Psilocybin has shown promise for alleviating symptoms of depression and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN), a condition that is characterised by persistent cognitive inflexibility. Considering that enhanced cognitive flexibility after psilocybin treatment is reported to occur in individuals with depression, it is plaus...
Serotonergic psychedelics have been identified as promising next-generation therapeutic agents in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. While their efficacy has been increasingly validated, the mechanism by which they exert a therapeutic effect is still debated. A popular theoretical account is that excessive 5-HT2a agonism disrupts cortical dynamics,...
Psilocybin has shown promise for alleviating symptoms of depression and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN), a condition that is characterised by persistent cognitive inflexibility. Considering that enhanced cognitive flexibility after psilocybin treatment is reported to occur in individuals with depression, it is plaus...
Serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, have garnered significant attention in recent years for their potential therapeutic effects and unique mechanisms of action. These compounds exert their primary effects through activating serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, found predominantly in cortical regions. By interacting with these receptors, serotonergi...
Psilocybin is a classical psychedelic which has been utilised for healing purposes for millenia. However, with its classification as a Schedule I substance, research into this compound is scarce with few FDA-approved clinical studies. Despite this, profound findings into its antidepressant effects (largely through its action on 5-HT1a receptors) in mental il...
Serotonergic psychedelics induce altered states of consciousness and have shown potential for treating a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and addiction. Yet their modes of action are not fully understood. Here, we provide a novel, synergistic understanding of psychedelics arising from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of three h...
Pathophysiology of depression is related with reduced volume of the hippocampus and amygdala and hypertrophy of the nucleus accumbens. The mechanism of these changes is not well under-stood, but clinical studies have shown that administration of the fast-acting antidepressant keta-mine reversed the decrease in hippocampus and amygdala volume in depressed pat...
Introduction Psilocybin is one of the most extensively studied psychedelic drugs with a broad therapeutic potential. Despite the fact that its psychoactivity is mainly attributed to the agonism at 5-HT2A receptors, it has high binding affinity also to 5-HT2C and 5-HT1A receptors and indirectly modulates the dopaminergic system. Psilocybin and its active meta...
There is increasing interest in the therapeutic potential of psilocybin. In rodents, the serotonin precursor, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and psilocybin induce a characteristic 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR)-mediated head twitch response (HTR), which is correlated with the human psychedelic trip. We examined the role of other serotonergic receptors and the trace ...
4-Phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) is a naturally occurring tertiary amine found in many mushroom species. Psilocybin is a prodrug for 4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocin), which induces psychedelic effects via agonist activity at the serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor (5-HT2A). Several other 4-position ring-substituted tryptamines are pres...
Pharmacotherapy of depression is characterized by the delayed onset of action, chronic treatment requirements, and insufficient effectiveness. Ketamine, with its rapid action and long-lasting effects, represents a breakthrough in the modern pharmacotherapy of depression. The current review summarizes the latest findings on the mechanism of the antidepressant...
Abstract Psilocybin therapy for depression has started to show promise, yet the underlying causal mechanisms are not currently known. Here we leveraged the differential outcome in responders and non-responders to psilocybin (10mg and 25mg, 7 days apart) therapy for depression - to gain new insights into regions and networks implicated in the restoration of h...
Abstract Preliminary clinical findings, supported by preclinical studies employing behavioral paradigms such as marble-burying, suggest that psilocybin may be effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. On this background, we set out to explore 1) the role of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors in the effect of psilocybin on marble-burying; 2) the effect of...
Introduction The 5-HT2A agonist classic psychedelic, psilocybin (O-phosphoryl-4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a tryptophan, indole-based alkaloid present in up to 2% of certain hallucinogenic “magic” mushroom species; typically Psilocybe azurescens, semilanceata, and cyanescens,. In addition, mushrooms may contain psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptam...
The psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor (5HT2AR) agonist psilocybin (or the active metabolite psilocin) has emerged as potential useful drug for various neuropsychiatric diseases, with a rapid onset of therapeutic activity. However, the mechanisms responsible for such effects remain incompletely characterized. We aimed to study in vitro pharmacological profile and i...
There is increasing interest in the therapeutic potential of psilocybin in psychiatric disorders. In common with other serotonergic psychedelics, psilocybin is thought to act via the 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR). Serotonin is the endogenous ligand of 5-HTR. In rodents, the serotonin precursor, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), and psilocybin, induce a characteristic...
Background Preliminary clinical findings, supported by preclinical studies employing behavioral paradigms such as marble-burying, suggest that psilocybin may be effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aims To explore 1) the role of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors in the effect of psilocybin on marble-burying; 2) the effect of staggered versus bolus ...
Psilocybin therapy for depression has started to show promise, yet the underlying causal mechanisms are not currently known. Here we leveraged the differential outcome in responders and non-responders to psilocybin (10mg and 25mg, 7 days apart) therapy for depression - to gain new insights into regions and networks implicated in the restoration of healthy br...
4-phosphorloxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound that is being investigated in clinical studies in conjunction with psychotherapy for treatment of several psychiatric disorders. It is well established that 4-hydroxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (psilocin) is the bioactive metabolite of psilocybin which mediates i...
Effects of serotonin 2A/1A receptor stimulation by psilocybin on mood and emotion processing in major depressive disorder: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the world's greatest contributor to the global burden of disease and MDD affects around 17% of the Swiss population (Tomonaga et al. 2013). It i...
