Psychedelics including psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide are known to disrupt the normal flow of time perception, for example, producing time dilation, compression, and loss of time. These temporal anomalies provide interesting clues about how the brain processes time, what consciousness is, and what produces the sense of self. This opinion article discusses the...
In a suburb of Vancouver, Canada, a nondescript three-story building sits alongside a strip of parking lots. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary commercial office space. But inside is something more extraordinary: rows of shelves stacked with plastic tubs full of magic mushrooms—mushrooms that contain the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin. In a year, enough psychedelic mushrooms can be...
ObjectiveMicrodosing psychedelics has been widely reported to enhance focus and problem-solving, sparking interest in its potential to treat attentional disorders such as ADHD. However, existing studies largely rely on anecdotal evidence and lack adequate placebo control.MethodsThis study contributes to the literature by examining the longitudinal effects of microdosing psilocybin truffles in...
Alcohol use disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by excessive alcohol consumption. The drugs that are used to treat it often fail to prevent relapse. At the same time, psilocybin is increasingly being investigated for the treatment of various substance use disorder. This review aims to evaluate the results of the most recent clinical trials assessing psilocybin as a treatment for...
method was developed for the analysis of serotonin in Caenorhabditis elegans. Samples were subjected to solvent-solvent extraction from basic conditions into n-heptanol. The serotonin was then back-extracted into acetic acid, the solution diluted into basic buffer, and labelled with 3-(2-furoyl) quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde in the presence of cyanide. The sample was analyzed by capillary...
Abstract Psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, have shown therapeutic potential across several psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anorexia nervosa (AN). These disorders often share social deficits that may be effectively alleviated by psychedelics considering their use has been linked with emotional empathy and enhanced social cognition....
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a chronic, relapsing mental health condition characterized by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences. According to the World Health Organization, in 2021, approximately 39.5 million individuals worldwide suffered from drug use disorders, contributing to an estimated 600,000 deaths annually. Moreover, current pharmacological treatment, such as...
Repeated self-administration of small doses of psychedelics, known as microdosing, has been associated with perceived improvements in psychological functioning. However, few studies have examined effects at the daily level. Drawing on data from a naturalistic, prospective, international survey of adults who microdose (N = 1435), we assessed self-reported within-person changes between...
Prior research has determined that music plays a central role in psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT). While there is a general consensus of the importance of music during PAT, there are only three empirical studies published to date that directly investigate which type of music might best support PAT. Importantly, no review to date has critically analyzed these studies and identified the gaps....
Abstract Psychedelics such as psilocybin have been linked to enhanced neuroplasticity and symptom relief in affective disorders, but the neurobiological mechanisms and impact of environmen-tal context remain unclear. Here, we tested whether a single dose of psilocybin alters synap-tic density in healthy individuals and whether setting-dependent subjective experience shapes this effect. Fifteen...
A meta‐analysis comprising 17 randomized trials has found that rates of control group improvement in depression studies were lower in psilocybin trials than in studies of esketamine or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). The results suggest that psilocybin's overall efficacy in the treatment of depression might be overestimated.
A crystalline cocrystal of psilocin and psilocybin enhances exposure, neuroplasticity biomarkers, and functional activity, while adjunctive atypical antipsychotics modulate serotonergic signaling to mitigate 5-HT2B-linked safety concerns. Together, these inventions advance formulation, mechanistic selectivity, and translational biomarkersoffering a chemistry-enabled path to scalable...
Background: Psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin have shown a beneficial effect on substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms. In this systematic review, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of psychoactive tryptamines in patients with an SUD or non-substance-related disorder (i.e., gambling disorder) in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the available...
Background: Cancer poses an existential threat for patients and caregivers. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has emerged as a potential tool to meet these existential needs, yet little is known about how patients describe this element of their cancer journey, and how it might be affected by PAT, especially in the group therapy context. Purpose: To explore how patients with cancer and...
Research SquareOctober 7, 2025Małgorzata Domżalska, Joanna Kwiatkowska, Iwona Cichoń et al.
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Abstract Depression is a debilitating mental disorder affecting millions worldwide, yet current pharmacological treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), often exhibit delayed onset and limited efficacy. The chronic social defeat (CSD) stress model in mice is a well-established preclinical paradigm for inducing depression-like behaviors and evaluating antidepressants...
Psilocybin, an indoleamine alkaloid derived from various fungal species, is the subject of renewed, rigorous investigation for its therapeutic potential in psychiatry. This compound, a prodrug for the active metabolite psilocin, functions primarily as a partial agonist at the serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor. Its administration within a structured psychotherapeutic context is associated with...
Despite psilocybin still being a Schedule I substance in the Federal Controlled Substance Act (OHA, 2022), Oregon voters passed Measure 109 in 2020, now codified into law as ORS457A, which allowed for the opening of psilocybin clinics for eligible clients. The passing of Measure 109 allowed for an adult-use model to be created, which is different from a therapeutic-use model. Advocates and...
Chronic pain and mood disorders co-occur, exacerbate one another and share neurobiological mechanisms, but whether a single intervention could promptly alleviate both conditions remains unclear. Here, in two chronic pain models, we show that a single dose of psilocybin induces a rapid and sustained reversal of both mechanical allodynia and anxiodepression-like states in adult male and female...
Psilocybin has emerged as a promising therapeutic agent for psychiatric and neurological disorders. However, its legal status varies significantly across countries, creating barriers for clinical use and research. This paper provides an international overview of the regulatory landscape governing medical psilocybin, highlighting key legal restrictions, policy challenges, and emerging frameworks...
Abstract Background Psychedelic and dissociative drugs, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and ketamine, have garnered significant interest for their therapeutic potential in treating various mental health disorders. However, their psychoactive properties pose substantial risks when used in contexts requiring unimpaired cognitive...