Empathy is a core neurobiological capacity that enables humans to perceive, understand, and respond to others' experiences, yet its deliberate modulation as a therapeutic target is still in its early stages of scientific development. This manuscript presents a hybrid narrative-scoping review synthesizing evidence across pharmacological, neurostimulation, and behavioral approaches aimed at...
Psychedelic-assisted therapies have re-emerged as a subject of increasing scientific and clinical interest in psychiatry, particularly in the context of persistent treatment gaps for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Compounds, including psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, are being evaluated in...
Psychedelic and psychedelic-adjacent substances, including 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and classic serotonergic hallucinogens, are undergoing renewed therapeutic investigation and remain in non-medical use. Inadvertent exposure during early, unrecognized pregnancy is clinically plausible, yet pregnancy-specific safety evidence is limited. To map and synthesize the extent,...
While tele-mental health has improved access to standard medication management and psychotherapy for rural Veterans, implementation of interventional psychiatry treatments will require in-person care, potentially leading to the exacerbation of rural-urban disparities in access to mental health care. We studied the availability of interventional psychiatry treatments, delivered clinically or in...
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is emerging as a novel intervention for major psychiatric disorders, most notably major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While psychotherapy is widely regarded as a core element of PAP its precise role remains poorly defined. This narrative review traces the development of PAP within contemporary Western psychiatry,...
BACKGROUND: Psychedelics such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin are showing promising results in clinical trials for the treatment of mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and treatment-resistant depression. US Food and Drug Administration approval may be on the horizon. Yet, little is known about how these treatments will move...
Laws to control drugs have been progressively introduced since the early twentieth century to reduce non-medical use and drug-associated harm. Restrictions on what are now deemed ‘controlled drugs’ and, in New Zealand, ‘prohibited plants’ unjustly impact both medical care and research. The impact on research has frequently been cited in reference to the use of drugs in clinical research, such...
Purpose A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of psychedelics including ketamine, MDMA, ayahuasca, LSD, DMT, ibogaine, and psilocybin in the treatment of PTSD. Recent Findings Among 5,155 studies identified, 42 studies met criteria and were included in our systematic review. Ketamine consistently produced rapid symptom improvement that attenuated...
Psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA have shown promise in treating mental health conditions (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress disorder) among neurotypical individuals, i.e., typically developing individuals without a diagnosed neurodevelopmental condition. However, their therapeutic potential for treating co-occurring mental-health conditions in autistic individuals remains...
α-Ethyltryptamine (AET), a synthetic tryptamine formerly used as an antidepressant, has resurfaced as a compound of interest due to its structural and functional overlap with serotonergic psychedelics and entactogens. Here, we characterized the pharmacological properties of racemic AET and its optical isomers, R(-)-AET and S(+)-AET, focusing on their interactions with the serotonin (or...