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...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interaction, restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, and sensory processing alterations, frequently accompanied by anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and other psychiatric comorbidities. Despite advances in be...
ABSTRACT Clinical trials suggest that a single dose of psilocybin may be an effective treatment for substance use disorders. Choice impulsivity is a value-based decision-making bias that predicts drug-intake escalation and is commonly associated with substance use disorders. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex regulates choice impulsivity and is enriched with ...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition marked by challenges in social communication and repetitive behaviors. Current treatments, primarily behavioral therapies, often fail to address the core symptoms. Recent research has explored the potential of psychedelics, such as LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA, as a new therapeutic approach. While these sub...
Aging is associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation (“inflammaging”), which contributes to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Conventional pharmacotherapies often provide limited benefit in older adults and are further complicated by polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions. ...
Major depressive disorder remains a leading cause of disability worldwide, and current antidepressants are limited by delayed onset and incomplete response. Building on advances driven by ketamine research, renewed interest has focused on classical serotonergic psychedelics-particularly psilocybin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-DMT, and lysergic ac...
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 are re-emerging as therapeutic candidates across psychiatry, particularly for treatment-resistant depression. Their rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, alongside evidence for neuroplastic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic modulation, have prompted interest in whether they could address depressive and negative symptoms in schi...
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...
Auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs), particularly at 40 Hz, are promising biomarkers for psychiatric disorders involving dysregulated neural synchronization. Although most ASSR studies have focused on the glutamatergic system, the serotonergic system, specifically 5-HT2A receptor signaling, has received limited attention. Psilocin, the active metabolite ...
Abstract Rapid-acting antidepressants like ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics show promise for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but the molecular mechanisms that contribute to their therapeutic effects remain unclear. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offer a platform to model human cortical neurons and investigate drug effects in a human-relev...
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound with potential antidepressant effects. Although it has long been used by humans, primarily for recreational purposes, the molecular mechanisms underlying its actions remain incompletely understood. Here, we examined the acute effects of psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, on excitatory neuro...
Psychedelics are a diverse class of psychoactive compounds that profoundly alter perception, cognition, and emotional states. Recently, classical serotonergic agents, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), along with atypical agents such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) and ibogaine, have attracted renewed attention due to t...
BACKGROUND: The claustrum, a subcortical structure densely expressing 5-hydroxytryptamine 2 A (5-HT2A) receptors, has been implicated in sensory integration, emotional regulation, salience, and attention. Despite its hypothesized involvement in the effects of serotonergic psychedelics, the neurochemical impact of these substances on claustral neurotransmissi...
INTRODUCTION: Sertonergic psychedelics LSD, psilocin and DMT, have been shown to hold a great potential for treatment of various neuropsychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety. Effects of these substances on neuronal activity and plasticity have been demonstrated, however, better understanding of their mech...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) continues to pose a major therapeutic challenge due to its clinical heterogeneity. This chapter looks at the development of antidepressant treatments, starting with early interventions such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Although these treatments t...
Major depressive disorder (MDD), including treatment-resistant depression (TRD), is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder. MDD is associated with severe suffering, burden and large economical costs. Although various conventional antidepressant treatments are available, a large portion of depressed people does not or not adequately respond to the first-line...
IntroductionExtant literature suggests that anhedonia, defined as a loss of the ability to feel pleasure or interest, is subserved by dysregulation of reward processing in the central nervous system. Dextromethorphan (DXM), an uncompetitive N-Methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist and sigma-1 (σ1) receptor agonist, is a glutamatergic modulator with an...
Psychedelics are gaining recognition for their effectiveness as modulators of neuroplasticity in the treatment of a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. Psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, and ketamine are substances that mainly affect the serotonergic and glutamatergic systems. They induce rapid synaptogenesis, dendritic remodeli...
Introduction: Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) affects approximately 30-50% of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who fail to respond to at least two adequate antidepressant trials. This condition presents substantial clinical and functional challenges, and no universally accepted treatment algorithm currently exists. Emerging therapeutic stra...
