In the past decade, interest in studying psychedelic compounds as potential therapeutic agents has resurged. These studies carefully exclude individuals at risk for developing psychotic symptoms in response to psychedelic use. Given the potential for psychedelics to be established as treatments in psychiatry, it is important to more robustly understand their...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are prevalent and debilitating conditions. Over 50% of patients have inadequate response to first-line serotonergic antidepressants and are left with suboptimal treatment options. Rapid-acting and individually tailored treatments for MDD remain major unmet needs. This review discusses p...
This study is being conducted to evaluate how of 30 days of intermittently microdosed psilocybin affects mood, cognition, subjective well-being and structural/functional MRI results compared to a placebo. Investigators hypothesize that compared to placebo, 30 days of intermittently microdosed psilocybin will produce observable changes in mood, cognition, sub...
The PEARL-C1 trial is a phase II open-label trial. Participants will receive a single high-dose (25 mg) of psilocybin in the context of Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) therapy. Caregivers of patients with advanced cancer often experience high levels of distress but there is currently little evidence-based guidance on how to...
BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders worldwide. First-line treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have significant limitations, including delayed onset of therapeutic effects and treatment resistance in about 30% of patients. Increasing evidence suggests that acute administration of s...
This phase II trial studies whether psilocybin with psychotherapy is safe and if it works for improving chronic pain in cancer patients who require opioids to manage their pain. Psilocybin is taken from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Psilocybin acts on the brain to cause hallucinations (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touches that a person believes to b...
The proposed open-label, controlled study at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) will test the following primary hypotheses in adult patients with chronic PTSD who are currently taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor: psilocybin therapy will be feasible and safe for participants, significantly remediate PTSD symptoms, an...
The PEARL Pilot is a phase II open-label trial. Participants will receive a single high-dose (25 mg) of psilocybin in the context of Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment and RelationaL (PEARL) therapy. Individuals with advanced cancer often experience high levels of distress due to physical suffering, difficult treatment decisions, social isolation, a...
Psilocybin, a psychedelic drug with reported anxiolytic and antidepressant potential, is rapidly metabolized to its active metabolite psilocin. However, a lack of adequate toxicity studies and tissue distribution studies currently restricts its development and application. This study combined behavioral assays in zebrafish with desorption electrospray ioniza...
PurposeThis paper aims to examine evolving practices and discourses surrounding psilocybin mushrooms on an online drug forum. Situating use within hybrid digital and ecological contexts, it traces shifts in user engagement before and after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to contextualize localized realities of the contemporary psychedelic renaissance.Design/metho...
Informed by a community engagement process, we have developed a pragmatic, open-label, hybrid feasibility-implementation study of Group Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (GPAT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As psychedelic-assisted therapies begin to enter the broader mental health arena, engaging communities in the design of research and care models i...
Psychedelics have re-emerged as promising therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. While their beneficial effects are largely attributed to serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor activation, psychedelics exhibit substantial diversity in chemical structure, receptor bindin...
In recent decades, the psychedelic psilocybin has been studied as a potential treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), offering an alternative to traditional antidepressants. However, the brain changes underlying the clinical effects of different interventions remain unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of psilocybin and a conventional antidepres...
Abstract Psilocybin induces profound alterations in consciousness, yet prevailing neural models often describe a monolithic change in brain connectivity that may not fully capture the multifaceted nature of the psychedelic state. To test the hypothesis of a composite neural state, this study applied a data-driven framework, Connectome Independent Component A...
The interest in psychedelics for health-related purposes has grown significantly over the past decade. However, there is an insufficient representation of stakeholders (eg, Indigenous groups, activists, policymakers) in discussions about research and regulation. Many psychedelics originate from traditional practices historically developed in low- and middle-...
Interest in psychedelics has expanded beyond clinical treatment contexts, yet little empirical work has examined how users describe psychedelic use in relation to sport and physical activity. This study conducted a qualitative content analysis of Reddit discussions involving psychedelics and physical performance. A Reddit search for “sports psychedelics” ret...
Psilocybin and other serotonergic psychedelics show therapeutic promise for psychiatric disorders, yet objective neural correlates linking the acute psychedelic state to persisting psychological outcomes remain limited. Electroencephalography (EEG) microstate analysis characterizes the rapid spatiotemporal organization of large-scale brain activity, offering...
The purpose of this study is to understand whether psilocybin therapy is safe and well tolerated in improving chronic pain and increasing motivation to quit smoking for people who have chronic pain and smoke cigarettes. Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug and the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms." Psilocybin is currently being studied in clinical trials bu...
The main purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the distinct mental states and physical reactions that can arise during a psychedelic experience. By repeatedly assessing the same participants in an MRI while under the effects of psilocybin, the investigators want to identify reliable brain and body reactions arising during these psychedel...
Background: Understanding the benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) will require scientific attention to the causal interaction between the therapeutic context and process. Measuring what actually happens during PAT in large-scale studies will be an essential component of this work. Objective: We aim to develop and preliminarily evaluate the feasibi...
