BJPsych Open
July 1, 2023
Muhammad Ishrat Husain, Nicole Ledwos, Elise Fellows et al.
41 citations
A proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial will test whether combining the psychedelic psilocybin with risperidone, a drug that blocks the serotonin 2A receptor, can block psilocybin's psychedelic effects while preserving its antidepressant action in adults with treatment-resistant depression. Sixty participants will be randomly assigned to receive psilocybin plus risperidone, psilocybin alone, or placebo plus risperidone, all with 12 hours of manualized psychotherapy. Feasibility and tolerability will be assessed through recruitment, retention, and adverse events. If successful, this approach could make psilocybin therapy more acceptable and accessible by eliminating the need for a psychedelic experience and continuous monitoring.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 26, 2023
Yi-Ting Chiu, Wei Wang, Pierre Llorach et al.
15 citations
preprint
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin show promise as treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD, migraine, and cluster headaches by activating the 5-HT2A receptor (HTR2A). Researchers engineered several new mouse lines to study the role of HTR2A and the neurons that express it. One line allows visualization of the receptor and identification of HTR2A-containing cells, providing a detailed anatomical map. Another line has a humanized version of the receptor, and a third enables targeted genetic manipulation. The mice exhibited expected behavioral responses to psychedelics, confirming their usefulness. Electrophysiology showed that serotonin increases firing of specific pyramidal neurons through HTR2A, consistent with the receptor's location on the cell surface. These tools will help clarify how psychedelics work at molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels.
Sage Open
April 1, 2021
Chu Wang, Jiayao Xu, Mufan Wang et al.
7 citations
Among 1,451 students at a Chinese university, 63.61% reported having nightmares in the past year, and 4.69% were diagnosed with nightmare disorder, with a higher prevalence in women. Patients with nightmare disorder scored higher on measures of nightmare experience and depressive mood than healthy students. Depression scores correlated with physical effects of nightmares in patients and with negative emotions in healthy students. These findings highlight the prevalence and impact of nightmare disorder in university populations.
PLoS One
January 1, 2025
Wei Wang, Dan Wang, Li Liu et al.
3 citations
Methamphetamine was the most consumed drug in four cities of Guangdong Province, with consumption ranging from 65 to 223 mg per 1000 inhabitants per day, followed by heroin (19-55 mg/1000 inh/d), codeine (7-20 mg/1000 inh/d), and ketamine (1-13 mg/1000 inh/d). Prevalence rates of methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine across the cities were 0.149%-0.411%, 0.003%-0.019%, and 0.003%-0.196%, respectively. Between 2023 and 2024, heroin prevalence showed a downward trend, while methamphetamine and ketamine prevalence increased. Cocaine was detected in only two wastewater treatment plants, and MDMA in two separate plants. The analysis of wastewater samples from 67 treatment plants over one year identified six of ten monitored illicit drugs.
Psychology of Sport And Exercise
July 1, 2025
Wei Wang, Matthew J. Schweickle, Karin Hägglund et al.
2 citations
Among 226 elite athletes, trait mindfulness predicts mental wellbeing through two parallel pathways: increased gratitude toward pleasant moments and greater self-compassion toward unpleasant moments. The mediation analysis controlled for age, gender, sport type, fitness status, and country of residence. Cultivating gratitude and self-compassion through mindfulness-based programs may help protect and promote athlete wellbeing.
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
September 1, 2020
Xu Shao, Chu Wang, Chanchan Shen et al.
1 citation
People with nightmare disorder experience more frequent and intense nightmares than healthy individuals, and they also show higher levels of certain personality disorder traits, including paranoid, schizotypal, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, and dependent styles. In healthy volunteers, borderline, schizotypal, and passive-aggressive traits predicted aspects of nightmare experience, while in patients, dependent, avoidant, histrionic, and paranoid traits were significant predictors. These findings suggest that personality features are closely linked to nightmare experiences, particularly in those with nightmare disorder, and that therapy addressing personality adjustment may be beneficial.
International Immunopharmacology
August 1, 2026
Jinghua Zhao, Ruxin Zhang, Jiarui Pan et al.
The ketamine metabolite (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (HNK) reduces depression-like behavior in mice by suppressing neuroinflammation and neuronal pyroptosis. In experiments with male C57BL/6J mice and PC12 cells, HNK lowered expression of NLRP3, caspase-1, GSDMD, and interleukin-1β at both protein and mRNA levels, lessened neuronal injury, and reduced lactate dehydrogenase release. Transcriptomic analysis identified Vcam1 as a key differentially expressed gene. Overexpressing Vcam1 increased pyroptosis markers, while HNK reduced Vcam1 expression; knocking down Vcam1 had opposite effects. HNK thus attenuates LPS-induced pyroptosis and neuroinflammation partly by downregulating the Vcam1/caspase-1/IL-1β pathway, offering insights for depression treatment.
Journal of Psychiatry
January 1, 2017
Wei Wang, Jiawei Wang
Nightmares are long, detailed dreams that usually happen during REM sleep. They involve intense negative emotions that lead to waking up, often as a person tries to avoid threats to survival, safety, or physical well-being, and typically results in rapid alertness and orientation upon awakening. Nightmares can also leave lingering negative feelings, cause significant distress, emotional dysregulation, and impair social, occupational, or other areas of functioning.
Engineering Proceedings
March 26, 2025
Wei Wang, Pauline van Dongen, Daria Casciani
A newly developed garment, the Mysa shirt, uses haptic technology to guide breathing during mindfulness practice. In user testing of a redesigned version, novice users reported greater relaxation and less stress, while experienced practitioners saw its value as a teaching tool. The findings suggest that clothing with haptic feedback can enhance body awareness and well-being for a range of users, offering insights for future well-being applications.
Journal of Affective Disorders
February 1, 2022
Jianyu Que, Le Shi, Wei Yan et al.
Among 16,220 hospital workers in Wuhan, China, surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic, 13.3% reported suicidal ideation in the past month. Exposure to COVID-19-related traumatic events was significantly associated with insomnia severity, nightmare frequency, and suicidal ideation. After controlling for potential confounders, nightmares—but not insomnia, depression, or anxiety—were independent risk factors for suicidal ideation. Pathway analyses indicated that the relationship between traumatic event exposure and suicidal ideation was fully mediated by nightmares, with a proportion mediated of 66.4%. The authors suggest that nightmare intervention might be considered a component of suicide prevention strategies.
Behavioural Brain Research
May 1, 2019
Wei Wang, Le Liu, Xiu Yang et al.
Mice that showed a rise in plasma corticosterone two hours after a single social defeat stress went on to develop depressive-like behaviors after ten days of repeated defeat. Resilient mice did not show this early corticosterone increase. Susceptible mice maintained elevated corticosterone even 48 hours after the last stress. Giving corticosterone in drinking water made mice susceptible. The glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone reduced susceptibility. A single dose of ketamine improved depressive-like behaviors, lowered corticosterone, and restored glucocorticoid receptor expression and nuclear translocation in the hippocampus. Abnormal corticosterone after stress may predict susceptibility to depression, and ketamine may work by normalizing HPA axis response.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
December 1, 2016
Chanchan Shen, Jiawei Wang, Guorong Ma et al.
People with nightmare disorder show altered resting-state brain activity compared to healthy volunteers. Fifteen nightmare disorder patients and 15 healthy controls completed questionnaires and resting-state fMRI scans. Patients scored higher on measures of physical effect and horrible stimulation from nightmares. They had higher regional homogeneity (a measure of local brain connectivity) in the left anterior cingulate cortex and right inferior parietal lobule, and lower regional homogeneity in the left superior and inferior frontal gyri and bilateral middle occipital gyri.
September 30, 2014
Wanzhen Chen, You Xu, Ming Zhu et al.
A new questionnaire called the Nightmare Experience Questionnaire (NEQ) was developed and tested in 321 Chinese university students who had lifelong nightmare experiences. The NEQ measures four distinct factors of nightmare experience: Physical Effect, Negative Emotion, Meaning Interpretation, and Horrible Stimulation. A 20-item version (five items per factor) showed the best statistical fit. Nightmare frequency was positively linked to all four factors. Women scored higher than men on the Negative Emotion and Meaning Interpretation factors. The questionnaire may aid understanding of psychiatric disorders involving emotional dysregulation, particularly in women.