As we see an increase in the cost of and decrease in access to healthcare in the United States, many individuals are searching for ways to “self-medicate”. While scientific literature on the effectiveness of psilocybin as a treatment for mental and physical health concerns is limited, evidence of use for these purposes may show a need for further research. T...
This chapter reviews the effects of classic psychedelics on human oscillatory brain activity, as measured by resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Across moderate to high doses of LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and DMT, a consistent reduction in alpha power (8-13 Hz) emerges, particularly in occipital regions. Below 30 Hz,...
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a psychoactive substance with similar effects such as LSD or psilocybin. However, DMT is less well characterized than the latter substances. The present study is a modern randomized cross-over trial, investigating different intravenous DMT boluses over a broad dose range. Thus, different doses will be tested and related to sub...
Background and Hypothesis Visual hallucinations (VH) are a core symptom of both Lewy body diseases (LBDs; e.g., Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies) and serotonergic psychedelics (SPs; e.g., psilocybin and mescaline). While these classes of VH differ in etiology, shared pathways are suggested by overlapping phenomenology and neural mechanisms. ...
This retrospective case study features a woman in her mid-50s who spent her childhood in a religious community plagued by sexual abuse of children. She was abused by her father for more than a decade. The church and her mother ignored her reports about it. In her early twenties, she enrolled herself in the Erhard Seminars Training program that destabilized h...
Psilocybin produces an altered state of consciousness in humans and is associated with complex spatiotemporal changes in cortical networks. Given the emphasis on rodent models for mechanistic studies, there is a need for characterization of the effect of psilocybin on cortex-wide network dynamics. Previous electroencephalographic studies of psychedelics in r...
Rationale Since the earliest LSD research, psychedelics have been claimed to enhance autobiographical memory. Revisiting and processing autobiographical memories has further been suggested to be a major component of the therapeutic action of psychedelics. However, modern psychedelic research has largely neglected autobiographical elements of psychedelic expe...
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is typically characterized by altered linear functional connectivity (FC) across large-scale brain networks. Yet, it is unclear whether similar alterations are observed when nonlinear FC is examined. This study investigated how antidepressant treatment (i.e., psilocybin and escitalopram) modulates both linear FC and nonlinear ...
New methods that capture the public's perception of controversial topics may be valuable. This study investigates public sentiments towards psychedelics and other substances through analyzes of Reddit discussions, using Google’s cloud-based Natural Language Processing (NLP) infrastructure. Our findings indicate that illicit substances such as heroin and meth...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging treatment approach that often combines pharmacotherapeutic dosing sessions with more traditional psychotherapy. Despite limited formal regulatory approval, treatment seekers can currently access PAT through a variety of avenues, including ketamine treatment centers and “supported adult use” psilocybin centers...
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain fungi, has long been used by Indigenous cultures worldwide for healing and spiritual purposes. While emerging evidence points to psychedelic agents being novel avenues for the treatment of substance use disorders, the predominantly Western medical models of psychedelic-assisted therapy b...
Background: Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin may have therapeutic value for various mental health conditions; despite this, it is currently illegal in the UK. Less is known about how people form their attitudes towards psilocybin policies. Objectives: To explore whether beliefs about the benefits and safety of psilocybin influence support for psilocy...
Psychedelic medicine has existed for thousands of years as a traditional, sacred practice and is now in varying stages of legalization for clinical application in the United States. PsychedelicAssisted Therapy uses specific psychoactive substances to facilitate altered states of consciousness in which clients have access to unconscious material and there is ...
Fibromyalgia (FM) is the prototypical nociplastic pain condition, characterized by widespread pain and issues with cognition, mood, and sleep. Currently, there are limited treatment options available that effectively treat FM symptoms. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging combined drug-therapy intervention, but no studies to-date have investigate...
Emerging legal frameworks in Oregon and Colorado license facilitators to support adults receiving psychedelic services. The current legal frameworks are silent regarding facilitators’ personal experience with psychedelics. An e Delphi process recruited 36 experts with at least 5 years’ experience facilitating psilocybin experiences in ceremonial settings, in...
Background: Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD are anecdotally associated with the phenomenon of "psychedelic afterglow," a set of predominantly pleasant, temporary psychological effects reported after the acute effects have subsided. Since post-acute effects are crucial for the therapeutic use of psychedelics, an instrument to systematically as...
This study is an open-label, single-arm, proof-of-concept study, wherein treatment resistant bipolar depression (TRBD) participants will receive one 25 mg dose of oral psilocybin accompanied by preparatory, monitoring, and integration psychotherapy sessions (psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, or PAP). Using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), the f...
Objective: The aesthetic qualities of psychedelic experiences have long been documented, but their specific contribution to therapeutic outcomes remains unexplored. This study investigates the role of psychedelic-induced aesthetic experiences in predicting positive psychological outcomes. Methods: Using a cross-sectional naturalistic survey, participants who...
Introduction There has been a surge in research into psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy over the past decade, with many studies indicating this may be an effective novel intervention for several mental health disorders. Researchers are increasingly incorporating qualitative analysis into their studies in recognition of the rich, contextual information this pr...
