Abstract Chronic cluster headache (CCH) is an excruciating disorder of unknown pathophysiology, but hypothalamic dysfunction has been implicated. CCH is difficult to treat but on a case-basis, the psychedelic compound psilocybin is said to have beneficial effects. In this first-ever clinical trial ( NCT04280055 ), we evaluate in a small open-label study of CCH patients the feasibility and...
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin have shown substantial promise for the treatment of several psychiatric conditions including mood and addictive disorders. They also have the remarkable property of producing persisting positive psychological changes in healthy volunteers for at least several months. In this study (NCT03289949), 35 medium-high doses of psilocybin were administered to 28...
Abstract Background Psilocin, the neuroactive metabolite of psilocybin, is a serotonergic psychedelic that induces an acute altered state of consciousness, evokes lasting changes in mood and personality in healthy individuals, and has potential as an antidepressant treatment. Examining the acute effects of psilocin on resting-state dynamic functional connectivity implicates network-level...
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin are under investigation for the treatment of several psychiatric conditions. They also have the remarkable property of producing persisting positive psychological changes in healthy volunteers for at least several months. In this study, 35 medium-high doses of psilocybin were administered to 28 healthy volunteers (12 females). By the end of the dosing day,...
The emerging novel therapeutic psilocybin produces psychedelic effects via engagement of cerebral serotonergic targets by psilocin (active metabolite). The serotonin 2A receptor critically mediates these effects by altering distributed neural processes that manifest as increased entropy, reduced functional connectivity (FC) within discrete brain networks (i.e., reduced integrity) and increased...
Background: Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug that has shown lasting positive effects on clinical symptoms and self-reported well-being following a single dose. There has been little research into the long-term effects of psilocybin on brain connectivity in humans. Aim: Evaluate changes in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) at 1 week and 3 months after one psilocybin dose in 10 healthy...
Evaluating associations between the five-factor personality domains and resting-state functional connectivity networks (e.g. default mode network, DMN) highlights distributed neurobiological systems linked to behaviorally relevant phenotypes. Establishing these associations can highlight a potential underlying role for these neural pathways in related clinical illness and treatment response....
Background: Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic with psychoactive effects mediated by serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) activation. It produces an acute psychedelic altered state of consciousness with a unique phenomenology that can be temporally characterized by three intensity phases: onset of psychoactive effect, a peak plateau and return to normal consciousness. Aims: We evaluated...
A single dose of the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist psilocybin can have long-lasting beneficial effects on mood, personality, and potentially on mindfulness, but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, we for the first time conduct a study that assesses psilocybin effects on cerebral 5-HT2AR binding with [11C]Cimbi-36 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and on personality and...
The original version of this article contained an error in the labelling of Figures 2 and 3. While the captions and figures themselves are correct, in order to correspond with the in-text references, they have now been re-numbered in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article.
Background: Recent studies have suggested therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for a variety of mental health conditions. The understanding of how single psychedelic administrations can induce long-lasting effects are, in large, still lacking. However, recent studies in both healthy and clinical populations suggest a role for personality changes. Aim: To test support for some of these plausible...
The main psychedelic component of magic mushrooms is psilocybin, which shows promise as a treatment for depression and other mental disorders. Psychedelic effects are believed to emerge through stimulation of serotonin 2A receptors (5-HT2ARs) by psilocybin's active metabolite, psilocin. We here report for the first time the relationship between intensity of psychedelic effects, cerebral 5-HT2AR...
Abstract Recent research found lasting increases in personality trait Openness in healthy individuals and patients after administration of the serotonin 2A receptor (5‐HT 2A R) agonist psilocybin. However, no studies have investigated whether 5‐HT 2A R availability as imaged using positron emission tomography (PET) is associated with this trait. In 159 healthy individuals (53 females), the...
Serotonergic signaling is considered critical for an appropriate adaptation to stress. We have previously observed that in healthy volunteers, prefrontal serotonin transporter (SERT) binding is positively associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis output in terms of the cortisol awakening response (CAR). Here, we tested (1) if such a correlation persists in a human model of...