University of Basel, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
39 papers in the library · 2,889 citations · publishing 2014-2026
Med (New York, N.Y.) August 14, 2026 Felix Müller, Anna M Becker, Christopher Böhlke et al.
In Basel, only a few hundred meters from where LSD was first synthesized, we tested LSD-assisted therapy for major depression in a randomized trial comparing two high doses with two low doses, each paired with supportive psychotherapy. This Backstory reflects on treating patients, long dosing days, and what remains uncertain.
Psychedelics June 28, 2026 Joost J. Breeksema, Ulf Bremberg, Jens H van Dalfsen et al.
The research, understanding, and implementation of psychedelic therapies is characterised by a layered complexity that arises from the dynamic interactions between pharmacological and extra-pharmacological factors, and the embeddedness of psychedelics within broader societal, legal, and regulatory systems ill-equipped to accommodate them. This complexity is compounded by an epistemic...
Cell Reports Medicine May 7, 2026 Mihai Avram, Aurore Menegaux, Felix Müller et al. 1 citation
The clinical trial NCT03866252 investigates the antidepressant effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 61 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) randomized to low-dose LSD (LD-LSD; 2 × 25 μg) or moderate-to-high-dose LSD (HD-LSD; 100 μg followed by 200 μg) 4 weeks apart. Although the trial reports positive clinical outcomes, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we test...
Nature Medicine April 1, 2026 Manesh Girn, Manoj K. Doss, Leor Roseman et al. 8 citations
Psychedelic drugs are re-emerging as promising scientific and clinical tools. However, despite a rapidly expanding literature on their therapeutic value, the neural mechanisms underlying psychedelic effects remain unclear. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of acute psychedelic effects, conducted independently by several research groups, have so far yielded fragmented...
JAMA Network Open January 2, 2026 Gianluca Andri Florineth, Isabell Klima, Anna Laura Boeker et al. 5 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is a novel intervention for depressive symptoms, typically delivered with additional psychological therapy sessions. Quantitative evidence on how this concomitant therapy contributes to treatment outcomes is limited, highlighting the need for a systematic synthesis. To evaluate whether the quantity of psychological therapy is associated with symptom reduction...
Med (New York, N.Y.) June 4, 2025 Felix Müller, Hannes Zaczek, Anna M Becker et al. 21 citations
This trial aimed to assess the efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-assisted therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder. This was a randomized, parallel, double-blind, low-dose controlled trial (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03866252). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive supportive psychotherapy and either 100 μg + 200 μg LSD or 25 μg + 25 μg...
JAMA Psychiatry June 1, 2025 Lorenz Mueller, Joyce Santos de Jesus, Yasmin Schmid et al. 14 citations
Microdosing psychedelics, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), has gained attention for its potential benefits in several psychiatric disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, LSD's efficacy in reducing ADHD symptoms remains unknown. To determine the safety and efficacy of repeated low doses of LSD in reducing ADHD symptoms compared with placebo. This...
Molecular Psychiatry April 1, 2025 Mihai Avram, Lydia Fortea, Lea Wollner et al. 26 citations
Psychedelics have recently attracted significant attention for their potential to mitigate symptoms associated with various psychiatric disorders. However, the precise neurobiological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. A valuable approach to gaining insights into the specific mechanisms of action involves comparing psychedelics with substances that have...
Psychiatry Research January 29, 2025 Felix Müller, Thomas Sauer, Corina Hänny et al. 11 citations
• A 60-year-old man with recurrent depression and history of delusions died after psilocybin-assisted therapy. • Psilocybin-triggered delusions and emotional dysregulation may have contributed. • Weak therapeutic alliance hindered assessment of patient's internal state. • Delusional symptoms may contraindicate psychedelic interventions. • This case emphasizes the need for thorough assessment...
Translational Psychiatry September 4, 2024 Patrick Vizeli, Erich Studerus, Friederike Holze et al. 15 citations
The pharmacodynamic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) are diverse and different in different individuals. Effects of other psychoactive substances have been shown to be critically influenced by non-pharmacological factors such as personality traits and mood states. The aim of this study was to determine pharmacological and psychological predictors of the LSD effects in healthy human...
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science September 1, 2024 Friederike Holze, Peter Gasser, Felix Müller et al. 32 citations
Anxiety disorders are a major public health burden with limited treatment options. We investigated the long-term safety and efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-assisted therapy in patients with anxiety with or without life-threatening illness. This study was an a priori-planned long-term follow-up of an investigator-initiated, two-centre trial that used a double-blind,...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences July 31, 2024 Friederike Holze, Matthias E. Liechti, Felix Müller 4 citations
Psychedelics are a group of substances within the heterogeneous class of hallucinogenic drugs. Via binding to the serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor, psychedelics exert profound alterations in various mental domains, including sensation, cognition, emotions, and self-perception. Psychedelics comprise phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline), tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin), and ergolines (e.g., LSD). These...
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging May 1, 2024 Mihai Avram, Felix Müller, Katrin H. Preller et al. 13 citations
While the exploration of serotonergic psychedelics as psychiatric medicines deepens, so does the pressure to better understand how these compounds act on the brain. We used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design and administered lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and d-amphetamine in 25 healthy participants. By using spectral dynamic causal...
Neuropsychopharmacology April 25, 2023 Peter Bedford, Daniel J. Hauke, Zheng Wang et al. 43 citations
Abstract Psychedelics have emerged as promising candidate treatments for various psychiatric conditions, and given their clinical potential, there is a need to identify biomarkers that underlie their effects. Here, we investigate the neural mechanisms of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) using regression dynamic causal modelling (rDCM), a novel technique that assesses whole-brain effective...
Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medications March 1, 2023 Mihai Avram, Felix Müller, Stefan Borgwardt 1 citation
Abstract Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent perception-altering chemical. Since the discovery of its effects almost eighty years ago, LSD has been revered and demonized. Before its ban in the late 1960s, LSD was used to model aspects of psychosis and treat distinct mental disorders such as alcohol addiction and anxiety. The new wave of research on psychedelics as potential treatments...
Biological Psychiatry February 1, 2023 Friederike Holze, Peter Gasser, Felix Müller et al. 294 citations
This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)-assisted therapy in patients who experienced anxiety with or without association with a life-threatening illness. The study is an investigator-initiated 2-center trial that used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-period, random-order, crossover design with 2 sessions with either oral LSD (200 μg) or...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology December 30, 2022 Helena Rogg, Mihai Avram, Felix Müller et al. 8 citations
Rogg, Helena MD; Avram, Mihai PhD; Müller, Felix MD; Junghanns, Klaus MD; Borgwardt, Stefan MD; Zurowski, Bartosz MD Author Information
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews July 1, 2022 Drummond E-Wen Mcculloch, Gitte Moos Knudsen, Frederick Streeter Barrett et al. 14 citations
Clinical research into serotonergic psychedelics is expanding rapidly, showing promising efficacy across myriad disorders. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a commonly used strategy to identify psychedelic-induced changes in neural pathways in clinical and healthy populations. Here we, a large group of psychedelic imaging researchers, review the 42 research...
Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging April 29, 2022 Mihai Avram, Felix Müller, Helena Rogg et al. 43 citations
Psychedelics, empathogens, and psychostimulants evoke thalamocortical hyperconnectivity with sensorimotor areas, akin to findings in patients with psychotic disorders.
Neuropsychopharmacology February 25, 2022 Friederike Holze, Laura Ley, Felix Müller et al. 223 citations
Abstract Growing interest has been seen in using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin in psychiatric research and therapy. However, no modern studies have evaluated differences in subjective and autonomic effects of LSD and psilocybin or their similarities and dose equivalence. We used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design in 28 healthy subjects (14 women,...
Psychopharmacology January 25, 2022 Felix Müller, Elias Kraus, Friederike Holze et al. 64 citations
Abstract Background LSD and psilocybin are increasingly used in phase I trials and evaluated as therapeutic agents for mental disorders. The phenomenon of reoccurring drug-like experiences after the acute substance effects have worn off was described for both substances and especially attributed to LSD. According to the DSM-V, the persisting and distressing manifestation of these experiences is...
Frontiers in Psychiatry October 13, 2021 Mihai Avram, Helena Rogg, Αλεξάνδρα Κορδά et al. 43 citations
Psychiatry has a well-established tradition of comparing drug-induced experiences to psychotic symptoms, based on shared phenomena such as altered perceptions. The present review focuses on experiences induced by classic psychedelics, which are substances capable of eliciting powerful psychoactive effects, characterized by distortions/alterations of several neurocognitive processes (e.g.,...
Translational Psychiatry April 8, 2021 Natasha L. Mason, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Johannes T. Reckweg et al. 132 citations
Abstract Creativity is an essential cognitive ability linked to all areas of our everyday functioning. Thus, finding a way to enhance it is of broad interest. A large number of anecdotal reports suggest that the consumption of psychedelic drugs can enhance creative thinking; however, scientific evidence is lacking. Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group design, we...
Neuropsychopharmacology November 20, 2020 Felix Müller, Friederike Holze, Patrick C. Dolder et al. 43 citations
Abstract It has been reported that serotonergic hallucinogens like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) induce decreases in functional connectivity within various resting-state networks. These alterations were seen as reflecting specific neuronal effects of hallucinogens and it was speculated that these shifts in connectivity underlie the characteristic subjective drug effects. In this study, we...
Frontiers in Psychiatry October 22, 2020 Felix Müller, Markus Mühlhauser, Friederike Holze et al. 31 citations
A 39-year-old female patient suffering from severe, treatment-resistant depression and other symptoms associated with a complex personality disorder was admitted to our open psychiatric ward for an experimental treatment with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The substance was administered in repeated weekly and ascending doses. Curiously, there were no substantial acute subjective effects of...