Personality disorders (PDs) are characterized by rigid and maladaptive patterns of self- and interpersonal functioning, leading to high clinical burden and limited treatment outcomes. Schema Therapy (ST), an integrative psychotherapy rooted in cognitive-behavioral principles, conceptualizes PDs in terms of Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS)-pervasive cognitive-...
Introduced in 2014 and revised in 2018, the entropic brain hypothesis has accrued a wealth of supportive evidence. The hypothesis states that- along a dimension of breadth of conscious experience- ‘expansive states’ reliably exhibit increased brain entropy whereas the inverse applies for states of no or reduced consciousness. Examples of expansive states inc...
Metastability of BOLD fMRI signals is a commonly used proxy of brain dynamics in behavioral and clinical studies. To date, little has been done to assess the confidence with which we can use estimates of metastability as reliable biomarkers of individual brain state. We analyze whole-brain and network-specific metastability for a highly sampled individual br...
Humphry Osmond coined the term ‘psychedelic’ in 1956, conjoining ‘psyche’ for ‘soul’ and ‘delic’ from ‘dêlos’ for ‘to manifest’ or ‘illuminate.’ Soul-illumination is an adjective that describes a psychological state or process. However, Osmond’s intention was to use the adjective to name- not just a state- but a category of drug that can induce the subjectiv...
Introduction Mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), remain a significant global health concern, requiring novel therapeutic approaches. Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, has shown potential in modulating neuroplasticity, a critical process for cognitive flexibility and m...
The psychedelic psilocybin has gained popularity in recent years as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression and has been reported to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Psilocybin's active metabolite, psilocin, possesses a binding affinity for serotonin receptors as well as for the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). We recently reported that in contr...
Microdosing - the practice of consuming extremely low doses of classical psychedelic substances that do not elicit overt psychedelic effects - has gained significant attention as a potential method for enhancing cognitive performance. However, findings from controlled studies remain mixed and inconclusive. This preregistered meta-analysis examined the cognit...
The meta-analysis of the 11-dimensional Altered States of Consciousness (11D-ASC) included three studies that contained duplicated data from other papers: Duerler et al. (2021), Lewis et al. (2017), and Preller et al. (2017). When these studies are removed from the analysis, the results are generally similar to the previously reported findings. Out of 33 com...
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent disorder with limited therapeutic options. The central amygdala (CeA) is a critical brain region as dysregulation within the CeA and the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system are associated with AUD pathology. CeA CRF1 receptors regulate alcohol drinking and have served as a therapeutic target in alcohol...
Today’s research highlights the therapeutic potential of the hallucinogen psilocybin in the treatment of pathologies associated with mood, cognitive, and affective dysregulation. These domains of function are regulated by the serotonergic system, which can be influenced by sex hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, and psychedelic compounds including psil...
Psychedelics including psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide are known to disrupt the normal flow of time perception, for example, producing time dilation, compression, and loss of time. These temporal anomalies provide interesting clues about how the brain processes time, what consciousness is, and what produces the sense of self. T...
Many neuropsychiatric conditions, including depression, involve synaptic loss and atrophy of the prefrontal cortex. The rapid regrowth of cortical neurons has been hypothesized to explain the rapid and enduring therapeutic effects of psychedelics and the dissociative anesthetic ketamine. However, safety concerns related to hallucinogenic/dissociative propert...
Psychedelic-assisted therapies are re-emerging as credible options in psychological care amid a high global burden of mental ill-health and limited response to first-line treatments. Once marginal, psychedelics are now part of mainstream research and policy debate, while remaining illegal or tightly restricted in many jurisdictions. Classic and atypical comp...
Psilocybin, an indoleamine alkaloid derived from various fungal species, is the subject of renewed, rigorous investigation for its therapeutic potential in psychiatry. This compound, a prodrug for the active metabolite psilocin, functions primarily as a partial agonist at the serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor. Its administration within a structured psychotherap...
Chronic pain and mood disorders co-occur, exacerbate one another and share neurobiological mechanisms, but whether a single intervention could promptly alleviate both conditions remains unclear. Here, in two chronic pain models, we show that a single dose of psilocybin induces a rapid and sustained reversal of both mechanical allodynia and anxiodepression-li...
Exploring the intricate relationship between brain's structure and function, and how this affects subjective experience is a fundamental pursuit in neuroscience. Psychedelic substances offer a unique insight into the influences of specific neurotransmitter systems on perception, cognition and consciousness. Specifically, their impact on brain function propag...
Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which is characterised by cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioural changes. Patients suffering from dementia often experience emotional distress, sadness and depression which also impacts the wellbeing of their caregivers. Recent research has explored the potential of psychedelics, such as psilocybin...
Psychedelic Minimalism: The Case Against Music in Psychedelic Therapy SettingsIn response to: Kaelen et al. (2018), “The Hidden Therapist: Evidence for a Central Role ofMusic in Psychedelic Therapy.”Introduction: Reframing the Role of SettingIn recent years, renewed attention has been given to the centrality of set and setting inpsychedelic-assisted therapy....
