Abstract High-grade gliomas are the most aggressive form of brain tumors, and neuronal activity has emerged as a driver of glioma pathophysiology. Activity-dependent glioma growth results from paracrine factor signaling and bona fide neuron-to-glioma synapses that integrate glioma cells into brain-wide neuronal circuits. Here, we report how glioma cells inte...
BACKGROUND: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) has gained attention as a promising intervention for conditions including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, but understanding of its side-effects is limited. This review evaluates the quality of side-effects reporting in PAP trials, to guide treatment, policy and research. AIMS: To ass...
IntroductionBipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and persistent mental disorder characterized by recurrent mood episodes, with BD depression accounting for most of the illness burden. Although the mainstay treatment of BD consists of pharmacotherapy with mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics, a large proportion of patients with BD depression do not respo...
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...
Objectives: This study investigates psychedelic drugs to treat substance use disorder (SUD). Researchers have recently begun conducting clinical trials of psychedelic treatment for SUD. The current meta-analysis investigates the extent of efficacy in alleviating SM behaviours (P) using psychedelic therapy (I), concurrent with determining which psychedelic en...
In recent years psychedelics have gained popularity and potential promise in the field of mental health, but for patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD), fears of emerging manic or psychotic symptoms have caused investigators to exclude them from psychedelic research. In this observational study, we explore the motivations, expectations, and personalit...
This phase I trial tests the safety and side effects of a second episode of psilocybin-assisted group therapy and how well it works in treating anxiety and distress in patients with cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic) and had a partial response to their first retreat. Up to 50% of patient...
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...
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...
Psilocybin, a serotonin receptor agonist in the brain, significantly and quickly improves depressive symptoms while inducing profound acute subjective effects. The benefit-risk ratio of psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression seems favorable, but needs to be confirmed. Moreover, the role of 5-HT2A receptors, involved in the psychedelic experience, on th...
This retrospective observational study examines the effects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin in patients with treatment-resistant depressive, anxiety, or addictive disorders. Data will be analyzed from patients treated at the University Hospitals of Geneva between June 2020 and April 2025 who obt...
Background/Objectives We present case histories of severe adverse effects associated with Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), a disorder of neuroperception involving visual and other senses that is due to the treatment of various neuropsychiatric disorders with hallucinogens. This includes the case of a young woman who developed visual halluc...
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...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) frequently utilises a “cotherapy” model, in which two therapists jointly support participants or patients through preparation, dosing, and integration sessions. While common in clinical trials, the experience of cotherapy from the participant perspective remains underexplored. This qualitative study examined experiences of ...
Introduction: Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) affects approximately 30-50% of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who fail to respond to at least two adequate antidepressant trials. This condition presents substantial clinical and functional challenges, and no universally accepted treatment algorithm currently exists. Emerging therapeutic stra...
Clinicians and researchers are showing increased interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy for patients who don't show improvement from using conventional antidepressants. This updated review integrates recent developments, including data on lesser-studied compounds like DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, findings from large clinical trials, and evolving regulatory landscape...
Rationale: Recent evidence shows that Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), even when administered in low, non-hallucinogenic doses, can produce analgesic effects and improve pain tolerance in a sample of healthy volunteers. Such results complement what was already observed with other serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin: survey studies and case series i...
