Abstract Depression is a debilitating mental disorder affecting millions worldwide, yet current pharmacological treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), often exhibit delayed onset and limited efficacy. The chronic social defeat (CSD) stress model in mice is a well-established preclinical paradigm for inducing depression-like beha...
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...
Based on promising preliminary results from clinical trials, it seems likely that psychedelic substances (classic serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, and entactogens, such as MDMA) will be introduced into psychiatry as psychedelic-assisted therapy. This also raises a range of ethical questions that urgently need to be addressed before widespread r...
Abstract Rationale: Individual variability in psilocybin response is a major challenge for psychedelic-assisted therapy, with structural brain features potentially serving as predictive biomarkers. Lewis et al. (2020) reported that rostral anterior cingulate cortex thickness predicted emotional experiences under psilocybin, suggesting cortical morphometry as...
The Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 was one of the deadliest terror attacks in history, resulting in 1,182 fatalities, over 4,000 wounded, and 251 taken hostage1. The Nova festival, an 18-hour rave held in the Gaza Envelope region, suffered the highest casualties in the attack, with over 370 killed. For the Nova attendees, the highligh...
Decades of cross-species research highlight the claustrums extensive bidirectional connectivity with cortical and subcortical regions, implicating it in higher-order cognitive processes requiring synchronized brain states. Psychedelics may disrupt this synchrony by modulating claustro-cortical signaling, reflected by the dissolution of cortical network signa...
Abstract Background Self-transcendent and mystical experiences may be key mechanisms underlying psychedelics’ therapeutic effects, yet how these experiences differ across substances remains unclear. This study compared mystical and self-transcendent experiences across psilocybin, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and cannabis in a diverse, community-...
About one in three people with major depression respond poorly to standard antidepressant treatments. This kind of depression is called treatment-resistant depression, and it can lead to long-term disability, financial challenges, and a higher risk of suicide. Psilocybin-a compound found in certain mushrooms-has shown early promise as a new treatment for thi...
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by compulsive eating restrictions and cognitive inflexibility, which is linked to dysregulation within the cortico-striatal-thalamo cortical (CSTC) circuitry. Dysfunction within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum has been implicated in habitual decision making and impaired cognitiv...
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, has emerged as a promising treatment for a range of mental health conditions, including anorexia nervosa. Recent insights from animal models and human imaging studies suggest psilocybin enhances cognitive flexibility and modifies reward processing - two core processes disrupted in anorexia nervosa. Both cognitive flexi...
Recent research into classical psychedelics, such as psilocybin, LSD, and DMT, has highlighted their therapeutic potential for mental health disorders. However, emerging evidence suggests their utility may extend beyond treatment into the realm of preventive medicine. This manuscript proposes a novel framework positioning psychedelics as agents of cellular a...
A bstract Contemporary psychedelic research highlights the value of user experience reports, yet their verbose, subjective nature poses challenges for clinical utility. This is the first study to pioneer unsupervised automatic text summarization of psychedelic user experience reports, a domain where no human-annotated reference summaries exist. To address th...
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....
Abstract Background: Psychedelics can acutely induce mystical experiences and elevated positive mood, which may contribute to the potential benefits of psychedelic therapy. However, there remains limited understanding of the occurrence and importance of specific positive emotional experiences within psychedelic therapy. Therefore, we examined the effects of ...
Recent advances in psychedelic research have renewed interest in their therapeutic potential for psychiatric disorders characterized by cognitive and behavioral rigidity. This review examines the rationale for using serotonergic psychedelics-particularly 5-HT2A receptor agonists such as psilocybin-in the treatment of eating disorders (EDs), including anorexi...
Abstract Background Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is gaining attention as a potential treatment for cancer-related psychosocial symptoms. While growing evidence highlights its promise, little is known about how different stakeholder groups perceive its use in oncology and palliative care. Objectives This study aimed to assess stakeholder-specific perspe...
Neurodegenerative diseases are marked by progressive neuronal loss, inflammation, and impaired plasticity. Although existing treatments provide limited protection for the brain or ability to slow disease progression, emerging research highlights the gut-brain axis and psychedelics as promising new areas for therapeutic development. The gut microbiome, a meta...
Microdosing psychedelics, the regular use of low doses of LSD or psilocybin, have attracted growing public and scientific interest. This review synthesizes findings from 57 human studies on psychological and physiological outcomes in clinical and non-clinical populations. Reported benefits include improved mood, enhanced cognition, social functioning, and me...
In the 1950s-60s, serotonergic psychedelic drugs were studied as potential adjuvants to psychotherapy to treat addiction and alcoholism. However, starting in the 70s, preclinical and clinical studies on psychedelics stopped for decades because legislation controlled its recreational use, citing their hallucinogenic and psychotomimetic effects, as well as the...
Abstract Classical psychedelics such N,N -dimethyltryptamine (DMT), psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) modulate consciousness via serotonergic receptor agonism, and are increasingly investigated for their psychotherapeutic potential. When combined with the monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) inhibitor harmine-mimicking the pharmacological profile of ay...
