Introduction: Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects over 21 million adults in the U.S (NIMH, 2023) and remains a significant public health challenge. Despite the effectiveness of traditional medications, 30% of patients remains resistant. Little is known about the beliefs individuals hold regarding novel treatments, such as psilocybin and the motivations b...
IntroductionExtant literature suggests that anhedonia, defined as a loss of the ability to feel pleasure or interest, is subserved by dysregulation of reward processing in the central nervous system. Dextromethorphan (DXM), an uncompetitive N-Methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist and sigma-1 (σ1) receptor agonist, is a glutamatergic modulator with an...
Approximately 20% of young people experience self-harm behaviour in their lives. Self-harm can occur across different mental health disorders, and lead to negative outcomes and risk of suicide. Current treatments are long, costly and do not suit all young people, making it essential to research alternative treatments. Therapy combined with psychedelic drugs ...
This is an open-label pilot trial to assess the safety and feasibility of a novel 8-week psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy intervention to facilitate successful tapering/discontinuation of opioid pain medication in adult patients receiving long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain. Participation will last approximately 8 months and includes one or two psiloc...
Background Classic serotonergic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin show promising antidepressant effects in controlled trials, but real-world data from routine clinical care remain limited. Methods This study retrospectively analysed routine data from adults with treatment-resistant depressive and/or anxiety disorders who received a first standardized P...
Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition leading to significant personal and societal burden. Standard treatments frequently demonstrate limited efficacy, leading to persistent symptoms and high dropout rates. Psilocybin has shown promise in treating depression, a condition that is often comorbid with PTSD. We aimed to ex...
This randomised controlled feasibility trial evaluates the Digital Intervention for Psychedelic Preparation (DIPP), a novel 21-day self-guided program designed to prepare individuals for psychedelic experiences. Forty healthy volunteers will be randomly assigned to either a meditation-based intervention or a music-based control condition. Both groups will fo...
The etiology of OCD is complex and appears to involve multiple biological pathways. Imbalances in central serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate activities are widely thought to play a causative role. Despite strong evidence supporting first-line OCD pharmacotherapies, approximately 40-60 % of OCD patients remain unresponsive and are considered treatment resista...
BACKGROUND: The use of psychedelics is currently increasing in the United States. Awareness of clinical trials investigating the therapeutic applications of psychedelics may result in a record number of people who use psychedelics for the first-time. This study aimed to develop a harm-reduction resource to facilitate safe and successful psychedelic experienc...
Renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics has led to increased research, but this work often lacks diverse representation. This study examined the relationships between subjective psychedelic experiences and self-reported improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and substance use among Spanish-speaking individuals. A global sample...
Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of a six-week microdosing regimen of psilocybin combined with short-term, experience-based psychotherapy in patients with treatment-resistant depression who have not responded to previous pharmacological or long-term psychological interventions. Hypothesis: Compared to baseline, the group that begins with psilocyb...
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent distressing thoughts and substantial anxiety, accompanied by repetitive behaviors or mental rituals. Individuals with OCD often have diminished quality of life, and functional impairment. The disorder cause high personal, societal and economic costs. Current availab...
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...
The emergence of microdosing introduced a novel approach to consuming classic psychedelic substances, such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and psilocybin mushrooms, in ways previously unconventional. Whereas traditional illicit substance use often seeks euphoric experiences, microdosing deliberately avoids such effects in favor of perceived self-enhancin...
The goal of this study is to learn how psychedelics may help symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants with major depressive disorder experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety will receive one dose of either a drug related to psilocybin or a placebo. Assessments include interviews, self-report questionnaires, EEG and fMRI to measure symptoms and...
Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic with growing evidence for efficacy in mood disorders, and its therapeutic potential in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions is increasingly recognised but remains understudied. We systematically evaluated clinical and preclinical evidence on psilocybin's effects on obsessive and compulsive behavi...
BACKGROUND: Individuals with advanced cancer often experience high levels of distress for which there are few standardized treatment approaches. Our multidisciplinary team has combined existing evidence-based approaches into Psilocybin-assisted Existential, Attachment, and RelationaL (PEARL) therapy. PEARL therapy combines elements from psilocybin-assisted p...
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...
This study seeks to provide insight on psilocybin's effects on mechanisms of chronic pain among patients with co-morbid chronic low back pain and depression (CLBP+D). Participants will receive either a single high-dose of psilocybin (25mg absolute dose) or methylphenidate (40mg absolute dose). Participants will be asked to complete assessments of pain, depre...
Repeated self-administration of small doses of psychedelics, known as microdosing, has been associated with perceived improvements in psychological functioning. However, few studies have examined effects at the daily level. Drawing on data from a naturalistic, prospective, international survey of adults who microdose (N = 1435), we assessed self-reported wit...
