Psychedelics
April 20, 2026
Sophia M. Castillo, Noelle Cataldo, Cody J. Wenthur
Despite the existence of current treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), depression symptoms and burdens often persist, prompting the need for novel therapies, including psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), with promising potential for early and durable antidepressant responses. Objectives: This research aims to compare pharmacist opinions regarding logistical and ethical considerations...
Translational Psychiatry
February 14, 2026
Michael H Sutherland, Christopher R. Nicholas, Richard C Lennertz et al.
The serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin induces neural plasticity and profoundly alters consciousness. The benzodiazepine midazolam blunts neural plasticity and induces conscious sedation and amnesia at low doses. In our recent open label pilot study, we administered oral psilocybin (25 mg) along with intravenous midazolam at doses allowing a full psychedelic experience while blunting memory...
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry
January 17, 2026
Uriel Matthew Enriquez, Natalie M González Velázquez, Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain et al.
Antibodies against small psychoactive molecules have been developed for applications ranging from substance detection and overdose protection to mechanistic understanding of the actions of complex substance mixtures. In this study, we describe the design, synthesis, formulation, and animal testing of an initial immunogenic bioconjugate, as well as subsequent isolation of enantiospecific...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
September 30, 2025
Ya'El Courtney, Josephine M Anderson, Christian Lagares-Linares et al.
preprint
Despite increasing non-medical use and clinical investigation of psychedelics, the consequences of prenatal exposure remain unknown. In mice, maternal lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD; 0.3 mg kg -1 ) crossed the placenta, appearing in embryonic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within minutes at E12.5 and E16.5. Within 30 minutes, LSD and other serotonergic psychedelics induced a 5-HT 2 C agonist-like...
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
September 11, 2025
Noelle Cataldo, John A. Razidlo, Cody J. Wenthur
2 citations
Serotonergic psychedelics have shown promise in clinical trials for treating an array of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite these findings, our understanding of how these drugs mechanistically exert their therapeutic effects remains incomplete. While researchers have regularly employed rodent preclinical models to assess such...
Scientific Reports
July 21, 2025
Suhjung Janet Lee, Claudia Epland, Noah Kaitz et al.
1 citation
Psychedelic clinical study environments are frequently visually manipulated, such as art; however, there has been little study of how the art selected for display impacts individual responses to the overall setting. To examine how individual self-identities shape perceptions of art used in a clinical psychedelic dosing environment, this study used a community-engaged mixed-methods approach....
Translational Psychiatry
September 12, 2024
Christopher R. Nicholas, Matthew I Banks, Richard C Lennertz et al.
10 citations
Aspects of the acute experience induced by the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin predict symptomatic relief in multiple psychiatric disorders and improved well-being in healthy participants, but whether these therapeutic effects are immediate or are based on memories of the experience is unclear. To examine this, we co-administered psilocybin (25 mg) with the amnestic benzodiazepine midazolam...
Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.)
September 1, 2024
Zarmeen Zahid, Ziyad W. Sultan, Bryan M Krause et al.
5 citations
Serotonergic psychedelics and ketamine produce rapid and long-lasting symptomatic relief in multiple psychiatric disorders. Evidence suggests that despite having distinct molecular targets, both drugs may exert therapeutic benefit via their pro-neuroplastic effects. Following treatment with ketamine or serotonergic psychedelics, patients are reported to be more open to behavioral change, which...
European journal of pharmaceutical sciences : official journal of the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences
August 1, 2024
Christopher G Witowski, Mika R Hess, Nate T Jones et al.
7 citations
There is considerable evidence from the literature that psychedelics, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are safe and effective treatments for depression. However, clinical administration to induce psychedelic effects and expensive psychotherapy-assisted treatments likely limit accessibility to the average patient. There is emerging evidence that DMT promotes positive behavioral changes in...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
January 8, 2024
N. Jones, Laura M. Wagner, Molly C. Pellitteri Hahn et al.
10 citations
Introduction The use of the psychedelic compound psilocybin in conjunction with psychotherapy has shown promising results in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, though the underlying mechanisms supporting these effects remain unclear. Psilocybin is a Schedule I substance that is dephosphorylated in vivo to form an active metabolite, psilocin. Psilacetin, also known as O-acetylpsilocin or...
ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science
August 2, 2023
Zarmeen Zahid, Zhen Zheng, N. Jones et al.
50 citations
While correlations between drug-induced cortisol elevation, self-reported anxiety, and treatment outcomes have been reported for human studies during psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, the mechanistic relationship between psychedelic-associated alterations in plasma glucocorticoid responses and the time course of anxious responsiveness remains unclear. Using rodents, both time-bound...
Molecular Biology of the Cell
May 27, 2021
Matthew I. Banks, Zarmeen Zahid, N. Jones et al.
37 citations
The resurgence of interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for treating psychiatric disorders has rekindled efforts to elucidate their mechanism of action. In this Perspective, we focus on the ability of psychedelics to promote neural plasticity, postulated to be central to their therapeutic activity. We begin with a brief overview of the history and behavioral effects of the...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 14, 2020
N. Jones, Zarmeen Zahid, Sean M. Grady et al.
9 citations
preprint
Abstract Despite observed correlations between acute glucocorticoid release, self-reported anxiety, and long-term treatment outcomes for human studies using psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy approaches, the mechanistic relationship between psychedelic-dependent stress and subsequent behavioral responses remains unclear. Using rodents, direct manipulation of stress-associated hormone responses...