International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 9, 2026
C Agnorelli, J Peill, D Kurtin et al.
Abstract Background Clinical studies have shown that ketamine and classic psychedelics can produce robust and rapid antidepressant effects after a single or a few administrations. However, the neurobiological mechanisms driving these long-lasting changes remain unclear. A leading framework proposes that both drug classes induce sustained increases in neuroplasticity, potentially reshaping...
Br J Psychiatry
July 8, 2026
Hannah Douglass, Meg J. Spriggs, Kate Godfrey et al.
Background Anorexia nervosa is a debilitating eating disorder with high mortality and chronicity rates owing to the paucity of effective existing treatments. Several clinical trials using psilocybin therapy have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy and safety in psychiatric conditions, including anorexia nervosa. Aims This study aimed to further assess the safety, feasibility and potential...
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...
Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
March 21, 2026
Claudio Agnorelli, Joseph Peill, Gabriela Sawicka et al.
We investigated ketamine's neuroplastic effects in healthy human subjects using integrated Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measures before and 1-8 days after a single psychedelic dose of ketamine (1 mg/kg, intravenous). Eleven male participants underwent two PET/MRI scans with [11C]-UCBJ (synaptic density/plasticity), 1H-MRS (glutamate and GABA) and...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
July 2, 2025
Neil W. Bailey, Aron T. Hill, Kate Godfrey et al.
4 citations
Mindfulness meditation involves training attention, commonly toward sensory experiences, with nonjudgmental awareness. Theoretical perspectives propose that meditation increases the precision of sensory processing and reduces the generation/elaboration of top-down expectations. Research suggests forward traveling cortical alpha waves may reflect bottom-up inhibition to enhance signal-to-noise...
Comprehensive Psychiatry
July 1, 2025
Luca Pellegrini, Naomi A Fineberg, Sorcha O'Connor et al.
17 citations
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. A large proportion of patients fail to respond to first-line treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or clomipramine. Preliminary evidence suggests psilocybin, a serotonin receptor agonist, might be efficacious. We conducted a pharmacological challenge study to...
Psychopharmacology
February 1, 2025
Robin J Murphy, Rachael Sumner, Kate Godfrey et al.
9 citations
Enhanced creativity is often cited as an effect of microdosing (taking repeated low doses of a psychedelic drug). There have been recent efforts to validate the reported effects of microdosing, however creativity remains a difficult construct to quantify. The current study aimed to assess microdosing's effects on creativity using a multimodal battery of tests as part of a randomised controlled...
Cureus
January 29, 2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
2 citations
This study's results are expected to offer critical insights into the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy in treating OCD, and whether these correlate with changes in the cognitive features of the condition. As a secondary aim, it will ascertain whether a low, tolerable dose is a feasible and efficacious clinical treatment, and will provide crucial data to...
Molecular Psychiatry
January 14, 2025
Claudio Agnorelli, Alessandra Cinti, Giovanni Barillà et al.
8 citations
Ketamine, a dissociative compound, shows promise in treating mood disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Despite its therapeutic potential, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying ketamine's effects are not fully understood. This study explored acute neurophysiological changes induced by subanesthetic doses of ketamine in BD patients with...
International review of neurobiology
2025
Kate Godfrey, Lisa Luan, Christopher Timmermann
1 citation
This chapter reviews the effects of classic psychedelics on human oscillatory brain activity, as measured by resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Across moderate to high doses of LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and DMT, a consistent reduction in alpha power (8-13 Hz) emerges, particularly in occipital regions. Below 30 Hz, desynchronization is typical,...
Cureus
2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
correction
Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex condition marked by persistent distressing thoughts and repetitive behaviours. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms behind OCD remain elusive, and current treatments are limited. This protocol outlines an investigative study for individuals with OCD, exploring the potential of psilocybin to improve key components of cognition...
Neuroscience Applied
December 2, 2024
Kate Godfrey, Brandon Weiss, Joseph Peill et al.
5 citations
This study investigated the effects of a single high-dose of psilocybin on personality traits in psychedelic-naïve healthy volunteers. These data originate from a larger within-subjects fixed-order design trial, where a single high dose of psilocybin (25 mg) was administered in a psychologically supportive setting and was compared against a (one-month) prior, 1 mg 'placebo' dose. Personality...
arXiv Preprint Archive
November 29, 2024
Claudio Agnorelli, Meg J. Spriggs, Kate Godfrey et al.
32 citations
Neuroplasticity, the ability of the nervous system to adapt throughout an organism's lifespan, offers potential as both a biomarker and treatment target for neuropsychiatric conditions. Psychedelics, a burgeoning category of drugs, are increasingly prominent in psychiatric research, prompting inquiries into their mechanisms of action. Distinguishing themselves from traditional medications,...
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...
BMC Neuroscience
February 5, 2024
Robin J Murphy, Kate Godfrey, Alexander D Shaw et al.
16 citations
Microdosing psychedelics is a phenomenon with claimed cognitive benefits that are relatively untested clinically. Pre-clinically, psychedelics have demonstrated enhancing effects on neuroplasticity, which cannot be measured directly in humans, but may be indexed by non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) paradigms. This study used a visual long-term potentiation (LTP) EEG paradigm to test the...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2024
D J Nutt, Joseph Peill, B Weiss et al.
30 citations
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and ketamine are returning to clinical research and intervention across several disorders including the treatment of depression. This chapter focusses on psychedelics that specifically target the 5-HT2A receptor such as psilocybin and DMT. These produce plasma-concentration related psychological effects such as hallucinations and out of body experiences,...
Biological Psychiatry
September 15, 2023
Robin J Murphy, Rachael Sumner, William Evans et al.
69 citations
Microdosing psychedelic drugs is a widespread social phenomenon with diverse benefits claimed for mood and cognition. Randomized controlled trials have failed to support these claims, but the laboratory-based dosing in trials conducted to date may have limited ecological validity. Healthy male volunteers were randomized into lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (n = 40) and placebo (n = 40) groups...