The use of low sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics (“microdosing”) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in laboratory settings might fail to capture t...
The use of psychedelic substances at sub-sensorium 'microdoses', has gained popular academic interest for reported positive effects on wellness and cognition. The present study describes microdosing practices, motivations and mental health among a sample of self-selected microdosers (n = 4050) and non-microdosers (n = 4653) via a mobile application. Psilocyb...
Psilocybin has shown promise for the treatment of mood disorders, which are often accompanied by cognitive dysfunction including cognitive rigidity. Recent studies have proposed neuropsychoplastogenic effects as mechanisms underlying the enduring therapeutic effects of psilocybin. In an open-label study of 24 patients with major depressive disorder, we teste...
During the last two decades, psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as one of the most promising novel treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders. These medicines have also been used in sacred, ritual settings for, in some cases, centuries. Often referred to as entheogens (meaning “creating the divine within”), psychedelic plant ...
Our hominin ancestors inevitably encountered and likely ingested psychedelic mushrooms throughout their evolutionary history. This assertion is supported by current understanding of: early hominins' paleodiet and paleoecology; primate phylogeny of mycophagical and self-medicative behaviors; and the biogeography of psilocybin-containing fungi. These lines of ...
Abstract. After decades of stagnation, research on psychedelic substances (such as lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD], psilocybin, or N,N-dimethyltryptamine [DMT]) has experienced a renaissance over the last 10 years, with various major research programs being conducted across Europe and the United States. This research primarily investigates the potential of ...
Abstract The recently published Imperial College study of a Phase II, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing psilocybin-assisted therapy to a six-week titration of escitalopram for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) should raise concerns for this illness category as a target of early psychedelic research given a goal of FDA approval. There are thr...
Introduction Major depressive disorder is a highly prevalent clinical condition, affecting more than 300 million individuals worldwide. About 1/3 of patients with MDD fail to achieve remission despite treatment with multiple antidepressants and are considered to have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Novel antidepressants with rapid and sustained effects...
Potent psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin are implicated in a multitude of cognitive and perceptual alterations. Through the mediation of serotonergic 5-HT2 receptors, distortion of the self is a common effect of these drugs. The self is usually referred to as an entity comprising physical and psychological attributes that are coherent within our s...
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 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...
BackgroundThe recognition of emotions in facial expressions (REFE) is a core aspect of social cognition. Previous studies with the serotonergic hallucinogens lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin showed that these drugs reduced the recognition of negative (fear) faces in healthy volunteers. This trial assessed the acute and prolonged effects of a single ...
Creativity is an essential cognitive ability linked to all areas of our everyday functioning. Thus, finding a way to enhance it is of broad interest. A large number of anecdotal reports suggest that the consumption of psychedelic drugs can enhance creative thinking; however, scientific evidence is lacking. Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parall...
Introduction Major depressive disorder is a highly prevalent clinical condition, affecting more than 300 million individuals worldwide. About 1/3 of patients with MDD fail to achieve remission despite treatment with multiple antidepressants and are considered to have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Novel antidepressants with rapid and sustained effects...
Patients with major depressive disorder who received two administrations of the psychedelic psilocybin as part of a psychotherapy regimen saw a rapid and lasting improvement in depression symptoms, a randomized open-label trial has found. These findings extend results of research that have suggested antidepressant effects for psilocybin in patients with canc...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has become a health crisis of epidemic proportions in the modern world. One in six individuals in the world is experiencing an episode of major depression in his or her lifetime, and it is estimated that major depression will rank second after cardiac disease as a cause of international medical morbidity by the year 2020. Depr...
Accumulating clinical evidence shows that psychedelic therapy, by synergistically combining psychopharmacology and psychological support, offers a promising transdiagnostic treatment strategy for a range of disorders with restricted and/or maladaptive habitual patterns of emotion, cognition and behavior, notably, depression (MDD), treatment resistant depress...
BackgroundWe draw on both interdisciplinary enhancement substance use research and critical drug studies scholarship to reconceptualise enhancement substance use. Our critical discourse approach illuminates how a variety of substances are positioned as tools for self-improvement. In reconceptualising enhancement substance use, we ask what different substance...
Background: Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic found in “magic mushrooms” with a putative therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. In rodents, psilocybin acutely induces plasticity-related immediate early genes in cortical tissue; however, studies into the effects on subcortical re...
