Misc. news stories

Brendan was once a leader in the US white nationalist movement. But when he took the drug MDMA in a scientific study, it would radically change his extremist beliefs – to the surprise of everyone involved.

Incorporating the psychedelic drug psilocybin into psychotherapy shows promise in the treatment of depression, according to new research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. But the study also highlights the difficulty of implementing effective blinding procedures to prevent expectancy effects when researching psychedelic substances.

A new study suggests that the use of certain antidepressants, specifically SSRIs and SNRIs, may weaken the acute subjective effects of psilocybin in some individuals. The findings, which appear in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, indicate that this dampening effect on psilocybin can last for a significant period of time even after stopping the antidepressant medication.

A new randomized trial from researchers in the United States has shown that injections of ketamine are at least as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) when treating non-psychotic forms of major depression. The study was published in NEJM.

Administering a single 25mg dose of psilocybin paired with psychological support has resulted in 57% of patients sustaining remission of depression, with 64% experiencing a robust clinical response 18 months later.

The psychedelic substances 5-MeO-DMT causes a long-lasting increase in the number of tiny protrusions called dendritic spines in the brain, according to new research published in Neuropsychopharmacology.

What we lose when psychedelics are medicalized.

Scientists have identified specific patterns of brain network reconfigurations that occur when people take both classical and non-classical psychedelic drugs. Their findings, published in NeuroImage, shed new light on how psychedelics affect the brain and consciousness.

The psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) makes people learn faster when receiving feedback and enhances exploratory behavior, according to new research published in Psychological Medicine.

A recent case study describes a young 35-year-old male researcher in the United States, who claims to distinguish red and green colors better after taking psychedelics.

According to new research, published Monday (May 1) in the journal PNAS(opens in new tab), this surge can sometimes occur after a person’s breathing stops but before the brain stops functioning. The activity pattern is somewhat similar to what is seen when people are awake or in dreamlike states…

People who use psychedelic substances in an attempt to self-treat their mental health tend to report mild-to-moderate positive outcomes, according to new research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. But there were more negative effects reported by these individuals than in clinical settings where professionals are involved in the treatment.

Franklin wasn’t the victim of data theft at the hands of James Watson and Francis Crick, say biographers of the famous duo. Instead, she collaborated and shared data with Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins. The researchers laid out their findings in a commentary in the April 27 Nature.

If we want the psychedelic revolution to be ethical and equitable, we must consider the context in which these medicines are being industrialized—and what our priorities are.

With the mass of about half an eyelash, a hunk of crystal exists in two distinct states at once. See research here.

Roughly 10% of patients with cancer experience anxiety, while 20% report depression. However, current research suggests that available prescription antidepressants do not significantly decrease depressive symptoms in cancer patients compared with a placebo. See research here.