Psychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges: an empirical codebook

BACKGROUND: Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of consuming very low, sub-hallucinogenic doses of a psychedelic substance, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. According to media reports, microdosing has grown in popularity, yet the scientific literature contains minimal research on this practice. There has been ...

A psilocibina e o seu potencial terapêutico em saúde mental

A psilocibina e um alcaloide agonista serotoninergico, principio ativo dos chamados “cogumelos magicos”, sendo encontrada predominantemente nos cogumelos do genero Psilocybe sp., que tem sido utilizado milenarmente em rituais indigenas religiosos. O efeito psicodelico causado pela psilocibina presente no cogumelo faz com que ele, atualmente, seja usado para ...

Psychedelic drugs-a new era in psychiatry?

This article covers the renaissance of classical psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD plus 3,4-methylene dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA-ecstasy) in psychiatric research. These drugs were used quite extensively before they became prohibited. This ban had little impact on recreational use, but effectively stopped research and clinical treatments, which up ...

The Potential of Psilocybin Administration in Terminal Cancer Patients

psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNE: psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNEPsilocybin is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in more than 200 species of mushrooms. This compound, which was first isolated by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofman in 1959, is the active constituent of psychedelic mushrooms which are thought to have been util...

Disruptive Psychopharmacology

This Viewpoint discusses the potential therapeutic utility of methylenedioxy-methamphetamine and psilocybin and outlines mental health care infrastructures that would need to be put in place should these drugs be approved for treatment.

Psychoactive plant- and mushroom-associated alkaloids from two behavior modifying cicada pathogens

Entomopathogenic fungi routinely kill their hosts before releasing infectious spores, but a few species keep insects alive while sporulating, which enhances dispersal. Transcriptomics- and metabolomics-based studies of entomopathogens with post-mortem dissemination from their parasitized hosts have unraveled infection processes and host responses. However, t...

Spectral signatures of serotonergic psychedelics and glutamatergic dissociatives

Replication and extension of a model predicting response to psilocybin

Faces of HPPD: Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder Patient Survey Results and a Descriptive Analysis of Patient Demographics, Medical Background, Drug Use History, Symptoms, and Treatments

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to obtain patient information across a wide geography about medical history, drug use, symptoms, and treatments of individuals diagnosed with hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD). Methods: The study was an internet survey that yielded 26 HPPD patients from North America (81%), Europe (12%), and So...

Entheogens in Christian art: Wasson, Allegro, and the Psychedelic Gospels

In light of new historical evidence regarding ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson’s correspondence with art historian Erwin Panofsky, this article provides an in-depth analysis of the presence of entheogenic mushroom images in Christian art within the context of the controversy between Wasson and philologist John Marco Allegro over the identification of a Garde...

Introduction: Evidence for entheogen use in prehistory and world religions

This introduction to the special issue reviews research that supports the hypothesis that psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, were central features in the development of religion. The greater response of the human serotonergic system to psychedelics than is the case for chimpanzees’ serotonergic receptors indicates that these substances were environmental...

Enzymatic Route toward 6-Methylated Baeocystin and Psilocybin

Psilocybin and its direct precursor baeocystin are indole alkaloids of psychotropic Psilocybe mushrooms. The pharmaceutical interest in psilocybin as a treatment option against depression and anxiety is currently being investigated in advanced clinical trials. Here, we report a biocatalytic route to synthesize 6-methylated psilocybin and baeocystin from 4-hy...

Bis(4-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptammonium) fumarate: a new crystalline form of psilacetin, an alternative to psilocybin as a psilocin prodrug

The title compound (systematic name: bis{2-[4-(acetyloxy)-1 H -indol-3-yl]ethan-1-aminium} but-2-enedioate), 2C 14 H19 N2 O2 + ·C4 H2 O4 2−, has a single protonated psilacetin cation and one half of a fumarate dianion in the asymmetric unit. There are N-H...O hydrogen bonds between the ammonium H atoms and the fumarate O atoms, as well as N-H...O hydrogen bo...

Motives and Side-Effects of Microdosing With Psychedelics Among Users

BACKGROUND: Microdosing with psychedelics has gained considerable media attention where it is portrayed as a performance enhancer, especially popular on the work floor. While reports are in general positive, scientific evidence about potential negative effects is lacking aside from the prevalence and motives for use. The present study addressed this gap by s...

Psychedelic-assisted therapies: The past, and the need to move forward responsibly

Evolving Issues in the Treatment of Depression

This Viewpoint discusses recent evidence documenting benefits of nonpharmacological and drug therapies for major depressive disorder including exercise, Mediterranean diet and structured dietary support, ketamine and esketamine, anti-inflammatory drugs, brexanolone, and psilocybin.

Dynamical exploration of the repertoire of brain networks at rest is modulated by psilocybin

Sacred Plants and Mental Health in Latin America

Abstract Sacred plants have a number of phenomena that revolve around their ritual and medicinal use, as well as being seen as carrying a bond with the sphere of the sacred. México is the country that has the greatest diversity of sacred plants in the Americas because its indigenous groups have a magical-religious relationship with them. In the beginning of ...

Psilocybin lacks antidepressant-like effect in the Flinders Sensitive Line rat

OBJECTIVE: Psilocybin is a serotonin receptor agonist with a therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression and other psychiatric illnesses. We investigated whether the administration of psilocybin had an antidepressant-like effect in a rat model of depression. METHODS: Using the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat model of depression, we assessed th...

Central (neurogenic) diabetes insipidus: A case report