Psilocybin and psilocin research index

Assessing the effects of methodological differences on outcomes in the use of psychedelics in the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BackgroundClassical psychedelics are a group of drugs which act as agonists on the serotonin-2A (5-HT2A) receptor. Evidence suggests they may have a uniquely rapid and enduring positive effect on mood. However, marked heterogeneity between methodological designs in this emerging field remains a significant concern.AimsTo determine how differences in the type...

Psychedelics: A new era of treatment?

Introduction Psychedelics - including LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), psilocybin, DMT (N, N-dimethyltryptamine), ayahuasca and mescaline - have an ancient history across various civilizations. In 1950, after LSD’s discovery by Hofmann, psychedelics enjoyed a short-lived relationship with psychiatry, before prohibitive legislature emerging in response to th...

What can we learn from the history of research on psychedelic drugs in the addictions?

The history of research on the use of psychedelic drugs to treat alcohol dependence in the 1950s and 1960s suggests the need for caution in their proposed clinical use. Since 2006 there has been a revival of interest in using psychedelics to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorders [1] and the addictions [2]. What lessons may we glean from resear...

Pharmacologic Similarities and Differences Among Hallucinogens.

Hallucinogens constitute a unique class of substances that cause changes in the user's thoughts, perceptions, and mood through various mechanisms of action. Although the serotonergic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine have been termed the classical hallucinogens, many hallucinogens elicit their actions th...

Psilocybin for Treating Psychiatric Disorders: Is it a Psychonaut Legend or a Promising Therapeutic Perspective?

Psychedelics extracted by plants have been used in religious, spiritual and mystic practices for millennia. In 1957, Dr. Hofmann have identified and synthesized the prodrug psilocybin, a substance present in more than 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms. Although the limitations related to the scientific design of many studies, clinical observations perform...

Psychedelic Assisted Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder: A Review

Psychedelic substances such as psilocybin and ketamine may represent the future of antidepressant treatment, due to their rapid and prolonged effects on mood and cognition. The current body of psychedelic research has focused on administration and treatment within a psychiatric context. Here, instead, we put to the test the contention that it is necessary to...

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, or Substance Use Disorders

Hallucinogens include many different drugs, which are often called “psychedelic” drugs. The US National Institute on Drug Abuse categorizes these drugs into 2 categories: classic hallucinogens and dissociative drugs. Both types of psychedelics can lead to hallucinations - sensations and images that seem real although they are imaginary. In addition, an indiv...

The need for publicly funded research on therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs

A psychedelic drug is one that “produces thought, mood and perceptual changes otherwise rarely experienced except in dreams, contemplative and religious exaltation, flashes of vivid involuntary memory, and acute psychosis”1. It does so “without causing physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation or amnesia”1. The “...

An episode of mania following self-reported ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms in a woman previously not diagnosed with bipolar disorder: A case report.

The Use of Classic Hallucinogens/Psychedelics in a Therapeutic Context: Healthcare Policy Opportunities and Challenges.

Psychedelics or serotonergic hallucinogens are a group of substances that share the agonism of serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors as their main mechanism of action. Its main effects include changes in perception, cognitive process, and mood. Despite being used for centuries by different cultures in ritual contexts, these substances have currently aroused the inte...

Optimal dosing for psilocybin pharmacotherapy: Considering weight-adjusted and fixed dosing approaches.

BackgroundGrowing evidence suggests psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic, is a safe and promising pharmacotherapy for treatment of mood and substance use disorders when administered as part of a structured intervention. In most trials to date, psilocybin dose has been administered on a weight-adjusted basis rather than the more convenient procedure ...

Classical Psychedelics as Therapeutics in Psychiatry - Current Clinical Evidence and Potential Therapeutic Mechanisms in Substance Use and Mood Disorders.

Classical psychedelics, primarily psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), have been used and extensively studied in Western medicine as part of substance-assisted psychotherapy in the 1950s and 1960s. Modern clinical research is currently gaining momentum and provides new evidence for the safety and efficacy of classical psychedelics (primarily psil...

Classic serotonergic psychedelics for mood and depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis of mood disorder patients and healthy participants.

RationaleMajor depressive disorder is one of the leading global causes of disability, for which the classic serotonergic psychedelics have recently reemerged as a potential therapeutic treatment option.ObjectiveWe present the first meta-analytic review evaluating the clinical effects of classic serotonergic psychedelics vs placebo for mood state and symptoms...

Effects of Serotonin Transporter Inhibition on the Subjective Response to Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects

Psilocybin is a classic serotonergic hallucinogen acting on the 5-HT2A receptor. It is used recreationally and in psychiatric research. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like escitalopram are first-line treatments for depression. They inhibit the serotonin transporter (SERT). This might cause a possible downregulation of postsynaptic 5-HT recep...

[Ketamine, psilocybin, and rapid acting antidepressant: new promise for psychiatry?]

The hypothesis of monoaminergic deficiency has long dominated the conceptual framework for the development of new antidepressant strategies, but the limits of conventional antidepressant treatments targeting monoaminergic signaling have motivated the search for new antidepressant pathways. The success of ketamine in the management of depressive disorders has...

Psilocybin Can Diminish Depression

A potential role for psilocybin in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract The recent revivification of interest in the therapeutic use of psychedelics has had a particular focus on mood disorders and addiction, although there is reason to think these drugs may be effective more widely. After outlining pertinent aspects of psilocybin and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the current review summarizes the evidence indica...

Psychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research Needed

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessPsychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research NeededNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Apr 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.4a14AbstractAPA’s Work Group on Biomarkers and Novel Treatments suggests that psychede...

Can Psychedelics Radically Change SUD Treatment?

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessCan Psychedelics Radically Change SUD Treatment?Katie O'ConnorKatie O'ConnorPublished Online:20 Mar 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.2a12AbstractThough the field is young, psychedelics appear to hold promise as a treatment for addiction, even as barriers to research...

Psychedelics and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy.

ObjectiveThe authors provide an evidenced-based summary of the literature on the clinical application of psychedelic drugs in psychiatric disorders.MethodsSearches of PubMed and PsycINFO via Ovid were conducted for articles in English, in peer-reviewed journals, reporting on "psilocybin," "lysergic acid diethylamide," "LSD," "ayahuasca," "3,4-methylenedioxym...