Objective Despite many decades of experimental studies and clinical trials involving a variety of psychedelic agents, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the effects of these substances on psychological experiences. As such, we designed and conducted a study to comprehensively characterise the effects of both psilocybin and 3,4-Methylenedioxymetha...
Abstract Music is integral to Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), believed to enhance therapeutic outcomes by structuring experiences and facilitating emotional expression. However, the effects of conducting PAP without music are underexplored. This study examines the experiences of two breast cancer patients undergoing psilocybin therapy under Canada's...
Anhedonia is a transdiagnostic domain that leads to poor disorder outcome and low remission rates. This narrative review describes a broad range of interventions targeting anhedonia, including pharmacological, neuromodulatory, behavioral, and lifestyle-based approaches. Drugs such as vortioxetine, agomelatine, bupropion, ketamine, and brexpiprazole show prom...
Social pain is emotional distress caused by harm or threat to social connections that results in social exclusion, rejection, or loss. Social Pain is also a potentiator of physical pain. Supportive social relationships are widely recognized for their impact on maintaining health and well-being. The Passion of Jesus Christ serves as a quintessential example o...
Objective This clinical trial sought to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin and MBSR for frontline healthcare providers with symptoms of depression and burnout related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This was a randomized controlled trial that enrolled physicians and nurses with frontline clinical work during the COVID-19 pandemic an...
Methamphetamine (MA) dependence leads to severe physical and psychological issues. Current treatments, including psychosocial therapies and residential rehabilitation, face limitations such as high relapse rates, cost, and accessibility issues. As a result, there is an urgent need for novel approaches to treat MA dependence that are effective, affordable, an...
This project is an open-label randomized study looking at an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) curriculum vs. an 8-week MBSR curriculum + a group psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy intervention for frontline healthcare providers struggling with symptoms of depression and burnout associated with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Following consenting and ...
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious eating disorder (ED) with high rates of mortality and chronicity. Given the ambivalence towards engaging in treatment and recovery that is characteristic of this condition, the identification of novel treatment avenues that can target motivation and demonstrate superior efficacy to existing treatment options is desperately ...
Background: How the human psyche interacts with the theme of death is fundamental to individual and societal life, profoundly influencing cognition, affect, and behavior. Death-related psychological phenomena, such as death anxiety and acceptance, have been shown in clinical studies to be influenced by psychedelic (LSD and psilocybin) interventions. However,...
Background: How the human psyche interacts with the theme of death is fundamental to individual and societal life, profoundly influencing cognition, affect, and behavior. Death-related psychological phenomena, such as death anxiety and acceptance, have been shown in clinical studies to be influenced by psychedelic (LSD and psilocybin) interventions. However,...
This study is a two-group feasibility study of oral psilocybin combined with a 12-week group-based program, customized for firefighters. Trained facilitators will help create a trauma-informed space for the group (n = 6-8) to thrive and promote cognitive resilience. The topics covered throughout the 12 weeks include breath-work, mindfulness, self-compassion,...
Several phase II studies have demonstrated that psilocybin-assisted therapy shows therapeutic potential across a spectrum of neuropsychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the mechanisms underlying its often persisting beneficial effects remain unclear. Observational research suggests that improvements in psychological flexi...
Previous research has proposed that there may be potential synergies between psychedelic and meditation interventions, but there are still knowledge gaps that merit further investigation. Using a longitudinal observational research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult population with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity ( = 9732), we invest...
In this study, for the first time, we explored a dataset of functional magnetic resonance images collected during focused attention and open monitoring meditation before and after a five-day psilocybin-assisted meditation retreat using a recently established approach, based on the Mapper algorithm from topological data analysis. After generating subject-spec...
The transition of HIV into a chronic illness has brought to the forefront the pressing need to address the complex web of social determinants of HIV outcomes. A structured literature search and narrative review of studies describing intervention strategies for mental health among sexual/gender minority (SGM) older adults living with HIV (OALWH) published in ...
There has been increasing scientific and clinical interest in studying psychedelic and meditation-based interventions in recent years, both in the context of improving mental health and as tools for understanding the mind. Several authors suggest neurophysiological and phenomenological parallels and overlaps between psychedelic and meditative states and sugg...
ObjectiveTreatment for anorexia nervosa (AN) remains challenging; there are no approved psychopharmacological interventions and psychotherapeutic strategies have variable efficacy. The investigation of evidence-based treatments has so far been compounded by an underdeveloped understanding into the neurobiological changes associated with the acute stages of A...
The investigators are doing this project to investigate potential neurophysiological synergy effects between mindfulness meditation and psychedelics. Previous studies have found that both mindfulness and psychedelics like psilocybin modulate neural activity and connectivity of the same brain network. However, little is known about the potential interactions ...
Flotation-Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) and mindfulness meditation (MM) are known to induce altered states of consciousness (ASC) and self-consciousness. In this study, we use a phenomenological and predictive processing (PP) framework to compare the interventions alongside the psychedelic experience. Ego-dissolution scores were greater th...
Flotation-Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) and mindfulness meditation (MM) are known to induce altered states of consciousness (ASC) and self-consciousness. In this study, we use a phenomenological and predictive processing (PP) framework to compare the interventions alongside the psychedelic experience. Ego-dissolution scores were greater th...
