About 30-50% of patients with advanced illness experience depression, anxiety, or decreased sense of purpose and autonomy. Together, these are called psychological distress. Treatment options such as medication and therapy are available; however, they do not always work and can be time-consuming and expensive. We need treatments that work well, quickly, and ...
The goal of this multi-centre phase I/II open-label, single-arm study is to determine the safety, feasibility, therapeutic dose, and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin microdosing to treat psychological distress among patients with advanced illness. Forty patients will receive psilocybin drug product (1-3mg per day, Mon-Fri) for 4 weeks to be administered vi...
The long-term objective of this project is to characterize how psilocybin affects visual perception and the brain's representation of the visual environment. It is known that psilocybin alters aspects of visual perception, but the underlying brain mechanisms contributing to these effects are poorly understood. The proposed work will address these questions i...
The Psilocybe cubensis mushroom is recognized as the primary source of psilocybin in the Americas, occurring naturally across various regions. This fungus has a long history of use in Mesoamerican rituals due to its capacity to induce altered states of consciousness. The defining characteristic of Psilocybe mushrooms is their psilocybin content. Following in...
Naturally derived psilocybin is widely used, yet its therapeutic potential, pharmacological distinctiveness and regulatory feasibility remain understudied. This review evaluates the potential of naturally derived psilocybin using a six-criterion framework to evaluate: (1) therapeutic benefit, (2) safety and tolerability, (3) pharmacological uniqueness vs. sy...
Abstract Purpose Lifetime MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin use have been associated with lower odds of psychological distress, suicidality, and depressive episodes, but these associations may vary by marginalized identity. Building on minorities' diminished psychedelic returns (MDPR) framework and extending Jones and Nock's race/ethnicity moderation work, this st...
While the adoption of psilocybin-assisted therapy for existential distress offers promising support for patients with life-threatening illnesses, implementing this intervention into palliative care settings presents significant real-world challenges. To examine palliative care stakeholders' knowledge and attitudes regarding psilocybin-assisted therapy, and i...
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...
Recreational drugs affect the cardiovascular system through distinct mechanisms; however, data regarding their cardiovascular impact in the emergency department setting is limited. This study aimed to assess the incidence of cardiovascular effects following recreational drug use in presentations to the emergency department, identify the main drug groups invo...
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...
Microdosing and related low-dose psychoactive practices have become increasingly visible in discussions of mental health, cognition, creativity, emotional regulation, pain, sleep, spirituality, and psychological flexibility. However, the term microdosing is often used as if it referred to a single pharmacological phenomenon. More precisely, it describes a lo...
PurposeThis paper aims to examine evolving practices and discourses surrounding psilocybin mushrooms on an online drug forum. Situating use within hybrid digital and ecological contexts, it traces shifts in user engagement before and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to contextualize localized realities of the contemporary psychedelic renaissance.Design/metho...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Dextromethorphan (DXM), widely used as an over-the-counter antitussive in the United States, exhibits psychoactive effects at supratherapeutic levels that overlap with those of classic and dissociative psychedelics. Reported psychoactive effects have generated interest in DXM as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment-resistant ...
The purpose of this multi-site randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the efficacy and risks of psilocybin for the treatment of depression in U.S. military Veterans with and without (±) concurrent posttraumatic stress disorder. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a serious mental health problem in Veterans, frequently comorbid with post-traumatic str...
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 ...
Background: Understanding the benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) will require scientific attention to the causal interaction between the therapeutic context and process. Measuring what actually happens during PAT in large-scale studies will be an essential component of this work. Objective: We aim to develop and preliminarily evaluate the feasibi...
