Nature Medicine
August 6, 2026
James Rucker, Tim Mantingh, Jess Kerr-Gaffney et al.
1 citation
Psilocybin-assisted therapy may be a promising new treatment for treatment-resistant depression. We examined the feasibility of administering a single 25-mg dose of psilocybin or placebo with psychological support in a randomized controlled trial design with 6 weeks of follow-up. A two-arm, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled feasibility trial was conducted at one National Health...
Journal of Affective Disorders
August 1, 2026
Guy M. Goodwin, Scott T Aaronson, Oscar Alvarez et al.
2 citations
The contribution of patient support to psilocybin's antidepressant effects remains uncertain. Relationships between therapeutic alliance (Scale to Assess Therapeutic Relationship-Patient version; STAR-P), psychedelic experience (Five-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness Questionnaire and Emotional Breakthrough Inventory; 5D-ASC and EBI) and clinical outcomes (Montgomery-Åsberg Depression...
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
July 17, 2026
Allan H. Young, Bernhard T Baune, Beatrice Benatti et al.
Esketamine nasal spray (NS) is an established treatment for patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD). To further optimise real-world outcomes, consensus is needed regarding strategies to enhance patient outcomes and decision-making factors for pivotal timepoints in esketamine NS treatment. This modified Delphi panel (3 rounds) established expert consensus (≥80% agreement) from 30...
Psychological Medicine
July 13, 2026
Thorsten Barnhofer, Barnaby D. Dunn, Clara Strauss et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was developed for relapse prevention in people with remitted depression but is increasingly used for those with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD). A key question regarding this broader application is whether ongoing depressive symptoms constrain therapeutic responsiveness or disrupt MBCT's proposed mechanism, decentering. We explored whether baseline...
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
June 12, 2026
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
1 citation
INTRODUCTION: Around a third of patients with major depressive disorder experience persistent symptoms despite usual treatments. Identifying scalable, psychological treatment options is critical to reduce the burden associated with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD). We examined the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) compared with treatment as usual (TAU) and other active...
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol
June 5, 2026
Andreas Reif, A. Elif Anıl Yağcıoğlu, Istvan Bitter et al.
Response to: Commentary on "Long-term treatment with esketamine nasal spray in patients with treatment resistant depression: Results from the ESCAPE-LTE study".
The American journal of psychiatry
June 1, 2026
Luke A. Jelen, Owen O'Daly, Fernando O Zelaya et al.
2 citations
Accumulating evidence suggests that the opioid system may modulate ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects. The objective of this study was to test whether opioid system modulation via naltrexone alters ketamine's acute effects on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in major depressive disorder (MDD), and whether these changes relate to symptom measures and map onto receptor density profiles....
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
May 29, 2026
Elliot Hampsey, Kirsty Martin, Michail Kalfas et al.
Despite renewed investigations into classical psychedelic compounds, their pharmacokinetic profiles remain incompletely understood. This systematic review collated data from healthy adult volunteers on the pharmacokinetic properties of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline, and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MEO-DMT). We identified 32 eligible...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
May 5, 2026
Hiroyuki Uchida, Gabriella Gobbi, Joseph Zohar et al.
BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, neuropsychopharmacology has shifted from stagnation to momentum, with first-in-class mechanisms and biomarker-enabled trials spanning psychiatry and neurology. METHODS: We narratively synthesized advances from 2013 to 2026 across central nervous system (CNS) discovery and development, including pivotal trials, regulatory actions, digital/real-world evidence,...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
April 16, 2026
Minna Chang, Allan H. Young, Mario F Juruena
Previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have reported impressive antidepressant effects of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). While ketamine has been compared with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the gold standard treatment, the extent and durability of its antidepressant effects over longer periods remain unclear. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
January 26, 2026
Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Samuel Myrtle, Famia Askari et al.
2 citations
Background: Changes in well-being, personality, and personal values have been documented post-psilocybin; however, evidence from placebo-controlled trials is limited. Aims: To examine the effects of psilocybin versus placebo on psychiatric symptoms, personality, and personal values in healthy participants. Potential mediators were also explored. Methods: This secondary analysis used data from a...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
December 26, 2025
Alice Caulfield, Allan H. Young, Mitul A. Mehta
2 citations
Psychedelics are gaining attention as putative treatments for a range of psychiatric conditions, and evidence suggests that they produce sustained behavioural and clinical change. Enhanced learning is an emerging candidate mechanism mediating these sustained effects. This narrative review synthesises evidence across behavioural, neural and computational levels to examine the current evidence...
J Psychopharmacol
October 27, 2025
David Nutt, Celia J. A. Morgan, David Erritzøe et al.
2 citations
A long, strange trip: Ketamine treatment in psychiatry.
J Affect Disord
October 10, 2025
Guy M. Goodwin, Scott T Aaronson, Oscar Alvarez et al.
correction
Corrigendum to "The role of the psychedelic experience in psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression" [Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 372 (2025), Pages 523-532].
Nature Medicine
July 24, 2025
Luke A. Jelen, David J Lythgoe, James Stone et al.
29 citations
We investigated the potential role of the opioid system in modulating glutamatergic effects of ketamine administration in major depressive disorder. Twenty-six adults with major depressive disorder participated in a double-blind crossover study, receiving oral placebo or 50 mg naltrexone before an intravenous infusion of 0.5 mg per kg ketamine. Brain glutamatergic activity in the anterior...
bioRxiv
July 22, 2025
Alice Caulfield, Lorraine Li, Famia Askari et al.
preprint
Introduction: Psychedelics are emerging as potential treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions, with evidence suggesting a single administration can lead to enduring behavioural changes. While the underlying putative mechanism(s) remain unclear, there is evidence supporting altered learning as a key candidate. Aim: This systematic review examined studies assessing the effects of psychedelics...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
June 30, 2025
Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Anna Tröger, Alice Caulfield et al.
6 citations
Ketamine has emerged as a putative rapid-acting treatment option for psychiatric disorders, particularly treatment-resistant depression. Chronic recreational ketamine use is associated with ketamine-induced urological toxicity, raising concerns over the safety of repeated ketamine treatments. This systematic review aimed to synthesise urological findings from clinical trials and observational...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
June 20, 2025
Mutahira Qureshi, Daniel Silman, Romayne Gadelrab et al.
3 citations
Ketamine, a rapid-acting N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist used as a therapeutic for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), is usually administered intravenously or intranasally. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 1 study investigated safety and tolerability (primary endpoint), pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of an immediate-release oral ketamine....
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 6, 2025
Naim Zaki, Li Nancy Chen, Rosanne Lane et al.
32 citations
The rates of relapse and suicide risk are higher in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) vs non-treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Even among patients with TRD who initially respond, the majority (70%) relapse within 6 months. To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of esketamine nasal spray, combined with an oral antidepressant, in patients with TRD. Phase 3, open-label,...
The lancet. Psychiatry
June 1, 2025
Thorsten Barnhofer, Barnaby D. Dunn, Clara Strauss et al.
9 citations
Non-remission after psychological therapy for major depressive disorder is common, yet there are no established further-line treatments. In the UK National Health Service (NHS) Talking Therapies programme, about 50% of patients with depression who come to the end of the stepped care pathway do not show remission of symptoms. We aimed to investigate whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy...
BJPsych Open
June 1, 2025
Minna Chang, Allan H. Young, Mario F Juruena
Aims: Ketamine is a novel and exciting putative antidepressant medication for patients with treatment-resistant depression. A complication commonly seen in frequent and heavy recreational use of ketamine is ulcerative cystitis, which presents with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and upper renal tract damage and can be seen in over 25% of regular users. Although ketamine-induced cystitis...
BJPsych Open
June 1, 2025
Anna Borissova, Allan H. Young, Mitul A. Mehta et al.
Aims: Ketamine and behavioural activation (BA) reduce levels of anhedonia in major depressive disorder (MDD), though neither resolves anhedonia. Combining these treatments could yield additive or even multiplicative benefits. This poster summarises the development of a PhD fellowship proposal, discussing: (1) the initial patient and public involvement (PPI) interviews, exploring views on...
Ageing Research Reviews
May 1, 2025
Beatriz Pozuelo Moyano, Denise Gomez Bautista, Karla Jocelyn Porras Ibarra et al.
12 citations
Treatment-resistant late-life depression (TRLLD) affects nearly half of older adults with major depression. This systematic review evaluates published evidence of effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for TRLLD. A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and online trial registries up to March 2024 was conducted to identify randomized...
Journal of Affective Disorders
March 1, 2025
Guy M. Goodwin, Scott T Aaronson, Oscar Alvarez et al.
35 citations
To determine the relationships between psilocybin dose, psychedelic experiences, and therapeutic outcome in treatment-resistant depression. For treatment-resistant depression, 233 participants received a single dose of 25, 10, or 1 mg of COMP360 psilocybin (a proprietary, pharmaceutical-grade synthesized psilocybin formulation, developed by the sponsor, Compass Pathfinder Ltd.) with...
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
February 1, 2025
Allan H. Young, Pierre-Michel Llorca, Andrea Fagiolini et al.
7 citations
In patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD), the ESCAPE-TRD study showed esketamine nasal spray was superior to quetiapine extended release. To determine the robustness of the ESCAPE-TRD results and confirm the superiority of esketamine nasal spray over quetiapine extended release. ESCAPE-TRD was a randomised, open-label, rater-blinded, active-controlled phase IIIb trial. Patients had...