Improving access to psilocybin-assisted therapy: barriers, challenges, and recommendations.

Psilocybin and the Evolutionary Significance of Altered Neural States: Interaction-Based Perspectives Beyond Deterrence Models

Psilocybin is a psychoactive tryptamine produced by a phylogenetically discontinuous yet ecologically diverse subset of fungi. Despite decades of chemical, pharmacological, and ethnobiological research, the evolutionary forces driving the emergence and persistence of this compound remain insufficiently explained. Recent hypotheses proposing that psilocybin e...

High hopes? Precision psychedelic addiction medicine.

Despite decades of neuroscience research and significant investment in addiction neuroimaging, clinical outcomes for individuals with substance use and behavioural addictions remain poor. Only 1.8% of people with substance use disorders receive effective treatment, highlighting a major disconnect between mechanistic understanding and clinical utility. This p...

A Promise Without Panacea: Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Modern Psychiatry.

Psychedelic-assisted therapies have re-emerged as a subject of increasing scientific and clinical interest in psychiatry, particularly in the context of persistent treatment gaps for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Compounds, including psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethampheta...

Psilocybin-induced alterations in EEG power, connectivity and network dynamics in healthy subjects: Correlations with subjective experience and implications for therapeutic applications.

BackgroundRecent advancements in psychedelic research have highlighted psilocybin's potential therapeutic benefits for various mental disorders. Understanding its effects on brain function and identifying predictors of individual responses are essential for developing effective treatments.MethodsThis double-blind, randomized, crossover, and placebo-controlle...

Design, Synthesis, and Pharmacokinetic Profiling of Fluorinated Reversible N-Alkyl Carbamate Derivatives of Psilocin for Sub-Hallucinogenic Brain Exposure.

Psilocybin, the phosphorylated prodrug of psilocin, holds therapeutic promise across a range of neuropsychiatric conditions, yet its clinical utility is constrained by acute psychoactive effects. Here, we report the rational design, synthesis, and evaluation of a focused library of fluorinated reversible N-alkyl carbamate derivatives of psilocin aimed at red...

Self-medication with psychedelics: a scoping review and narrative synthesis of review-level evidence.

BackgroundAs public and scientific interest in psychedelics grows, unsupervised use for health purposes is increasing. In the U.S., past-year hallucinogen use nearly doubled from 2015 to 2023. Many individuals report self-treating physical or psychological symptoms without medical supervision using psychedelics-a practice termed self-medication. Despite this...

Effects of psilocybin on personality, psychiatric symptoms, and values: Exploring mediating effects of the acute psychedelic experience.

BackgroundChanges in well-being, personality, and personal values have been documented post-psilocybin; however, evidence from placebo-controlled trials is limited.AimsTo examine the effects of psilocybin versus placebo on psychiatric symptoms, personality, and personal values in healthy participants. Potential mediators were also explored.MethodsThis second...

Methodological moderators of psilocybin-assisted therapy in depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention for depression. Though several clinical trials report promising results for PAT in treating depression, there remains a need for consensus on optimal methodologies and standardization of PAT protocols. The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy of PAT in treating depressive symptoms a...

Consistency of protocol and safety data reporting in clinical trial registrations and corresponding publications of interventions involving MDMA and psilocybin.

Objectives3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin are being investigated as potential treatments for psychiatric disorders and have received increasing regulatory and media attention due to the methodological complexities and societal context of psychedelic substances. Therefore, we assessed the consistency of protocol registration and advers...

No evidence of immediate or persistent analgesic effect from a single dose of psilocybin in three mouse models of pain.

The psychedelic psilocybin may have lasting therapeutic effects for patients with chronic pain syndromes. Some preclinical data suggest these putative benefits derive from direct analgesic effects; however, this possibility has not been comprehensively tested in preclinical models. Here, we evaluated the analgesic properties of a single exposure to psilocybi...

Mushroom-Derived Carbon Nanosheets for Efficient Photothermal De-Icing Applications.

The green synthesis of nanomaterials has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional techniques that reduce environmental risks and the production of harmful byproducts. In this work, biomaterial derived from wild mushrooms was used to synthesize psilocybin-derived carbon nanosheets (P-CNSs). The bioactive substance psilocybin serves as a sustainable prec...

Mindset over molecule: comparing self-transcendent and mystical experiences across recreational psilocybin, MDMA, and cannabis use.

BackgroundSelf-transcendent and mystical experiences may be key mechanisms underlying psychedelics' therapeutic effects, yet how these experiences differ across substances remains unclear. This study compared mystical and self-transcendent experiences across psilocybin, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and cannabis in a diverse, community-based samp...

Patient perspectives on research gaps in cluster headache.

ObjectiveThis study was undertaken to identify gaps in cluster headache management, highlight patient-prioritized research needs, and assess patient interest in, and preferences for, clinical trial participation.BackgroundMany people with cluster headache still lack effective treatment options to control or prevent attacks. There is a critical need for more ...

Psilocin mediates long-term synaptic depression in the prelimbic cortex through 5-HT2A receptor-independent mechanisms.

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...

Effects of psilocybin and chronic mild stress on microglial activation in rat spinal cord: an ex vivo analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Psilocybin, a classic serotonergic psychedelic, has antidepressant, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties. However, the immunomodulatory effects of psilocybin within the central nervous system, particularly on microglial activation, remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of psilocybin ...

Insights into psilocybin use among people with bipolar disorder: A thematic analysis of Reddit posts.

Psilocybin has been reported to decrease depression symptoms among individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), but has also been associated with reports of mania, psychosis and increased depression. With increasing recreational use of psilocybin, and the potential for psilocybin to be used as a treatment for depression, a better understanding of the risks and be...

Systematic study of Panaeolus (Agaricales, Galeropsidaceae) sensu lato and psilocybin-producing traits of species from China.

Panaeolus sensu lato is a group of hallucinogenic mushrooms commonly found on dung, in pasture areas, grasslands, and forests. Previous studies indicated that the Panaeolus s.l. clade (panaeo-clade) could be ranked as a family (Galeropsidaceae), pending further evidence. In this study, based on phylogenomic, multigene phylogenetic, molecular clock, and morph...

Early response to psilocybin in adults with treatment-resistant depression as a predictor for antidepressant efficacy.

Insights from the psychedelic experience integration session: Verbatims differentiate 3-month abstinence in alcohol use disorder with depressive symptoms.

BackgroundPsilocybin-assisted psychotherapy shows promise in alcohol use disorder (AUD), but therapeutic mechanisms remain poorly understood. Previous qualitative studies have described potential processes such as gaining insights, altered self-perception, connectedness, and changes in coping, yet findings remain limited and inconsistent in AUD, and little i...