Crop Science
March 1, 1971
Martin L Williams, R. F. Barnes, John M. Cassady
20 citations
Reed canarygrass genotypes that differ in palatability to lambs also differ in their alkaloid profiles. Unpalatable clones contained an average of 0.78% crude alkaloids on a dry-matter basis, about three times the 0.26% found in palatable clones. The compound 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) was on average 18 times more abundant in unpalatable clones. Other identified alkaloids included gramine, hordenine, and several tryptamine derivatives. The findings suggest that alkaloid concentration, particularly of 5-MeO-DMT, contributes to the palatability differences previously observed in grazing trials.
Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry
September 28, 2016
N. Strauss, S. Bright, Martin L Williams
10 citations
A renaissance in psychedelic drug research is underway in North America and Europe, overturning a 30-year political embargo. Randomized controlled trials using active placebos have shown that psilocybin can occasion spiritual experiences leading to long-term positive personality changes. Multiple trials indicate that one or two doses of psychedelic medicines like psilocybin or LSD, within a psychotherapeutic program, reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in advanced-stage cancer patients, sustained for 6 months. Psychedelics also show promise as adjuncts for substance use disorders; an open-label trial of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for tobacco addiction found much higher abstinence rates at 6-month follow-up.
Scientific Data
May 21, 2026
Leonardo Novelli, Devon Stoliker, Tamrin Barta et al.
PsiConnect is a large-scale neuroimaging study that investigates how psilocybin affects brain activity and subjective experience depending on context. Sixty-two participants received a 19 mg dose of psilocybin and underwent functional, structural, and diffusion-weighted MRI, as well as EEG, before and after administration. Scans included resting-state and three naturalistic conditions: guided meditation, music listening, and movie watching. Half of the participants completed an 8-week meditation training program, allowing examination of interactions between meditation, psilocybin, and brain function. Multi-echo fMRI improved signal quality. Behavioral and self-report measures captured acute and long-term effects, with follow-ups up to one year. Data is openly shared to support future research.
Front Psychiatry
April 23, 2025
Martin L Williams, Deborah Rudin, Yasmin Schmid et al.
Psilocybin is one of many compounds that act as agonists of serotonin receptors and produce psychedelic effects. Beyond psilocybin, other classic psychedelics such as mescaline, N,N-DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT, along with novel compounds called psychoplastogens, show promise for treating mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, and anxiety in palliative care. This research topic includes seven articles: case reports on ketamine for depression and 5-MeO-DMT for PTSD; a review of clavine alkaloids; Phase 1 trials of an ayahuasca analog and a novel DMT formulation; a preclinical study of psilacetin; and a discussion of psychedelics for end-of-life distress. The field is expanding beyond psilocybin to explore a wider range of compounds.
Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing)
July 1, 2024
Claire J. Foldi, Paul Liknaitzky, Martin L Williams et al.
Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness, but current medications are largely ineffective partly because the neurobiological causes are poorly understood. Renewed research into psychedelic medicine, particularly psilocybin, suggests it may help symptoms related to serotonin signaling and cognitive inflexibility in anorexia nervosa. Clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression show promising results, though methodological biases remain. The first clinical trial of psilocybin in anorexia nervosa patients began in 2019, highlighting the need to understand the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Animal models, such as the activity-based anorexia rodent model, can provide detailed brain and behavior analysis without the confounds of patient expectancy and bias. The authors argue such studies are crucial for informing clinical applications and identifying which patient subpopulations might benefit most.
Psychedelic Medicine
March 1, 2026
Jennifer Pincombe, Martin L Williams, Sean Carruthers et al.
A systematic review of qualitative studies on psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) for mental disorders found 13 studies covering depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, alcohol-use disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anorexia nervosa. The studies explored 12 topics from pre- to postintervention experiences, mostly using semi-structured interviews with interpretative phenomenological analysis or thematic analysis. The review identifies opportunities for future research, including covering a broader range of mental disorders, exploring longer-term outcomes, sustainability of effects, postintervention support, adverse experiences, comparing active and control group experiences, and including therapist and significant other perspectives with larger sample sizes.
General Hospital Psychiatry
January 1, 2026
Martin L Williams, Karen Hitchcock, Angus H Miller et al.
Classic psychedelics, which primarily activate serotonin receptors but also affect other receptor and transporter systems, can cause physiological responses that pose risks to some individuals. These risks must be balanced against the potential neuropsychological benefits of psychedelic therapies. This analysis critically evaluated medical exclusion criteria used in clinical studies of psychedelic-assisted therapy listed on international registries, examining their rationale and medical basis. The evolution of these criteria over twenty-five years of research was considered, along with their applicability in hospital-based psychiatry as psychedelic therapies move from clinical trials into clinical practice.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
August 1, 2014
Will Lawn, Monica J Barratt, Martin L Williams et al.
NBOMe compounds are a new series of potent hallucinogenic drugs that activate the 5-HT2A receptor. An anonymous online survey in 2012 with 22,289 respondents found that 2.6% (582 people) had ever tried one of three NBOMe drugs, with 25I-NBOMe being the most popular at 2.0% (442 people). Nearly all (93.5%) who last tried a NBOMe drug did so in 2012, and 81.2% administered it orally or sublingually. Subjective effects resembled other serotonergic hallucinogens, but users reported higher negative effects while high and greater value for money. The most common source (41.7%) was a website. NBOMe drugs are recently emerged, often bought online, and may pose larger risks due to limited knowledge, low price, and internet availability.