Neuropsychopharmacology
November 1, 2020
Natasha L. Mason, K P C Kuypers, F Müller et al.
261 citations
There is growing interest in the therapeutic utility of psychedelic substances, like psilocybin, for disorders characterized by distortions of the self-experience, like depression. Accumulating preclinical evidence emphasizes the role of the glutamate system in the acute action of the drug on brain and behavior; however this has never been tested in humans. Following a double-blind,...
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
October 30, 2020
Kristoffer Andreas Aamodt Andersen, Robin Carhart-Harris, David Nutt et al.
352 citations
Abstract Objective To conduct a systematic review of modern‐era (post‐millennium) clinical studies assessing the therapeutic effects of serotonergic psychedelics drugs for mental health conditions. Although the main focus was on efficacy and safety, study characteristics, duration of antidepressants effects across studies, and the role of the subjective drug experiences were also reviewed and...
Drug Testing and Analysis
October 29, 2020
Klára Gotvaldová, Kateřina Hájková, Jan Borovička et al.
69 citations
Abstract Psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, norbaeocystin, and aeruginascin are tryptamines structurally similar to the neurotransmitter serotonin. Psilocybin and its pharmacologically active metabolite psilocin in particular are known for their psychoactive effects. These substances typically occur in most species of the genus Psilocybe (Fungi, Strophariaceae). Even the sclerotia of some of...
Yale University Press eBooks
October 27, 2020
Russell Crandall
This chapter focuses on psychedelics as another emerging front in the war over the war on drugs in the mid 2010s, with most psychedelic substances, such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin, being Schedule I listed since 1970. It explains how the scheduling imposed significant barriers to scientific research on hallucinogenic substances and their effects, through stringent security requirements,...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 8, 2020
Yasmin Schmid, Peter Gasser, Peter Oehen et al.
82 citations
Background: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) were used in psychotherapy in the 1960s–1980s, and are currently being re-investigated as treatments for several psychiatric disorders. In Switzerland, limited medical use of these substances is possible in patients not responding to other treatments (compassionate use). Methods: This study aimed to...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 8, 2020
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Larissa J. Maier et al.
57 citations
Background: Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the specific intentions to start microdosing and the effects of this practice. Aims: First, we aimed to replicate previous findings regarding the subjective benefits and challenges...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
October 8, 2020
Dea Siggaard Stenbæk, M. Madsen, Brice Ozenne et al.
81 citations
Background: Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic with psychoactive effects mediated by serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) activation. It produces an acute psychedelic altered state of consciousness with a unique phenomenology that can be temporally characterized by three intensity phases: onset of psychoactive effect, a peak plateau and return to normal consciousness. Aims: We evaluated...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
October 6, 2020
Genís Ona, Rafael G. Dos Santos, Jaime E. C. Hallak et al.
12 citations
Research with psychedelic drugs has mainly focused on isolated compounds. However, this approach is challenged by the "polypharmacology" paradigm. In this Viewpoint, we suggest that we may be missing something if we do not use the whole product in the case of ayahuasca or Psilocybe mushrooms. After describing how research on psychedelic drugs can be effectively combined with the...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
October 5, 2020
Genís Ona, José Carlos Bouso
59 citations
Microdosing psychedelic drugs-that is, taking sub-behavioral doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin-is a growing practice in Western societies. Taken mainly for creative or mood-enhancing purposes, thousands of users are increasingly being exposed to (micro)doses of psychedelic drugs. In this systematic review, we searched the available evidence from human studies, focusing our...
American Journal of Management
October 2, 2020
Lawrence Silver
2 citations
There is a long history of psychedelic use throughout history. A great deal of research was conducted on the possible benefits of psychedelics until LSD and psilocybin became street drugs in the 1960s with reported negative effects. Declared illegal in the late 1960s, research slowed on the benefits of such drugs. A new version of the “street” use of psychedelics has emerged in the form of...
EClinicalMedicine
October 1, 2020
Peter S. Hendricks
5 citations
It is innovative in applying a group therapy paradigm not previously used in contemporary clinical studies of classic psychedelics. This is important because psilocybin- and other classic psychedelic-assisted treatments are typically time-intensive, involving several lengthy individual pre-drug preparatory sessions and post-drug integration sessions, raising concerns about scalability in...
October 1, 2020
Jerrold C Winter
Abstract There are about 400,000 species of plants in this world. Only a small fraction, perhaps 100 in number, contain hallucinogenic chemicals. Nearly a century ago, Lewis Lewin, professor of pharmacology at the University of Berlin, in speaking of drugs he called phantasticants, said “The passionate desire which … leads man to flee from the monotony of daily life … has made him discover...
Journal of Mental Health Counseling
October 1, 2020
Russ Curtis, Lisen C. Roberts, Elizabeth Graves et al.
28 citations
Psychedelics (i.e., ketamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, psilocybin) have been effectively used globally for centuries to treat mental health and addiction issues. However, in the 1950s–1970s, a number of factors, including misuse, abuse, and poorly conceptualized and conducted clinical trials, caused the Federal Drug Administration to classify most of the psychedelic substances as having...
ChemPlusChem
October 1, 2020
Claudius Lenz, Alexander M. Sherwood, Robert B. Kargbo et al.
40 citations
Abstract Psychotropic fungi of the genus Psilocybe , colloquially referred to as „magic mushrooms”, are best known for their l ‐tryptophan‐derived major natural product, psilocybin. Yet, recent research has revealed a more diverse secondary metabolism that originates from this amino acid. In this minireview, the focus is laid on l ‐tryptophan and the various Psilocybe natural products and their...
Psychiatric News
September 29, 2020
Nicole Harrington Cirino
1 citation
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ViewpointsFull AccessWait for the Science Before Widespread Use of PsilocybinNicole Harrington Cirino, M.D.Nicole Harrington Cirino, M.D.Published Online:28 Sep 2020https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2020.10a32AbstractThe momentum behind psilocybin as the next big "breakthrough" in treating psychiatric disorders is strong, but Oregon...
Farmacja Polska
September 28, 2020
Agata Tadeja
1 citation
Research on using drugs in medicine was almost completely stopped and delegalized in 1971, by Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Most of studies carried out before 1971 were methodologically inappropriate according to current research methodologies, yet it was proven that there is some potential in using substances like lysergic acid diethylamide, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine,...
EClinicalMedicine
September 24, 2020
B. Anderson, Alicia Danforth, Prof Robert Daroff et al.
271 citations
BACKGROUND: Psilocybin therapy has shown promise as a rapid-acting treatment for depression, anxiety, and demoralization in patients with serious medical illness (e.g., cancer) when paired with individual psychotherapy. This study assessed the safety and feasibility of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralization in older long-term AIDS survivor (OLTAS) men, a population with a high...
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
September 21, 2020
Hartej Gill, Barjot Gill, David C J Chen-Li et al.
62 citations
Psychedelics, such as psilocybin and MDMA, offer an alternative avenue of therapy for many mental health disorders. Available evidence indicates that psychedelics may offer a single-dose, rapid effect model that have robust effects with treatment-resistant mental disorders and a unique advantage as a possible monotherapy for mental illness. Novel clinical trials that evaluate the safety,...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
September 15, 2020
Tracey Varker, Loretta Watson, Kari Gibson et al.
57 citations
The aim of this systematic review was to examine the efficacy of MDMA, ketamine, LSD, and psilocybin for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A search of four databases for English language, peer-reviewed literature published from inception to 18th October 2019 yielded 2,959 records, 34 of which were screened on full-text. Observational studies and RCTs which tested the...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
September 10, 2020
Irene Mollinedo-Gajate, Chenchen Song, Marcos Sintes-Rodriguez et al.
6 citations
preprint
Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by core deficits in social interaction. The classic serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin has been suggested as a therapeutic agent that may ameliorate in the core symptomology of ASD. We found that the acute response to psilocybin was attenuated in the prenatal valproic acid exposure mouse model of ASD, and importantly, psilocybin rescued...