Abstract Background Serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonists play a crucial role in multiple cognitive processes, namely executive functions, learning and memory. Owing partly to this, psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline and ayahuasca might be valuable adjuvants in improving memory deficits and language impairment. Thanks to...
This research essay/article argues that cannabis can reasonably be described as psychedelic in a phenomenological sense, even though it is not pharmacologically classified as a classic serotonergic psychedelic such as LSD or psilocybin. The central distinction is between pharmacology and phenomenology: THC acts primarily through the endocannabinoid system, especially CB1 receptor signaling, yet...
MoleculesSeptember 7, 2026Katarzyna Gawłowska, Katarzyna Kaja Nowakowska, Julia Wiktoria Makówka et al.
Standard pharmacotherapy for mental disorders, including depression and anxiety, is supported by extensive clinical validation and international treatment guidelines. However, it is frequently associated with limitations such as adverse side effects, low patient adherence, and the risk of relapse. Conventional approaches rely primarily on antidepressants, anxiolytics, mood stabilizers,...
Rationale: Increased neural complexity under psychedelics is replicated, but the temporal structure carrying it — and the design choices that decide what a "complexity increase" means — remain contested: window-level reports treat correlated windows as independent; cross-dataset contrasts confound pharmacology with protocol. Objectives: To test, in public EEG datasets with pre-registered...
Abstract Purpose of Review Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has re-emerged as a potential intervention for substance use disorders (SUDs), yet the psychological mechanisms underlying behaviour change remain poorly synthesised. This scoping review mapped and evaluated proposed psychological processes underpinning PAT in adults with SUDs. Recent Findings Peer-reviewed English-language empirical...
Boosting brain plasticity could be useful in treating a number of conditions.Now researchers are looking at psilocybin and other psychedelic compounds -as well as exercise -to see how they can rewire the brain.
Veteran issues in the United States often figure prominently in policy debates and media coverage surrounding psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin mushrooms and ibogaine. This is partially driven by the need to improve access and efficacy of treatments for mental health conditions, especially conditions (such as posttraumatic stress disorder) that are more common among veterans than...
Psychedelic therapies have shown considerable promise in clinical trials, but their effects depend heavily on context—set, setting, therapeutic relationship, and integration—in ways that sit uneasily with health care systems built to finance discrete drugs and billable services. This white paper examines the institutional pathway through which psychedelic therapies may reach patients, from...
An Executive Order signed in April 2026 directed US federal agencies to expedite development and review pathways for psychedelic and psychedelic-adjacent (such as ibogaine) therapies. The FDA issued Commissioner's National Priority Vouchers to psilocybin developers, and cleared the investigational new drug (IND) application for noribogaine hydrochloride for alcohol use disorder. These...