The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update
October 30, 2023
A single 25‐mg dose of psilocybin administered with psychological support led to significant and sustained improvement in depressive symptoms compared with placebo in a Phase 2 study of patients with major depressive disorder. A higher number of adverse events occurred in the psilocybin group, but no serious treatment‐emergent adverse events were reported. Study results were published online...
PLoS One
October 24, 2023
Jules Evans, Oliver Robinson, Eirini K. Argyri et al.
166 citations
Long-term adverse experiences following psychedelic use can persist for weeks, months, or even years, and are relatively unexplored in psychedelic research. Our convergent mixed-method study gained quantitative and qualitative data from 608 participants who reported extended difficulties following psychedelic experiences. Data was gathered on the context of use, the nature and duration of the...
BCIT Environmental Public Health Journal
October 12, 2023
Payman Baharmand, Amardeep Kambo
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring hallucinogen found in different species of fungi. Psilocybin has gained extensive social popularity and political attention in the United States. Research has shown that psilocybin and psychological therapy may have promising therapeutic applications for safer and more effective treatment of mental illnesses such as major depressive disorder, addiction,...
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
October 5, 2023
Robert H. Dworkin, Michael P McDermott, Sandeep M. Nayak et al.
16 citations
Clinical trials of psychedelics have provided support for their potential efficacy and safety.Although most combined a psychedelic with psychological support akin to psychotherapy, providing psychotherapy is costlier and more difficult to scale than providing only support to reduce harms.Trials with factorial designs can evaluate the individual effects of a psychedelic and psychotherapy and any...
Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs
October 2, 2023
Katarzyna Śladowska, Paweł Kawalec, Tomasz Brzostek et al.
4 citations
Clinical phase I-II trials published to date reported promising results for psilocybin in the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression, in a relatively short time after administration. However, before psilocybin is approved for use and administered to patients with depression, the results of large ongoing phase III clinical trials are needed to...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
October 1, 2023
Omer A. Syed, Benjamin Tsang, Robert Gerlai
7 citations
In this review, we discuss the possible utility of zebrafish in research on psilocybin, a psychedelic drug whose recreational use as well as possible clinical application are gaining increasing interest. First, we review behavioral tests with zebrafish, focussing on anxiety and social behavior, which have particular relevance in the context of psilocybin research. Next, we briefly consider...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
September 22, 2023
Mitch Earleywine, Maha N. Mian, Joseph A. de Leo
5 citations
Expectancy effects for many psychoactive substances appear to play a role in consumption, problematic use, subjective responses to acute administration, and subsequent effects. Expectancies of psychedelics have received little attention in published research despite their reputation for creating dramatic changes in subjective state. Psilocybin-assisted treatment (PAT) improves depression, but...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 19, 2023
Hillary Jackson, Sara So, Abigail Yaffe et al.
87 citations
Introduction The classic psychedelic psilocybin, found in some mushroom species, has received renewed interest in clinical research, showing potential mental health benefits in preliminary trials. Naturalistic use of psilocybin outside of research settings has increased in recent years, though data on the public health impact of such use remain limited. Methods This prospective, longitudinal...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
September 18, 2023
Karina Sergi, Micah Linton, Rhianna Rich et al.
21 citations
Introduction Psychedelic-assisted therapy with psilocybin has shown promise in Phase 2 trials for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Set and setting, particularly factors facilitating a connection with nature, may positively influence the psychedelic experience and therapeutic outcomes. But to date, randomized controlled trials of interventions to enhance set and setting for psychedelic-assisted...
Psychedelic Medicine
September 1, 2023
Zachary Herrmann, Adam W. Levin, Steven P Cole et al.
9 citations
Mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicide, and burnout are common among health care providers. Resilience and well-being are factors thought to protect against these incidents. Clinical trials and naturalistic studies of psychedelic compounds have shown decreases in depression, anxiety, and suicidality while suggesting improvements in well-being. This secondary analysis of a...