A new paper has turned science’s understanding of how psychedelics affect the brain upside down by solving a longstanding molecular mystery in the field. Psychedelics are thought to produce their effects by activating the serotonin (5-HT)2A receptor class. These receptors are present on the surface of neurons throughout the brain. The answer may have been found by looking…
“As a part of our survey, we gave people the option to leave comments about anything they thought might be important for our research,” Emma Morton, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbian, explained. “Despite the fact that our survey found many people experienced negative or unwanted…
Dr. John Kelly of Trinity College in Ireland suggests interventions to the microbiome could be used as preparation and integration phases of psychedelic journeys. The theoretical framework he presents even hints the microbiome’s established effects on mood might only be part of the story, [saying,] “It is conceivable that certain gut microbiota configurations and associated…
2023 is shaping up to be an especially active year for psychedelics policy changes in legislatures across the [United States]… …[according to] the findings of [an] analysis published in an American Medical Association journal [in December 2022]. That study concluded that a majority of states will legalize psychedelics by 2037, based on statistical modeling of…
Patients characterized by stress-related disorders such as depression display elevated circulating concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a hyperactive HPA axis. Psychedelics are demonstrating promising results in treatment of such disorders… Psilocybin immediately reduced concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), while other inflammatory markers (interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and C-reactive protein (CRP)) remained…
From what researchers have seen so far, however, there has not been compelling evidence that these drugs can work without the holistic process of preparation, “trip” and integration. …many researchers are excited to get their hands on a new set of tools to help treat mental disorders that have long resisted conventional forms of treatment……
…the idea that certain mushroom species/strains/cultivars might elicit distinct types of experience isn’t entirely unreasonable, since a handful of different potentially psychoactive tryptophan-derived tryptamines have been detected in Psilocybe and related mushroom genera… given that different species possess different alkaloid fingerprints, is it plausible that different mushrooms might reliably produce distinct psychedelic effects… Variations in precursors and activity of…
Microdoses of psilocybin… have been found to normalize certain elements of cognitive performance in young rats with autism. And while it’s far too early to say if the drug produces the same benefits in humans with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the fact that larger doses of psilocybin were less effective in rats does at least lend some credibility…
The Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances assigned a safety score to psilocybin far better than aspirin. This score is based on toxicity along with effects of public health. Despite common minor side effects, it does not appear to be a direct health risk… wait a second and read the fine print – it…
This might explain what happened… the psilocybin reawakened the dormant neural pathway from his hamstring to his brain… just one study has ever evaluated the connection between psychedelics and spinal-cord injury. Psilocybin is thought to be effective at promoting healing because it stimulates neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adapt through new neural connections,…
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