Controlled Substance Regulation for the COVID-19 Mental Health Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic is producing widespread loss of life, unemployment, and social isolation that is triggering a mental health crisis. Experts warn there could be record levels of depression, suicide, and substance use disorders. The U.S. healthcare system is not prepared. It lacks the resources to provide prolonged psychotherapy at scale, and existing dr...

Scoping Review Protocol: Mapping Psilocybin Animal Research

Scoping Review Protocol: Mapping Psilocybin Therapy Research

Psychedelics, Safety and Clinical Trial Design

Objectives: To investigate the safety of psychedelics for humans, to identify the limitations of the current evidence and to indicate how gaps and limitations may be addressed in future clinical trial design. Methodology: I completed a narrative review of the literature to investigate the safety profile and known adverse effects of psychedelics, with a speci...

Hallucinogenic mushroom misuse reported to Texas poison centers

BACKGROUND: Hallucinogenic mushrooms are fungi that contain the substance psilocybin. When ingested, psilocybin can induce hallucinations, euphoria, and alterations in the perception of space and time. Ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms may result in adverse effects. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe hallucinogenic mushroom misuse rep...

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Regulations Cripple Potentially Life-Saving Research of Illicit Substances

Modern day research, in an attempt to determine the potential therapeutic and adverse effects of illicit substances, is a growing field, but one that faces many regulatory challenges. Due to the potential abuse of illicit substances such as Cannabis, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin, regulations have b...

Data justify further research on potential of psychedelics in treating psychiatric disorders

Although research findings to date do not support the use of psychedelic compounds in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, the existing body of research justifies continued investigation, a literature review concludes. The review found the most significant evidence supporting use of psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Both of these dr...

The Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and Bufotenine (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) Case: Ensuring the Correct Isomer has Been Identified

Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 4-HO-DMT) and bufotenine (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 5-HO-DMT), which are both naturally occurring compounds, are classified as controlled substances in numerous countries due to their pharmacological activities and recreational usage. There are two other benzene ring regioisomers, 6-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryp...

Binding Interactions of Psilocin and Serotonin in the 5-HT2A Receptor

Psilocin is a molecule found in psilocybin mushrooms, which are typically consumed recreationally for their hallucinogenic effects. Recently, studies have shown that psilocin can have almost immediate antidepressant effects in patients who are treatment-resistant to medications that increase serotonin levels in the synapse. Researchers believe that the molec...

Psilocybin and LSD have no long-lasting effects in an animal model of alcohol relapse

Klassiske psykedeliske stoffer - inkl. psilocybin og LSD

Psychedelics

Psychedelics (serotonergic hallucinogens) are powerful psychoactive substances that alter perception and mood and affect numerous cognitive processes. They are generally considered physiologically safe and do not lead to dependence or addiction. Their origin predates written history, and they were employed by early cultures in many sociocultural and ritual c...

Isness: Using Multi-Person VR to Design Peak Mystical Type Experiences Comparable to Psychedelics

Studies combining psychotherapy with psychedelic drugs (Ds) have demonstrated positive outcomes that are often associated with 'Ds' ability to induce 'mystical-type' experiences (MTEs) i.e., subjective experiences whose characteristics include a sense of connectedness, transcendence, and ineffability. We suggest that both PsiDs and virtual reality can be sit...

Psychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research Needed

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & ResearchFull AccessPsychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: More Research NeededNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Apr 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.4a14AbstractAPA’s Work Group on Biomarkers and Novel Treatments suggests that psychede...

Dynamic coupling of whole-brain neuronal and neurotransmitter systems

Significance In a technical tour de force, we have created a framework demonstrating the underlying fundamental principles of bidirectional coupling of neuronal and neurotransmitter dynamical systems. Specifically, in the present study, we combined multimodal neuroimaging data to causally explain the functional effects of specific serotoninergic receptor (5-...

Exposure-Response Analysis to Assess the Concentration-QTc Relationship of Psilocybin/Psilocin

Psilocybin is being developed for treating major depressive disorder. Psilocybin is readily dephosphorylated to psilocin upon absorption. The potential for psilocin proarrhythmic effect was assessed using a concentration-QTc interval (C-QTc) analysis from an open-label single ascending dose study of psilocybin. Psilocybin doses ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 mg/kg. ...

5-HT2 Receptor Activation Differentially Modulates Linker Histone Kinetics and Histone Deacetylase Activity

Introduction Alterations to chromatin dynamics and histone modification represent crucial processes metazoan cells employ to influence regulation and gene expression. As such, modification to the mobility of the linker histone, the chief component of chromatin compaction and higher-order chromatin architecture, significantly impacts downstream transcriptiona...

One Dose of Psilocybin in Late Adolescence Mitigates Deleterious Effects of Developmental Stress on Cognition and Behavioral Despair in Adult Female Rats

Introduction Psilocybin (PSI) has persistent antidepressant efficacy in human trials. We have shown one dose of PSI to significantly decrease depressive-like behavior in male Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats for at least five weeks without losing efficacy. However, the outcome assay we used to evaluate depressive-like behavior, the forced swim test (FST), has been cr...

Psychedelic Psychiatry’s Brave New World

Lost Saints

Mushrooms containing psilocybin have been used in Indigenous healing ceremonies in Mesoamerica since at least the sixteenth century. However, the sacramental use of mushrooms was only discovered by Westerners in the early to mid-twentieth century. Most notably, the meeting between amateur mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson and Mazatec curandera María Sabina in ...