study...
Abstract Background and Aims Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is a novel, transdiagnostic treatment in which the 5-HT2A receptor agonist psilocybin is combined with psychotherapy. Studies to date have evaluated PAP's effects on depression, substance use, and end-of-life adjustment. Relatively less attention has been given to its effects on anxiety sym...
BACKGROUND: Psilocybin is among the serotonergic psychedelics closest to potential FDA approval, with growing evidence of therapeutic benefit across psychiatric conditions. As clinical trials expand, systematic characterization of adverse events (AEs) remains essential. While transient hypertensive responses are well documented, hypotensive events such as ne...
