The therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances, particularly psilocybin, for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has garnered considerable attention. However, the necessity of subjective psychedelic experiences for therapeutic efficacy remains unclear, creating a critical gap in the field. To determine whether subjective psychedelic experiences induced...
BACKGROUND: Recent regulatory changes in Australia have approved 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. However, limited data exists on Australian mental healthcare providers' attitudes, knowledge and readiness to implement with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. METHO...
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant global health challenge, with limited effective treatments for its acute and chronic consequences. TBI is characterized by neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, impaired neuroplasticity, imbalances in neurotransmission, and cell death - factors that contribute to the development of neurological and psychiatric dis...
The influence of ovarian hormone fluctuations on neurochemistry, cognition, and psychological responses remains insufficiently examined in current psychedelic research and clinical protocols. Traditional practices and case studies underscore the importance of accounting for these factors in investigations of psychedelic effects. This opinion paper explores t...
Background: Although classic psychedelic trials show therapeutic potential, the limited diversity of participants raises concerns about generalizability and safety. Aims: This study assesses the representation of race, ethnicity, and sex in interventional clinical trials of psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to evaluate disparities in participan...
Psychedelics have been studied since the 1950s as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), with over a dozen clinical trials of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and several contemporary trials of psilocybin and ayahuasca for this indication. Herein, we characterize foundational studies from the 1950s to the present, with emphasis on key design ...
Major depressive disorder is a debilitating condition, with many patients unresponsive to conventional monoaminergic antidepressants. Rapid-acting antidepressants such as ketamine and psilocybin offer promising alternatives, relieving symptoms within hours. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, and psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic primarily targeting ...
Conventional antidepressants show moderate efficacy in treating major depressive disorder. Psychedelic-assisted therapy holds promise, yet individual responses vary, underscoring the need for predictive tools to guide treatment selection. Here, we present graphTRIP (graph-based Treatment Response Interpretability and Prediction) - a geometric deep learning a...
BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. A large proportion of patients fail to respond to first-line treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or clomipramine. Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin, a serotonin receptor agonist, might be efficacious. We ...
Recent research with classic psychedelics suggests significant therapeutic potential, particularly for neuropsychiatric disorders. A mediating influence behind symptom resolution is thought to be the personal insight - at times, bordering on the mystical - one acquires during the acute phase of a psychedelic session. Indeed, current clinical trials have foun...
Both psychotherapeutic interventions and pharmacological agents have demonstrated limited efficacy in the treatment of personality disorders (PDs). Emerging evidence suggests that psychedelic therapy, already showing promise in treating various psychiatric conditions commonly comorbid with PDs, may exert therapeutic effects by promoting adaptive changes in p...
ImportancePsilocybin has demonstrated rapid and sustained antidepressant efficacy, with acute-phase effect sizes often more than double those for conventional antidepressants. However, concerns have been raised that high rates of functional unblinding in combination with trial participants with positive expectations of psychedelic use might bias treatment ou...
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder marked by motor symptoms due to dopaminergic degeneration and non-motor symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment, which significantly affect patients' quality of life. Traditional dopaminergic therapies address motor symptoms but offer limited efficacy for neuropsychia...
BackgroundDespite a limited evidence base to inform clinicians, Australia has adopted a national approach in rescheduling psilocybin and MDMA as clinical therapies for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively.PurposeThis paper explores clinical research domains warranting further investigation through outli...
The coronavirus variant (causing the COVID-19 disease) that led to a pandemic sent global shockwaves, resulting in long-term effects on physical, mental, and social well-being and impacting both individuals and communities. With the pandemic's notable impact on mental health, one such potential treatment discussed in recent literature is psilocybin. Psilocyb...
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) constitutes a novel treatment paradigm in mental health care practice that is currently being evaluated for its clinical efficacy and safety. Insight into the attitudes of clinicians toward PAP remains crucial for its successful integration into mental health care. This cross-sectional survey explores the attitudes of...
In this study, we provide the first study to integrate molecular and functional neuroimaging during psychedelic drug effects in humans. Using simultaneous PET-MRI technology, we describe multiple brain actions of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in healthy volunteers. We quantify the occupancy of LSD at cerebral serotonin 2A receptors and show that LSD incre...
ABSTRACT Joshua Falcon's comprehensive synthesis, “Anthropology of Psychedelics,” significantly addresses gaps in psychedelic anthropology, particularly urban practices in the Global North and decolonial considerations. This commentary expands upon Falcon's work by incorporating recent clinical studies and sociocultural analyses that reinforce his proposed d...
Professor Stephen Ross is a prominent faculty member in the Departments of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine who has transformed the landscape of psychedelic research since 2006. In this Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Ross reveals how as co-director of the NYU Langone Center for Psychede...
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated trauma and stressor-related disorders are common and debilitating, presenting significant treatment challenges due to their complex interplay of biological, cognitive, affective, somatic and social factors. Current treatments, while advancing and effective, yield limited efficacy for many individuals, unde...