Nat Med
February 16, 2026
David Erritzøe, Tommaso Barba, Tiffanie Benway et al.
4 citations
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability worldwide, yet many patients have inadequate responses to current treatments. Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a serotonergic psychedelic with rapid onset and short duration, shows promise as a potential antidepressant (AD), although clinical evidence in MDD remains limited. We conducted a phase IIa, double-blind, placebo-controlled,...
PsyArXiv
September 30, 2025
Christopher Timmermann, Tommaso Barba, James W. Sanders et al.
preprint
Meditation and psychedelics have separately been studied as powerful tools for probing consciousness through their capacity to deconstruct the sense of self. Yet, direct empirical comparisons remain scarce, particularly in expert meditators. Here, we report for the first time a case study in which an advanced meditator and Lama from the Mahāmudrā meditation tradition engaged in a traditional...
Neuroscience of Consciousness
2025
Christopher Timmermann, James W. Sanders, David Reydellet et al.
19 citations
5-MeO-DMT is a short-acting psychedelic that is anecdotally reported to induce a radical disruption of the self and a paradoxical quality of aroused, waking awareness that is nevertheless devoid of any specific perceptual contents. Here, we conducted an exploratory observational study of the phenomenological and neuronal effects of this compound. We collected micro-phenomenological interviews,...
Neurosci Insights
October 8, 2024
Matthew B. Wall, Rebecca Harding, Natalie Ertl et al.
3 citations
Psychedelic therapies are an emerging class of treatments in psychiatry with great potential, however relatively little is known about their interactions with other commonly used psychiatric medications. As psychedelic therapies become more widespread and move closer to the clinic, they likely will need to be integrated into existing treatment models which may include one or more traditional...
EClinicalMedicine
September 23, 2024
David Erritzøe, Tommaso Barba, Kyle T. Greenway et al.
46 citations
The Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust and by the founding partners of Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic Research.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
June 4, 2024
Julia Bornemann, James B. Close, Kirran Ahmad et al.
11 citations
Background Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Fibromyalgia is a particularly debilitating form of widespread chronic pain. Fibromyalgia remains poorly understood, and treatment options are limited or moderately effective at best. Here, we present a protocol for a mechanistic study investigating the effects of psychedelic-assisted-therapy in a fibromyalgia population. The...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
April 12, 2024
Joseph Peill, Miriam Marguilho, David Erritzøe et al.
16 citations
Background: Reference to an intrinsic healing mechanism or an ‘inner healer’ is commonplace amongst psychedelic drug-using cultures. The ‘inner healer’ refers to the belief that psychedelic compounds, plants or concoctions have an intrinsically regenerative action on the mind and brain, analogous to intrinsic healing mechanisms within the physical body, for example, after sickness or injury....
Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 22, 2024
Tommaso Barba, David Erritzøe, Meg J. Spriggs et al.
26 citations
Background: There is growing evidence for the therapeutic effects of the psychedelic drug psilocybin for major depression. However, due to the lack of safety data on combining psilocybin with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and concerns that there may be a negative interaction on efficacy, participants enrolling in...
Scientific Reports
February 7, 2024
Tommaso Barba, Hannes Kettner, Caterina Radu et al.
24 citations
Abstract Do psychedelics affect sexual functioning postacutely? Anecdotal and qualitative evidence suggests they do, but this has never been formally tested. While sexual functioning and satisfaction are generally regarded as an important aspect of human wellbeing, sexual dysfunction is a common symptom of mental health disorders. It is also a common side effect of selective serotonin reuptake...
J Psychopharmacol
January 27, 2024
Jessica Barbut Siva, Tommaso Barba, Hannes Kettner et al.
29 citations
Interactions between classic psychedelics and serotonergic antidepressants: Effects on the acute psychedelic subjective experience, well-being and depressive symptoms from a prospective survey study.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
June 12, 2023
Rayyan Zafar, Maxim Siegel, Rebecca Harding et al.
95 citations
Psychedelic therapy has witnessed a resurgence in interest in the last decade from the scientific and medical communities with evidence now building for its safety and efficacy in treating a range of psychiatric disorders including addiction. In this review we will chart the research investigating the role of these interventions in individuals with addiction beginning with an overview of the...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2023
Ellen James, David Erritzøe, Tiffanie Benway et al.
16 citations
Due to their potential impact on mood and wellbeing there has been increasing interest in the potential of serotonergic psychedelics such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of Part A of this study was to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profile of escalating doses of SPL026 (DMT fumarate)...
BJPsych Open
September 1, 2022
Tommaso Barba, Sarah Buehler, Hannes Kettner et al.
57 citations
Background Major depressive disorder is often associated with maladaptive coping strategies, including rumination and thought suppression. Aims To assess the comparative effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram, and the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin (COMP360), on rumination and thought suppression in major depressive disorder. Method Based on data derived from a...