Psychedelics
July 1, 2026
Nicholas Vucak, Raimondo Bruno, Julio Quealy et al.
Background Integration — the ongoing process of revisiting, making sense of, and incorporating the content of a psychedelic experience into daily life — is a core component of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), but is variably operationalised and poorly reported in clinical research. Objective To map how integration is described, delivered, and reported in clinical studies of classic...
BJPsych Open
December 15, 2025
Nicole Ledwos, Jenna Baer, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
2 citations
Background Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental disorder commonly treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, atypical antipsychotic augmentation and cognitive–behavioural therapy. However, up to 60% of people with OCD do not respond to these treatments. Therefore, a novel intervention, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), is an option of interest....
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
September 1, 2025
Sally Meikle, Olivia Carter, Paul Liknaitzky et al.
2 citations
Background: Depressive disorders are a major global health challenge, with many individuals unresponsive to existing treatments. Novel psychedelic therapies show promise but require further research. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of psilocybin with psychotherapeutic support for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), investigate predictors of...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
August 1, 2025
Susan Meikle, Olivia Carter, Paul Liknaitzky et al.
Abstract Background Depressive disorders are a major global health challenge, with many individuals unresponsive to existing treatments or left with residual symptoms such as impairments in cognition and social functioning. Emerging psychedelic therapies show promise for treating depression but require further research. Aims & Objectives This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility,...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
August 1, 2025
N Acevdo, David Castle, Susan L. Rossell
Abstract Background Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and anorexia nervosa (AN) are some of the most debilitating and chronic mental health conditions, with impairments across multiple domains of functioning, leading to poor quality of life and well-being. These conditions share overlapping psychopathological determinants in terms of cognitive-behavioural...
Acta Neuropsychiatrica
February 8, 2024
Negar Sayrafizadeh, Nicole Ledwos, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
3 citations
Abstract Objective: Monoamine neurotransmitters play a role in aggression, especially when altered by illicit substances. However, some literature suggests that not all illicit substances may lead to aggression, notably psychedelics. This narrative review investigates the associations between serotonergic psychedelics and MDMA on aggressive behaviour. Methods: PubMed and PsycINFO were searched...
European Psychiatry
November 17, 2023
M. I. Husain, Daniel M. Blumberger, David Castle et al.
Introduction During the last decade there has been a resurgence of interest on the use of psychedelics as novel treatments for mental disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Psilocybin, the chemical component of “magic mushrooms”, has been administered with psychotherapy in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) showing large and sustained antidepressant effects. As the use of...
BJPsych Open
July 1, 2023
Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Nicole Ledwos, Elise Fellows et al.
41 citations
Background Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of psilocybin have reported large antidepressant effects in adults with major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Given psilocybin's psychedelic effects, all published studies have included psychological support. These effects depend on serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor activation, which can be blocked by 5-HT2A receptor...
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
May 3, 2023
Susan L. Rossell, Sally Meikle, M.l. Williams et al.
14 citations
No description available
March 1, 2023
David Nutt, David Castle
4 citations
Abstract There is substantial contemporary interest in psychedelic agents as medicines for maladies of the mind. This follows research in the 1950s and 1960s exploring the use of LSD and other psychedelics to treat a range of psychiatric illnesses as well as addictions. This research was shut down after prohibition of these drugs; however, the last decade has seen a major renewal of interest in...
Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medications
March 1, 2023
David Castle, Nicole Ledwos, David Nutt
Abstract This is an exciting time for psychedelics and related drugs, with a renewed scientific interest in their potential benefits for a range of mental health disorders and addictions. However, much is yet to be discovered about this group of drugs, including precisely how they work in the brain; how their biological effects interact with psychological support to effect therapeutic change;...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
February 10, 2023
Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Nicole Ledwos, Elise Fellows et al.
47 citations
Introduction Current treatment options for major depressive disorder (MDD) have limited efficacy and are associated with adverse effects. Recent studies investigating the antidepressant effect of serotonergic psychedelics—also known as classic psychedelics—have promising preliminary results with large effect sizes. In this context, we conducted a review of the putative neurobiological...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
December 14, 2022
Nicole Ledwos, Justyne D. Rodas, Muhammad Ishrat Husain et al.
20 citations
BACKGROUND: Clinical use of psychedelics has gained considerable attention, with promising benefits across a range of mental disorders. Current pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and eating disorders (EDs) have limited efficacy. As such, other treatment options such as psychedelic-assisted therapies are being explored in these clinical groups....
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 1, 2022
Marco Solmi, Chaomei Chen, Charles Dauré et al.
55 citations
A scientometric analysis was realized to outline clinical research on psychedelics over the last century. Web of Science Core Collection was searched up to March 18, 2022, for publications on psychedelics. Network analyses and bibliometrics were combined, to identify research themes and trends with Bibliometrix and CiteSpace. The primary aim was to measure research trends evolution over time,...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
October 21, 2022
James J Gattuso, Daniel Perkins, Simon Ruffell et al.
233 citations
Abstract Psychedelics are a unique class of drug that commonly produce vivid hallucinations as well as profound psychological and mystical experiences. A grouping of interconnected brain regions characterized by increased temporal coherence at rest have been termed the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN has been the focus of numerous studies assessing its role in self-referencing, mind...
CNS Drugs
October 1, 2022
Niloufar Pouyan, Zahra Halvaei Khankahdani, Farnaz Younesi Sisi et al.
16 citations
Preliminary results from randomized controlled studies as well as identified molecular, cellular, and circuit targets of select psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin) suggest that their effects are transdiagnostic. In this review, we exploit the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) transdiagnostic framework, to synthesize extant literature on psilocybin. We aimed to identify RDoC-based effects of...
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
August 17, 2022
Joshua D. Rosenblat, Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Yena Lee et al.
58 citations
Objective Serotonergic psychedelics are re-emerging as potential novel treatments for several psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder. The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) convened a task force to review the evidence and provide a consensus recommendation for the clinical use of psychedelic treatments for major depressive disorder. Methods A systematic...
Journal of personality disorders
August 1, 2022
Zalie Merrett, David Castle, Neil Thomas et al.
Hallucinations and delusions in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are understudied. The authors explore the phenomenology of multisensory hallucinations and delusions in individuals with BPD and compare them to those in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Clinical psychopathology was also explored. Eighty-nine adults participated and were categorized into four groups:...
Psychiatry Research
April 25, 2022
Hartej Gill, Parnian Puramat, Pankti Patel et al.
16 citations
The use of psilocybin as treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) has been examined as a promising alternative to traditional first-line options. We reviewed existing literature to provide a synthesis of the extant neuroimaging observations with psilocybin, and to identify putative therapeutic targets for target engagement studies with psilocybin, and potentially other psychedelics. We...
CNS Drugs
November 17, 2021
Susan Ling, Felicia Ceban, Leanna M.W. Lui et al.
123 citations
Therapeutic deficiencies with monoaminergic antidepressants invites the need to identify and develop novel rapid-acting antidepressants. Hitherto, ketamine and esketamine are identified as safe, well-tolerated rapid-acting antidepressants in adults with treatment-resistant depression, and also mitigate measures of suicidality. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychoactive alkaloid and...
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
March 21, 2021
Daniel Perkins, Jerome Sarris, Susan L. Rossell et al.
53 citations
The medical use of psychedelic substances (e.g. psilocybin, ayahuasca, lysergic acid diethylamide and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is attracting renewed interest, driven by a pressing need for research and development of novel therapies for psychiatric disorders, as well as promising results of contemporary studies. In this Viewpoint, we reflect upon the ‘Clinical Memorandum on...
Journal of Affective Disorders Reports
February 6, 2021
Jerome Sarris, Daniel Perkins, Lachlan Cribb et al.
72 citations
Background\nAyahuasca is a psychoactive Amazonian brew which has emerging data indicating that it has antidepressant and anxiolytic properties.\n\nMethods\nThis paper uses data from the Global Ayahuasca Project (GAP), which was undertaken across 2017-2020 and involved 11912 people, to examine the perceived effects of ayahuasca consumption on affective symptoms. The study focused on the...
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
November 22, 2019
Sally Meikle, Paul Liknaitzky, Susan L. Rossell et al.
19 citations
In the quest for new treatment options for depression, attention is being paid to the potential role of psychedelic drugs. Psilocybin is of particular interest given its mechanism of action, its benefits in early trials and its relatively low side effects burden. This viewpoint outlines a number of key issues that remain to be elucidated about its potential use in the clinical environment,...
European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists
1996
F Ames, David Castle
In the context of the discovery of the cerebral ligand for the cannabis receptor, and the elucidation of its genetic sequence, we discuss the psychomimetic properties of Cannabis sativa, and explore the relationship between cannabis intoxication and mood. We suggest that renewed study of acute cannabis encephalopathy would be rewarding not only in deepening our understanding of consciousness in...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
Nicole Ledwos, Joshua D. Rosenblat, Daniel M. Blumberger et al.
16 citations
There has been resurgence of interest in the therapeutic use of serotonergic ("classic") psychedelics in major depressive disorder (MDD) and end-of-life distress. This commentary offers a critical appraisal of current evidence for antidepressant effects of classic psychedelics from contemporary clinical trials and highlights pitfalls that should be addressed before clinical translation. A...