Background: Several early phase studies have demonstrated that psilocybin-assisted therapy has rapid-acting and persisting antidepressant effects from just one or two doses. However, methodological limitations (e.g., placebo-control, blinding) limit interpretability of the existing literature. Methods: In an exploratory placebo-controlled, within-subject, fi...
BackgroundClinical studies report preliminary therapeutic effects of classic psychedelic drugs in several psychiatric conditions and international drug trends show increased use of these compounds. However, the epidemiology of classic psychedelic drug use in Scandinavian countries remains sparsely investigated. To this end, we investigated the patterns of us...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the prophylactic effects of psilocybin in chronic cluster headache. Subjects will receive a low dose of psilocybin during 3 sessions spaced by one week. Subjects will maintain a headache diary prior to, during, and after the administrations in order to document headache frequency, intensity and duration. Subjects w...
Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorders among Western countries. Evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral therapy result in deficient treatment responses. Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms among healthy ...
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin have shown substantial promise for the treatment of several psychiatric conditions including mood and addictive disorders. They also have the remarkable property of producing persisting positive psychological changes in healthy volunteers for at least several months. In this study (NCT03289949), 35 medium-high doses of ps...
Abstract Psilocybin is a psychedelic substance approaching clinical use. The drug has long-lasting effects after single or multiple administrations and enhances structural plasticity in the brain. Little is known if the plasticity inducing effects of psilocybin could be timed to other treatments and promote a larger effect. We investigated the effect of psil...
Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorders among Western countries. Evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral therapy result in relatively low response rates (average range: 51 - 58%). Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-relat...
Antibody engineering is a powerful method used to generate high-affinity antibodies that enables sensitive immunoassays. It is commonly performed with the following steps: First, antibody fragments (e.g., single-chain Fv fragments; scFvs) with various mutations are displayed on the surface of filamentous bacteriophages to generate a diverse scFv-phages libra...
BackgroundClassical psychedelics are a group of drugs which act as agonists on the serotonin-2A (5-HT2A) receptor. Evidence suggests they may have a uniquely rapid and enduring positive effect on mood. However, marked heterogeneity between methodological designs in this emerging field remains a significant concern.AimsTo determine how differences in the type...
The heteroreceptor complexes present a novel biological principle for signal integration. These complexes and their allosteric receptor-receptor interactions are bidirectional and novel targets for treatment of CNS diseases including mental diseases. The existence of D2R-5-HT2AR heterocomplexes can help explain the anti-schizophrenic effects of atypical anti...
Background: Practitioners in a variety of spiritual/religious traditions have described “mystical experiences”, defined by a common set of qualities. The “Mystical Experience Questionnaire” (MEQ30) provides a validated and quantitative measure of mystical experience, and has been used successfully to demonstrate that the hallucinogenic substance psilocybin t...
Abstract Purpose In this study, we developed a very sensitive method for quantitative analysis of psilocin and psilocybin in hair samples of magic mushroom consumers. Methods The analyses were performed with pretreatments of samples, followed by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography (LC) connected to a Q-Trap type tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). For LC...
The aim of the study is to identify neural signatures, behavioral and phenomenological expressions of self-related processes including: sense of agency, semantic distinction between self and other, selflessness (altruism), social agency, embodied self (interoception), perceptual functioning of dissolved self including hallucinations and crossmodal processing...
Introduction: It is a basic principle of the "psychedelic" treatment model that the quality of the acute experience mediates long-term improvements in mental health. In the present paper we sought to test this using data from a clinical trial assessing psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In line with previous reports, we hypothesized that th...
Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences with participant-attributed increases in well-being. However, little research has examined enduring changes in traits. This study administered psilocybin to participants who undertook a program of meditation/spiritual practices. Healthy participants were randomized to three groups (25 each): (1) very low-dose...
Current understanding of the neurobiology of depression has grown over the past few years beyond the traditional monoamine theory of depression to include chronic stress, inflammation and disrupted synaptic plasticity. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a key factor that not only promotes fibrinolysis via the activation of plasminogen, but also contribute...
Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind...
A method for the statistical comparison of mass spectral data is demonstrated for applications in controlled substance analysis. The method uses an unequal variance t-test at each mass-to-charge ratio in the scan range to determine if two spectra are statistically associated or discriminated. If the two spectra are associated, a random-match probability is c...
Hallucinogenic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline and psilocybin, alter perception and cognitive processes. All hallucinogenic drugs have in common a high affinity for the serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptor. Metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptor ligands show efficacy in modulating the cellular and behavioral responses induced by hall...
RationaleAlthough reports of dextromethorphan (DXM) abuse have increased recently, few studies have examined the effects of high doses of DXM.ObjectiveThis study in humans evaluated the effects of supratherapeutic doses of DXM and triazolam.MethodsSingle, acute oral doses of DXM (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 mg/70 kg), triazolam (0.25 and 0.5 m...
