Abstract Purpose of Review This commentary summarizes how the intense and distinctive subjective effects of psychedelics complicate tests of the efficacy and mechanisms of action (MOAs) of psychedelic-assisted treatments (PATs) for mental-health conditions. Specifically, we discuss (a) how estimates of PAT efficacy are confounded under functional unblinding and (b) uncertainty surrounding...
Microdosing psychedelics is an increasingly popular phenomenon where small amounts of psychedelic drugs are taken regularly. Qualitative data have been published regarding the experiences of microdosers, but never in the context of a randomised controlled trial. Semi-structured video interviews with 40 healthy males were conducted following a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 10 µg of...
We investigate how the dose of psilocybin truffles and participant characteristics (trait absorption and expectations) influence subjective experiences and neurophysiological outcomes in a naturalistic field setting.The aim is to replicate observed effects of psilocybin from lab-based and clinical studies in a field / naturalistic setting.
Caderno PedagógicoOctober 31, 2025André Leão Dantas, Lara Moreira Jalles Milani, Saulo Gabriel Moreira Falci et al.
Chronic pain affects millions of people and remains one of the greatest clinical challenges due to limited response to conventional therapies. Psilocybin, a psychedelic found in mushrooms of the Psilocybe genus, has sparked interest due to its potential to modulate serotonergic receptors and promote neuroplasticity, suggesting analgesic and psychotherapeutic effects. The objective of this...
Background/Objectives: Patients in palliative care often experience multifaceted forms of suffering that extend beyond physical symptoms, including existential distress, loss of meaning, and emotional pain. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) has emerged as a promising intervention for alleviating such complex forms of suffering, yet models specifically tailored to palliative populations...
NeuropharmacologyOctober 15, 2025Marion Hendrickx, Antoine Dampierre, Emmanuel Drouin1 citation
At the beginning of the 20th century, while psychiatric knowledge remained limited, some physicians were already exploring innovative experimental paths. This article presents an unpublished clinical case of a patient, Madame Louise Françoise R., treated with mescaline in 1930 by Henri Claude and Henri Ey at Sainte-Anne in Paris, four years before their official publication on the subject. The...
MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) shows promise, but attitudes and beliefs about this treatment, especially in symptomatic veterans, remain poorly understood. We sought to explore relevant attitudes in veterans receiving healthcare from Veterans Affairs as a step toward designing relevant surveys or psychoeducation materials for future work. We employed a...
Meditation and psychedelics have separately been studied as powerful tools for probing consciousness through their capacity to deconstruct the sense of self. Yet, direct empirical comparisons remain scarce, particularly in expert meditators. Here, we report for the first time a case study in which an advanced meditator and Lama from the Mahāmudrā meditation tradition engaged in a traditional...
The serotonin-2A receptor (5-HT2AR) is an interesting target for drug design in the context of antidepressants that might have a rapid onset of action and/or be effective in treatment-resistant cases. The main challenge, however, is that the activation of this receptor can provoke hallucinations. Recent studies have shown that activating the receptor with certain (partial) agonists could...
Psychedelics are undergoing a clinical research renaissance, with compounds such as psilocybin advancing to Phase 3 trials for treatment-resistant depression and receiving fast-track or breakthrough designations from regulatory agencies. Despite this progress, the field lacks standardized terminology to guide clinical development, dosing, safety monitoring, and regulatory classification. Here,...