Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences

Ontologically Challenging Psychedelic Experiences: Considerations for Managing Associated Distress.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Eirini K. Argyri, Jules Evans 3 citations

Psychedelic substances have been increasingly recognised for their potential in treating various mental health conditions, yet they can also induce what we call ontologically challenging psychedelic experiences (OCPEs), a concept developed in our research to describe experiences that profoundly disrupt an individual's sense of self, reality, and existence. We present OCPEs not as a diagnostic...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_609 Full text Existential distress Ontological shock Psychedelic harm reduction Psychedelic integration

Classifying Psychedelic-Related Complications

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Tomislav Majić, Euphrosyne Gouzoulis‐mayfrank, Ricarda Evens 2 citations

Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) have shown promising effects in the treatment of certain mental health conditions. Enthusiastic claims about their therapeutic potential have led to overly optimistic reactions in the media and the public, subsequently resulting in increased use outside of clinical contexts...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2026_614 Full text Lysergic acid diethylamide Psilocybin Psyche Mental health +6

Psychedelic-Related Psychosis: From Model Psychosis to Psychotherapy.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Anna-Lena Bröcker, Tomislav Majić, Christiane Montag 2 citations

Psychotic symptoms are uncommon and non-specific adverse effects of classic (serotonergic) psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and mescaline. They can emerge during the acute phase of psychedelic drug effects, persist into the subacute ("afterglow") period, or, in rare cases, develop into long-term psychotic illness. Across all three scenarios, the symptoms can be...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2026_613 Full text

Flashbacks, Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), and Reactivations Following the Use of Classic Psychedelics: Classification and Therapeutic Management.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Marija Franka Žuljević, Tomislav Majić 1 citation

Among the complications associated with the use of classic psychedelics, flashbacks, hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) and reactivations are most specifically linked to their use. These three phenomena share the occurrence of perceptual disturbances resembling those experienced under the acute effects of psychedelics, but HPPD differs from flashbacks and reactivations due to...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_610 Full text Flashbacks Hppd Psychedelics Reactivations

Managing Psychological Challenges in the Subacute ("Afterglow") Window of Psychedelic Drug Effects.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Ricarda Evens, Abdo Uyar, Tomislav Majić

The subacute period following the use of classic psychedelics is often marked by an "afterglow" - a state characterized by elevated mood; enhanced psychological well-being; increased emotional openness toward self, others, and nature; and sometimes a heightened sense of clarity and existential meaning. From a neurobiological perspective, subacute psychedelic states have been associated with...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_612 Full text Afterglow Challenging Integration Psychedelic +1

Acute Effects and Long-Term Neuropsychological Consequences of Classic Psychedelics Use.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Lukas Andreas Basedow, Thomas Günther Riemer

Psychedelics are gaining attention for their potential as therapeutic adjuncts for the treatment of psychological disorders. Additionally, the recreational use of these substances has been rising for the past years. In the context of a comprehensive analysis of potential harms induced by these substances, concerns regarding the cognitive and neuropsychological impact of their use remain. This...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_600 Full text Cognition Hallucinogens Harm reduction Neuropsychology

Psychedelic-Associated Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2026 Matthias Michal

Depersonalization (DP) and Derealization (DR) refer to perceptual changes of "as-if-character" where the self (→DP) or the surroundings (→DR) are experienced as unreal. These symptoms are highly prevalent in individuals with mental disorders. If these symptoms persist most of the day for months, the diagnosis of depersonalization-derealization-disorder (DDD) is likely. DDD is a common disorder...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_599 Full text Anxiety Depersonalization Derealization Emotion +1

The Role and Ethics of Touch and Non-touch in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences November 22, 2025 Helena Aicher, Anke Röskamp, Marianne Moser et al. 4 citations

Touch has long been an essential element in human communication and healing. In the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), the role of touch (and by extension, non-touch) presents complex ethical and practical challenges, particularly due to the heightened vulnerability of individuals in altered states of consciousness. Recent public discourse, including reports of boundary violations and...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_608 Full text Psychedelic therapy Body-oriented psychotherapy Harm reduction Transgressions +12

Investigating Safety Concerns and Harm Reduction in Entheogenic Churches: The Case for Community-Based Participatory Research.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences November 22, 2025 Maha N. Mian, Allison R. Coker, Grace Kretzer et al.

Alongside the important contributions of the harm reduction movement to improving public health in secular settings, communities that use psychedelics as religious sacraments (i.e., entheogens) have developed their own frameworks for supporting safety within their spiritual practices and hold their own conceptualizations of risk and harm. In order to understand better the lived realities of...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_607 Full text Ayahuasca Community advisory board Community-based participatory practices Entheogens +6

Interoception: Synthesizing Insights and Charting New Frontiers.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences July 25, 2025 Alan N Simmons, Marc Wittmann, Irian A Strigo

This chapter is dedicated to the intellectual legacy of A.D. Bud Craig and advancing the understanding of interoception. The chapter is organized into three critical domains of interoceptive research: Bodily Self, Emotion, and Subjective Time. Beginning with foundational neuroanatomical research on temperature and pain processing, the volume progresses to explore how interoceptive signals...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_587 Full text Bodily self Emotions Insula Interoception +2

Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction: A Decade of Great Challenges, New Hopes, and Hypes.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences July 12, 2025 Wolfgang H. Sommer, Rainer Spanagel

Over a decade after the first edition of "Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction," this chapter revisits the field at a critical juncture, marked by both persistent challenges and emerging opportunities. We reflect on the translational gap that has stalled the development of new treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD), despite decades of promising preclinical findings. Particular...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_586 Full text Alcohol use disorder Psilocybin Addiction theory Animal models +9

Traumatic Psychedelic Experiences.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences April 29, 2025 Abigail E. Calder, Vincent J Diehl, Gregor Hasler 14 citations

Psychedelic experiences involving extreme feelings of horror, helplessness, and perceived threats can be traumatizing. Traumatic psychedelic experiences are a rare, extreme, and largely preventable form of challenging experience which can arise due to frightening psychedelic drug effects, unsafe settings, and emergence of pre-existing trauma. Some people recover quickly, but others develop...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_579 Full text Post-traumatic stress disorder Acute stress disorder Adverse effects Post-traumatic growth +3

Guruism and Cultic Social Dynamics in Psychedelic Practices and Organisations.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences January 4, 2025 Jules Evans, Joseph Holcomb Adams 7 citations

This chapter explores the risks of guruism and cultic social dynamics in organisations that work with psychedelic drugs, which include therapist offices, clinics, research departments, retreat centres, training programmes, NGOs, underground ceremonies and new religious movements. It has been hypothesised, and argued by experienced practitioners, that psychedelics can increase suggestibility,...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_535 Full text Cults Ethics Guruism Psychedelic +1

Dissociative Symptoms and Interoceptive Integration.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025 Sascha P Woelk, Sarah N. Garfinkel 8 citations

Dissociative symptoms and disorders of dissociation are characterised by disturbances in the experience of the self and the surrounding world, manifesting as a breakdown in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, and perception. This paper aims to provide insights into dissociative symptoms from the perspective of interoception, the sense of the body's internal...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_480 Full text Body ownership Dissociation Dissociative disorders Emotional numbing +6

Psychedelic Drug Checking: Analytical and Strategic Challenges in Harm Reduction for Classic Psychedelics

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025 Tim Hirschfeld, Felix Blei, Lavinia Stegemann et al. 1 citation

Classic psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT from unregulated markets pose considerable risks through unknown adulterants and potencies. In this chapter, we explore the importance of drug checking in minimizing harm among users of classic psychedelics and examine the opportunities and challenges associated with intervention settings, analytical techniques, and risk communication...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2025_606

Subjective Time in Ordinary and Non-ordinary States of Consciousness: How Interoceptive Feelings Inform Us About the Passage of Time.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025 Marc Wittmann, Sylvie Droit-Volet

In accordance with Bud (A.D.) Craig's theories, we maintain that ascending physiological signals in their temporal dynamics are a necessary prerequisite for human time judgments. Functional neuroimaging and psychophysiological evidence have increasingly demonstrated that the subjective judgment of time is based on the physical and emotional self. The psychological literature reveals how...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_520 Full text Embodiment Emotions Interoception Time

Insights from Ecstatic Epilepsy: From Uncertainty to Metacognitive Feelings.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025 Nina M Sooter, Federico Seragnoli, Fabienne Picard

Ecstatic epilepsy is a rare form of focal epilepsy linked to the anterior insula in which patients experience a blissful state with a unique set of symptoms, including a feeling of physical well-being, mental clarity, a sense of oneness with the universe, and time dilation. In this chapter, we reflect on how these symptoms coincide with our current knowledge of the insula's functions and...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_528 Full text Mystical experience Ecstatic epilepsy Insula Metacognitive feeling +2

Body, Self, and Time: Bud Craig's Global Emotional Moments Theory.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025 Julian Kiverstein

The topic of my chapter will be Bud Craig's theory of "global emotional moments" (henceforth the GEMs theory) and the relationship of GEMs to the experience of time. I connect three ideas prominent in Craig's writings: interoception, emotion, and time. Craig held that each GEM has as its neural substrate a large-scale network with the anterior insula cortex (AIC) serving as its central...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_575 Full text Insular cortex Interoception Phenomenal now Phenomenal selfhood +1

Phenomenology of Psychedelic Experiences and Psychedelic-Associated Distressing Effects: Quantifying Subjective Experiences.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences December 31, 2024 Cyril Costines, Timo Torsten Schmidt 8 citations

The range of phenomena that can be induced by psychedelic substances is broad and variable, including effects on perception, cognition, and emotion. The umbrella term "psychedelic phenomenology" is used to refer to a combination of altered experiential features, such as hallucinations or ego dissolution, which together constitute a psychedelic experience. However, there is no consensus on the...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_562 Full text Phenomenology Challenging experience Psychedelics Quantitative assessment

Informed Consent in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences December 31, 2024 Mazdak M. Bradberry, Paul S. Appelbaum, Natalie Gukasyan 7 citations

Humans have long used classical serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, for a variety of purposes. Entactogens, such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), emerged during the twentieth century and have likewise seen use in a broad range of settings. Interest has arisen in the use of classical psychedelics and entactogens, together termed "psychedelics," for therapeutic purposes in...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_559 Full text MDMA Psilocybin Psychedelic-assisted therapy Medical consent +5

Ethical Aspects of Psychedelic-Assisted Treatments: An Overview.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences November 8, 2024 Christopher Poppe, Dimitris Repantis 9 citations

In this chapter, we provide an overview of ethical aspects of psychedelic-assisted treatments in the areas of clinical ethics, research ethics, and at the intersection of psychedelic medicine and society. In contrast to earlier psychedelic research, nowadays medical ethics have been firmly established as a discipline regulating patient-physician relationships which highlight the importance of...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_533 Full text Bioethics Clinical ethics Psychedelic-assisted treatments Research ethics

Anxiety and Affective Symptoms Related to the Use of Classic Psychedelics: A Systematic Review.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences October 23, 2024 Grace Viljoen, Felix Betzler 5 citations

There is a large and rapidly growing body of literature investigating the therapeutic effects of classic psychedelics in affective and anxiety disorders, but very few studies have examined the inverse of this, that is, the potential for psychedelics to inflict anxiety and affective symptoms. A systematic literature search was performed and 39 papers were included in the final review to...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_534 Full text Anxiety Depression LSD Psilocybin +6

How Bud Craig's Insights Reshape the Research on Pain and Mind-Body Therapies.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences October 23, 2024 Wolf Mehling 2 citations

With his elegant studies, Bud Craig determined the structural neural basis for interoception and critically expanded our conceptual understanding of it. Importantly, he placed pain in the framework of interoception and redefined pain as a homeostatic emotion. Craig understood emotions and pain as experiences based on inferential brain processes within the theoretical model of prediction...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_521 Full text Meditation Mindfulness Homeostatic emotion Interoception +2

Completing the Circle: A History of Psychedelics and Harm Reduction.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences August 8, 2024 Erika Dyck, James R Dixon 2 citations

Harm reduction officially entered the public health lexicon in the 1980s as a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and its spread amongst intravenous drug users, but risk prevention has been an important part of psychedelic consumption in ways that predate this formal conceptualization.We look at psychedelic drug trials in the 1950s and 1960s to consider how people-first perspectives informed those...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_511 Full text Clinical protocols Grateful dead Humphry osmond Native american church +15

Neurobiological Correlates of Psychedelic Experiences and Psychedelic-Associated Adverse Effects.

Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences July 31, 2024 Nathalie M. Rieser, Timo T Schmidt, Katrin H. Preller 5 citations

This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelic drugs, with a primary focus on human neuroimaging studies. Whenever possible, we explore the neurobiological mechanisms that may underly acute and subacute adverse effects and describe hypotheses on how these results may inform on the pathophysiology of...

DOI: 10.1007/7854_2024_507 Full text Neural mechanisms Neuroimaging Psychedelics

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