Anaid Flores, Imelda Lizeth Lazcano-Carrasco, Mayra Lozano-Espinosa et al.
preprint
Abstract Psychedelic compounds have shown promising efficacy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, yet the electronic features of their recognition by the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT 2A ) remain poorly characterized. Here, we present a quantum-chemical analysis of local ligand–receptor models derived from the experimental 5-HT 2A structures of six ligands: serotonin, psilocin, lysergic...
Eva Gallacher, Maria Arnold, Uwe Herwig et al.
preprint
Background: The role, necessity, and relevance of psychotherapy within psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) remain contested: some view it principally as safety support, whereas others regard it as essential to safety and efficacy. Patient-centred evidence on how psychotherapy is experienced within real-world PAT is scarce. We examined how patients understood the role of psychotherapy in their...
Patrick Ryan
preprint
Ayahuasca ceremonies organize care through preparation, accompaniment, observation, and responses to distress. These functions resemble nursing work, but their purposes, authority, and accountability differ. This article examines what nursing can learn from documented ceremonial arrangements and what changes when a licensed nurse participates. It brings ethnographic accounts, religious...
George Blackburne, Alberto Liardi, Pablo Mallaroni et al.
How do psychedelic drugs alter human brain function? Answering this question relies on our ability to understand how information is stored, transferred, and transformed across the cortex. Here, we leverage a precise mathematical framework for multivariate information decomposition to construct the first comprehensive picture of these processes across five compounds: LSD, psilocybin, ketamine,...
Parsa Yousefi, Kenneth Shinozuka, Patrick Vizeli et al.
Psychoactive drugs profoundly alter consciousness, but the neural mechanisms by which they do so remain poorly understood. Global workspace theory may provide a framework for investigating these mechanisms. The global workspace, a candidate neural substrate of consciousness, is a set of brain regions that integrate and disseminate information to the rest of the brain. According to a recent...
Ceyda Sayalı
preprint
Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD are known to acutely disrupt executive function, producing impairments in response inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Paradoxically, these compounds often lead to lasting improvements in cognitive flexibility, insight, and goal-directed behavior in the days and weeks following administration. This apparent contradiction has...
Frederick Pattisson, Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Devon Stoliker et al.
preprint
Positive psychological changes following psychedelic experiences are widely studied, yet no validated instrument has been developed specifically to assess the breadth of enduring change that individuals attribute to those experiences. We therefore conducted a two-part programme of research to evaluate an existing measure and to develop and validate a more comprehensive scale. In Part 1, a...
Dan Petrovitch, Sean M. Mitchell, Jason van Allen et al.
preprint
Introduction: Treatment-outcome expectancies are an individual’s beliefs about how a medical or psychological intervention will affect them and others. These response expectancies represent serious potential confounds to clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapies for a variety of conditions because of difficulties associated with blinding psychedelic trials. On the other hand,...
Vincent Joralemon
preprint
The term “psychedelic” lacks a consensus definition, yet a growing body of regulatory and commercial infrastructure—FDA clinical-trial guidance, AMA reimbursement codes, research grants, and insurance coverage decisions—turns on whether a given substance falls within the category. This short essay argues that the boundaries of the “psychedelic” label are doing significant normative work that is...
Vincent Joralemon
preprint
FDA REMS and ETASU for psychedelic therapy—psilocybin, MDMA, and Spravato (esketamine)—can enhance safety yet impose clinic-only administration that limits access. Using Spravato’s REMS as precedent, this Article shows how “every-use” in-person supervision and limited distribution increase cost and strain providers even as adverse events cluster early in treatment. It proposes a...