Psychedelic mushrooms of the Psilocybe genus contain the psychoactive tryptamines psilocybin and psilocin, compounds currently under clinical investigation for the treatment of depression and other psychiatric conditions. However, the accurate quantification of these alkaloids in fungal matrices remains analytically challenging. Here, we report an optimized extraction protocol and a robust,...
In the originally published version of this article, Figure 4 contained an error in the RNA-seq analysis. During data processing, the subtraction order for the treatment groups was inadvertently reversed (vehicle was subtracted from psilocybin-treated samples, instead of psilocybin-treated from vehicle). This error affected the plotted log fold-change values but does not alter the...
PsychopharmacologyNovember 5, 2025Milad Soltanzadeh, Wang Zheng, Shona G. Allohverdi et al.1 citation
RationaleKetamine and psilocybin have demonstrated therapeutic potential for mental disorders, including major depressive disorder, yet they engage distinct mechanisms of action. Ketamine, a dissociative hallucinogen, acts by blocking N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR), whereas psilocybin primarily targets serotonin receptors. These divergent mechanisms are reflected in their...
Metabolic EngineeringNovember 5, 2025Cui Guo, Nguyen N T Luu, Maryem M Adwer et al.5 citations
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is emerging as a highly promising approach for treating depression, with psilocybin, a psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, gaining the most recognition for its efficacy in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant depression. However, its low natural abundance makes extraction costly, necessitating alternative production methods. While...
Abstract For many, cognitive and affective health declines through typical aging. Although cognitive and affective symptoms are often studied in isolation, they share substantial overlap, and arise, in part, from common biological processes. Aging is accompanied by diminished neural plasticity, heightened neuroinflammation, and widespread alterations in the epigenome. These molecular changes...
Importance Psilocybin use has surged in the US following decriminalization efforts and promising clinical trial results. Mirroring early cannabis legalization, public access and enthusiasm are outpacing regulatory oversight and scientific understanding, posing potential risks to public health. Objective To review emerging evidence on the public health implications of unregulated psilocybin...
Abstract Background: Motor functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common illness associated with significant functional impairment. There are no effective pharmacotherapies, and despite the early promise of physiotherapy studies, many suffer disabling symptoms in the long term. There is a theoretical rationale for combining psychedelics with physiotherapy; however, the potential benefit of...
Objectives To assess the feasibility, safety and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) for demoralisation in terminally ill patients receiving home hospice care. Methods In this open-label pilot trial, 4607 home hospice patients at a large community hospice were screened over 22 months; 66 were approached, 15 enrolled and 10 received psilocybin. Participants completed two...
BackgroundTaking very small doses of psychedelics (LSD, truffles) over an extended period became prevalent in Western societies for its alleged cognitive benefit, including enhanced creativity. However, in the absence of robust, double-blind-controlled quantitative studies, such claims remain anecdotal.MethodsHere we present results from 3 double-blind placebo-controlled longitudinal trials...