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William Trender

4 papers in the library · 32 citations · publishing 2023-2026

Papers

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Human brain changes after first psilocybin use.

Nature Communications May 5, 2026 T Lyons, M Spriggs, L Kerkelä et al. 19 citations

Psychedelics have robust effects on acute brain function and long-term behavior but whether they also cause enduring functional and anatomical brain changes is largely unknown. In an exploratory, placebo-controlled, within-subjects, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study in 28 healthy, entirely psychedelic-naive participants, anatomical and functional brain...

Past Psychedelic Use Predicts Divergent Thinking

January 7, 2026 Gregory Pope, C. Timmermann, William Trender et al.

Psychedelics have shown potential in treating a range of mental health conditions, yet far less is known about their impact on creativity. This study examined three components of creativity-divergent thinking, cognitive reflection, and insight in a large sample (N = 5,905) from the Great British Intelligence Test. We compared performance between individuals with past psychedelic use and those...

Naturalistic use of psychedelics is associated with longitudinal improvements in anxiety and depression during global crisis times.

Journal of Psychopharmacology June 18, 2025 Maria Bălăeţ, William Trender, Annalaura Lerede et al. 2 citations

Mental health implications of COVID-19 drug use patterns are still unclear. We used data-driven clustering in a large citizen science cohort recruited agnostically to an interest in drug-use to categorise people according to common patterns of drug use and analysed their mental health symptoms (GAD-7 and PHQ-9 items), from recruitment prior to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 (N = 242,260) to...

DOI: 10.1177/02698811251346729 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Well-being Reduced anxiety Reduced depression Improved mental health +5

Associations between the use of psychedelics and other recreational drugs with mental health and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Frontiers in Psychiatry June 15, 2023 Maria Bălăeţ, William Trender, Peter J. Hellyer et al. 11 citations

The large-scale disruption to peoples’ daily lives during the COVID-19 pandemic provides a context for examining whether use of substances such as psychedelics in a naturalistic (outside of a controlled environment) setting, is associated with better mental wellbeing and resilience relative to those who use other drugs, or who do not use drugs at all. We interrogate data from the Great British...