Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 2–3% of the population worldwide, and 40–60% of patients do not respond to first-line treatments. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a single dose of psilocybin in adults with treatment-resistant OCD.Methods: In this phase 2, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Yale University...
Despite divergent behavioral and phenomenological profiles, both psychedelic states and reduced states of consciousness have been associated with a flattening of the brain's functional hierarchy. To address this apparent paradox, we developed a more specific definition of hierarchy based on the proximity of the brain to thermodynamic equilibrium and then applied it to investigate the changes to...
As the psychedelic-medicine sector expands from a fringe area into a substantial commercial industry, stakeholders are increasingly investing in lobbying and public-comment campaigns to shape the regulatory frameworks that will govern psychedelic therapies. This essay revisits the classical concept of "regulatory capture"-as articulated by George Stigler-and applies it to the contemporary...
Background: Emerging adults between 18 and 29, particularly males, are the predominant naturalistic consumers of classic psychedelic substances compared to all other demographics. Previous evidence suggests psychedelic use may interact with positive developmental outcomes and processes. Despite the high prevalence of psychedelic use by emerging adults, limited previous research has...
Serotonergic psychedelics produce therapeutic effects in clinical trials of diverse neuropsychiatric disorders, and preclinical models of inflammatory, cardiometabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases. These effects appear largely mediated by the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR). How could psychedelics elicit transdiagnostic therapeutic effects through a single receptor across tissues as...
Psilocybin is the primary psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms”; it has been used by humans for millennia, it is in promising clinical trials with humans and used in legalized psilocybin-assisted therapy, and researchers use and are further developing human-based methods with cutting-edge technologies. However, researchers are still allowed to conduct unreliable and distressing psilocybin...
Importance Psilocybin simultaneously holds contradictory legal classifications across seven overlapping governance systems—Schedule I under U.S. federal law, FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation, authorized therapeutic use in Oregon and Colorado, operational state-level medical access in New Mexico, national medical rescheduling in Australia, and an active petition for DEA rescheduling. As...
This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the nature of consciousness, selfhood, and perceived reality through the lens of the holographic hypothesis-the proposition that all phenomena consist of symbolic information within a self-contained memory system with no external referent. The inquiry begins with an examination of the "self" as a symbolic construction generated by the...
Breathwork is widely promoted as a regulatory practice capable of calming the nervous system, releasing trauma and restoring emotional balance. While its therapeutic potential is well documented in experiential contexts, the long-term effects of repeated high intensity practice remain insufficiently examined. This paper explores the hypothesis that sustained autonomic activation and repeated...
This paper introduces and formally defines the concept of Connective Trance, an original theoretical contribution to the study of artistic creation, aesthetic experience, and embodied consciousness. Connective Trance designates a liminal state of expanded awareness that precedes or accompanies creative and performative acts, characterized by intensified attention, partial suspension of...
Larry Abbott, a physicist-turned-neuroscientist, says “I think we could understand what every neuron in the brain is doing and we still won’t have an understanding of something like consciousness”. This article suggests that consciousness, being an immaterial thing, will not by explained with particles and neurons and neurotransmitters. It will be unveiled through mathematics and reference to...
In Indian Educational system, most the schools were adopting rote learning. This makes the student loose motivation and self confidence. Our current educational system is lack of practical knowledge. Hence it leads the children to face different level of stress in the class room environment. The Indian education system must be reinvented to bring about any change at the grass root level. We...
Not having greed, hatred and delusion is living a life with the real happiness. Unwholesome or greed, hatred and delusion, destroys the happiness in life. To relieve the unwholesome roots is significant. Those who cannot relieve the unwholesome roots have to live stressful and sorrowful, and cannot find the find the way to meet the bright side of life. The practitioners in Satipatthana...
Background: Oral and sublingual ketamine for depression is being prescribed to tens of thousands of patients through telehealth services with no FDA-approved dosing protocol, no clinical guideline covering this route of administration, and no publicly available synthesis of what clinical researchers have actually tested. A prior surveillance study of patient-reported experiences documented a...
Current spinal cord injury treatments primarily manage symptoms rather than promote neurological recovery. Psilocybin enhances neuroplasticity through 5-HT2A agonism and brain-derived neurotrophic factor upregulation, suggesting therapeutic potential for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with three individuals who had incomplete spinal cord injuries...
This white paper reports a stratified evidence synthesis of 31 peer-reviewed studies (2016–2026) examining ketamine and esketamine as rapid-acting treatments for suicidal ideation. Studies were classified by administration route — intravenous racemic ketamine (14 primary studies, N=1,258), intranasal esketamine/Spravato (6 primary studies, N=844), and injection routes combining intramuscular...
That we cannot experimentally verify that another being or a machine has private experiences is intuitively obvious. I propose a framework and a set of assumptions that allow us to state this precisely and prove it. The proof is straightforward: A not-conscious agent can mimic a conscious one. I rely on the presence of noise in the universe (so that communication can be assumed digital), and...
MDMA is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act. But Lykos Therapeutics' (formerly MAPS PBC) pending New Drug Application for MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for PTSD may force the Drug Enforcement Administration's hand: FDA approval supplies the "accepted medical use" that Schedule I drugs are statutorily denied,...