In the wake of a turning tide on the legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana, and with the recent decriminalization of psilocybin in Denver, a psychedelic renaissance may too be on the horizon. Psychedelics have again become the subject of rigorous study at institutions such as Yale, UCLA, NYU, and Johns Hopkins. Many clinical accounts underscor...
The past decade has seen a renaissance of research interest into the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds. In 2019, Oakland and Denver became the first two jurisdictions in the United States to decriminalize the possession of psychedelic-containing organisms. As research and public policy continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly plausible ...
The primary objective of this double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study is to assess the efficacy of psilocybin administration (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), a serotonergic psychoactive agent, on psychosocial distress, with the specific primary outcome variable being anxiety associated with cancer. Secondary outcome measures will look at the ef...
Psilocybin is the active component of magic mushrooms and is well known for its psychoactive properties. Different questionnaires have been developed to systematically quantify altered states of consciousness induced by psychoactive drugs. The aim of this study was to obtain the dose-response relationships of the subjective experiences induced by psilocybin ...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Journal DigestFull AccessJournal Digest: Home Environment; Postpartum Mental Illness; Placebo in Psychedelic Study; Single Gene Mutation; TopiramateNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:28 May 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.6a34Nurturing Home Environme...
RationaleIs it possible to have a psychedelic experience from a placebo alone? Most psychedelic studies find few effects in the placebo control group, yet these effects may have been obscured by the study design, setting, or analysis decisions.ObjectiveWe examined individual variation in placebo effects in a naturalistic environment resembling a typical psyc...
‘Why is psychedelic culture dominated by privileged white men?’ asks historian Mike Jay, referring to a recent study of psychedelic users who are more than likely to be college-educated white males.1 This appears logical, given the figureheads (such as Timothy Leary) who attained cult-like status half a century ago. Many today continue to view psychedelics a...
Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound of mushrooms in the psilocybe species. Psilocybin directly affects a number of serotonin receptors, with highest affinity for the serotonin 2A receptor (5HT-2Ar). Generally, the effects of psilocybin, and its active metabolite psilocin, are well established and include a range of cognitive, emotional, and perceptual pe...
Machine Learning is used to predict the efficacy of psilocybin in treating mental health and addiction by using a random forest algorithm. Psilocybin is a chemical compound found in fungi. Following ingestion, it is converted to psilocin which acts as a serotonin agonist, producing altered states of consciousness and hallucinations. Research suggests the use...
ObjectiveThe relationship between ketamine's hallucinogenic- and dissociative-type effects and antidepressant mechanism of action is poorly understood. This paper reviewed the correlation between subjective effects defined by various psychometric scales and observed clinical outcomes in the treatment of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).MethodsBa...
An exploration of personality predictor variables (absorption and temporal lobe lability) and acute experience measures (5D-ASC) in the comparison of several non-drug induced altered states (darkroom anechoic chamber, floatation tank and holotropic breathwork) with psychedelic altered states (e.g., DMT, psilocybin, cannabis).
psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNE: psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNEPsilocybin is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in more than 200 species of mushrooms. This compound, which was first isolated by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofman in 1959, is the active constituent of psychedelic mushrooms which are thought to have been util...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical and Research NewsFull AccessIs Psychedelic Medicine on the Horizon?Nick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiPublished Online:28 Feb 2019https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2019.1b1AbstractNew research suggests that, if used properly, psychedelic compounds may be able to help patients with treatment-resistant psyc...
Classic psychedelic substances, such as lysergic acid diethylamide and the active compound in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, are being studied again in a renaissance of psychedelic research. Psychedelic substances have profound effects on perception, emotion, and cognition, as well as the capacity to induce mystical-type experiences and ego-dissolution. Recent...
In recent years, the scientific study of meditation and psychedelic drugs has seen remarkable developments. The increased focus on meditation in cognitive neuroscience has led to a cross-cultural classification of standard meditation styles validated by functional and structural neuroanatomical data. Meanwhile, the renaissance of psychedelic research has she...
Brain activity can be understood as the exploration of a dynamical landscape of activity configurations over both space and time. This dynamical landscape may be defined in terms of spontaneous transitions within a repertoire of discrete metastable states of functional connectivity (FC), which underlie different mental processes. However, it remains unclear ...
Secondary metabolites are a heterogeneous class of chemicals that often mediate interactions between species. The tryptophan-derived secondary metabolite, psilocin, is a serotonin receptor agonist that induces altered states of consciousness. A phylogenetically disjunct group of mushroom-forming fungi in the Agaricales produce the psilocin prodrug, psilocybi...
Ever since the modern rediscovery of psychedelic substances by Western society, several authors have independently proposed that their effects bear a high resemblance to the dreams and dreamlike experiences occurring naturally during the sleep-wake cycle. Recent studies in humans have provided neurophysiological evidence supporting this hypothesis. However, ...
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...
To survive in an ever-changing environment, the brain must seamlessly integrate a rich stream of incoming information into coherent internal representations that can then be used to efficiently plan for action. The brain must also balance its ability to integrate information with a complementary capacity to segregate information into modules which perform sp...
