Scientific Reports
February 10, 2026
Michelle Olofsson, Kasim Acar, Otto Simonsson et al.
Recent research has highlighted the potential of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related psychiatric conditions. However, less is known about the effects of MDMA use on psychological well-being in populations with trauma histories outside of clinical contexts. In the present study, we assessed...
Int J Drug Policy
December 13, 2025
Michelle Olofsson, Walter Osika, Simon B. Goldberg et al.
2 citations
BACKGROUND: Naturalistic psychedelic use can result in a range of difficulties that impair social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. Yet, the prevalence, phenomenology, and etiology of these outcomes remain poorly understood. Recent qualitative research has shown that individuals with long-term difficulties after psychedelic use sometimes attribute their challenges to...
Journal of Affective Disorders
January 26, 2024
Ludwig Honk, Cecilia U.D. Stenfors, Simon B. Goldberg et al.
41 citations
It has long been speculated that psychedelic use could provoke the onset of psychosis, but there is little evidence to support this conjecture. Using a longitudinal research design with samples representative of the US and UK adult populations with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (n = 9732), we investigated associations between psychedelic use and change in the number of psychotic symptoms...
Scientific Reports
September 30, 2023
Alexander V. Lebedev, Kasim Acar, Otilia Horntvedt et al.
9 citations
Previous research has suggested that classical psychedelics can foster significant and enduring changes in personality traits and subjective wellbeing. Despite the lack of evidence for adverse effects on mental health stemming from psychedelic use, concerns persist regarding the capacity of these substances to modulate information processing and attitudes towards factual data. The aim of the...
Schizophrenia Bulletin
July 21, 2023
Predrag Petrović, Philipp Sterzer
42 citations
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: The neurocomputational framework of predictive processing (PP) provides a promising approach to explaining delusions, a key symptom of psychotic disorders. According to PP, the brain makes inferences about the world by weighing prior beliefs against the available sensory data. Mismatches between prior beliefs and sensory data result in prediction errors that may...
May 31, 2022
Predrag Petrović, Jovana Vunduk
2 citations
Mushrooms have been used in traditional medicine for centuries, although only relatively recently they have become a subject of intensive studies as a source of potential drugs and products that could be used in the treatment of many disorders. Mushroom-forming fungi are shown to produce a vast number of unique metabolites that exhibit various biological effects; these include polysaccharides,...
Scientific Reports
July 23, 2021
Alexander V. Lebedev, Kasim Acar, Benjamín Garzón et al.
19 citations
Abstract Despite recently resurrected scientific interest in classical psychedelics, few studies have focused on potential harms associated with abuse of these substances. In particular, the link between psychedelic use and psychotic symptoms has been debated while no conclusive evidence has been presented. Here, we studied an adult population (n = 1032) with a special focus on young (18–35...
Biol Psychiatry
May 25, 2018
Philipp Sterzer, Rick A. Adams, Paul Fletcher et al.
901 citations
Fueled by developments in computational neuroscience, there has been increasing interest in the underlying neurocomputational mechanisms of psychosis. One successful approach involves predictive coding and Bayesian inference. Here, inferences regarding the current state of the world are made by combining prior beliefs with incoming sensory signals. Mismatches between prior beliefs and incoming...