Psychedelics are serotonergic drugs that profoundly alter consciousness, yet their neural mechanisms are not fully understood. A popular theory, RElaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS), posits that psychedelics flatten the hierarchy of information flow in the brain. Here, we investigate hierarchy based on the imbalance between sending and receiving brain signals, as determined by directed...
A landmark systematic umbrella review by University College London researchers published in Molecular Psychiatry found no solid scientific evidence supporting the serotonin theory of depression, challenging the foundational "chemical imbalance" hypothesis underlying SSRI treatment and opening new avenues for alternative therapeutic approaches. This essay examines how the collapse of the...
Though distinctly different in their effects, hallucinations occurring from schizophrenia (SCZ) symptoms and psychedelic drug action can appear similar. To investigate how different mechanisms underlie these effects, this paper highlights similarities at the molecular and anatomical network level and identifies potential new therapeutic applications and directions for research. This paper...
Clinical and preclinical studies increasingly support the antidepressant potential of several anesthetic agents, including ketamine, propofol, nitrous oxide (N2O), sevoflurane, and isoflurane. Their therapeutic effects appear to arise from the regulation of multiple interconnected systems: modulation of glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling, interaction with monoaminergic neurotransmitters...
Background: The Altered States of Consciousness Scale (3/5D-ASC or 11-ASC) is widely used to assess non-ordinary states of consciousness, particularly for psychedelic research. However, its original dimensional model (3D-ASC within 5D-ASC) and later 11-subscale structure (11-ASC) have a hierarchically incompatible higher/lower-order structure. Although the 11-ASC offers superior model fit, the...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is a remarkably promising treatment for substance use disorders and for alcohol use disorder (AUD) in particular. Research supporting psychedelics as a safe and effective pharmacotherapy for AUD and its comorbid psychiatric conditions dates from the late1940s and includes over 2,000 published studies. There are, however, challenges to the clinical implementation of...
This structured review critically examines the psychological and neuropsychological effects of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) use during adolescence, focusing exclusively on human studies. MDMA is a widely consumed psychoactive substance among adolescents, particularly in social and recreational contexts. Drawing on 14 eligible studies identified through a comprehensive literature...
Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that cause changes in perception, state of consciousness, mood and numerous cognitive processes. The best known are lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), psilocybin and mescaline. The main mechanism of action of psychedelics is agonism towards serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. In the middle of the 20th century, interest in the use of...
Psilocybin is an alkaloid known for its psychedelic effects by activating serotonin receptors and there is growing interest in using psilocybin to treat mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, which are not fully understood and difficult to treat with conventional medications. This research aims to review the evidence from preclinical and clinical studies on the use of psilocybin for...
OBJECTIVE: Despite growing research on the potential mental health benefits of psychedelics, there has been limited study of these drugs in populations with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and with Hispanic and Latin American (H/L) ancestry. METHODS: Demographic and clinical assessments were conducted as part of the Latin American Trans-ancestry Initiative for OCD genomics (LATINO) Study in...