Psychedelic Research Links August 2023

This is all the other psychedelic research that came out in August 2023. These papers don’t (yet) have their own page in our database.

You can find all interesting papers in our Papers Database.

Related Papers

In Rodents

• Transient Elevation of Plasma Glucocorticoids Supports Psilocybin-Induced Anxiolysis in Mice (in mice, “Anxiolytic-like effects were also observed at 4 h following treatment with the nonpsychedelic 5-HT_2A agonist lisuride at a dose causing a similar increase in plasma glucocorticoids as that seen with psilocybin, as well as following stress-induced (via repeated injection) glucocorticoid release alone.“)
• Locomotor and Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Three Benzofuran Compounds in Comparison to Abused Psychostimulants (in mice, finds 6-ABP to be similar to MDMA in effects)
• Effects of Ambient Temperature on Locomotor Activity and Place Conditioning Elicited by Abused Psychostimulants in Mice: Role of 3,4-methylenedioxy moiety (in mice, MDMA, “These studies suggest that warmer ambient temperature may potentiate typical stimulant effects for the drugs lacking the 3,4-methylenedioxy ring, but may potentiate the behaviorally toxic/adverse effects for the drugs containing a 3,4-methylenedioxy ring. Thus, preclinical abuse liability studies conducted at standard laboratory temperatures may not fully capture the effects of psychostimulants and highlight the need to model the environments in which drugs are typically used by humans.“)
• The non-classic psychedelic ibogaine disrupts cognitive maps (in mice, ibogaine, “We found that the cognitive map, formed by the representation of position encoded by ensembles of individual neurons in the RSC, was destabilized by ibogaine when mice had to infer position between tactile landmarks.“)
• (S)-ketamine, but not (R)-ketamine shows acute effects on depression-like behavior and sleep-wake architecture in rats (in rats, argues that arketamine is less effective, though doesn’t mention other studies that do show it’s effectiveness (with fewer dissociative symptoms)
• Acute administration of the NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and MK-801 reveals dysregulation of glutamatergic signalling and sensorimotor gating in the Sapap3 knockout mouse model of compulsive-like behaviour (in mice, OCD-like behaviour, “However, we found that acute administration of ketamine did not cause a reduction in anxiety or grooming behaviour. We then investigated in vivo glutamatergic function via the administration of a different NMDAR antagonist, MK-801 (0.25 mg/kg), prior to locomotion and prepulse inhibition assays. We found evidence of altered functional NMDAR activity, as well as sexually dimorphic prepulse inhibition, a measure of sensorimotor gating.“)
• Intravenous psilocybin administration attenuates mechanical hypersensitivity in a rat model of chronic pain (in rats, “Intravenous psilocybin produced significant attenuation (p<0.05) of the formalin-induced bilateral mechanical hypersensitivity for 28 days but had limited effect (p<0.05 only on days 1, 3, 5, and 21) on thermal hyperalgesia.”)
• Haloperidol alters neurotrophic factors and epigenetic parameters in an animal model of schizophrenia induced by ketamine (in rats, “Hal per se or the association of Ket plus Hal decreased BDNF, NGF, NT-3, and GDNF, depending on the brain region and treatment regimen. The administration of Hal can alter the levels of neurotrophic factors and the activity of epigenetic enzymes, which can be a factor in the development of effect collateral in [schizophrenia] SCZ patients.“

Chemistry

• Behavioral metabolomics: how behavioral data can guide metabolomics research on neuropsychiatric disorders (metabolic analysis)
• Critical Analysis of the Total Synthesis of Salvinorin A (chemistry)
• Using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and DD-SIMCA for ecstasy profiling (identification)
• Applications and Potential of In Silico Approaches for Psychedelic Chemistry (chemistry, review, “Overall, this review highlights the immense potential of computational methods and informatics in Central Nervous System research and underscores the need for continued development and refinement of these techniques and more inclusion of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSARs).“)
• Testing secular ayahuasca bottles: Determination of the composition of the active substances after 100 years of storage (analysis, French)
• Unraveling the In Vitro Toxicity Profile of Psychedelic 2C Phenethylamines and Their N-Benzylphenethylamine (NBOMe) Analogues (toxicity of 2C-X and NBOMe compounds, “In summary, the introduction of a NBOMe moiety to the parent drugs significantly increases their lipophilicity, brain permeability and cytotoxic effects, with GSH and ATP homeostasis disruption. The inhibition of CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 emphasized that CYP-mediated metabolism impacts the toxicity of these drugs.“)
• Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Serotonin Receptor and Transient Receptor Potential Channel Ligands in Human Small Intestinal Epithelial Cells (in cells, different psychedelics (psilocybin, 4-0AcO-DMT) in combination with other compounds (e.g. curcumin) as anti-inflammatory agents)
• Gram-Scale Total Synthesis of (±)-Ibogamine (synthesis)
• A new synthesis of D-lysergic acid, with Photoredox Catalysis as a key step (synthesis)
• Characterization of the lysergic acid diethylamide analog, 1-(thiophene-2-carbonyl)-N,N-diethyllysergamide (1T-LSD) from a blotter product (identification)
• The changing outlook of psychedelic drugs: The importance of risk assessment and occupational exposure limits (safety limits of ‘exposure’ to psychedelics, focus on LSD and psilocybin)
• Development and Validation of a Sensitive LC-MS/MS Method to Quantify Psilocin in Authentic Oral Fluid Samples (identification)
• A mechanistic insight for the biosynthesis of N,N-dimethyltryptamine: An ONIOM theoretical approach (synthesis)
• Synthetic Studies Toward the Marine Alkaloid Convolutindole a, a Structurally Remarkable Derivative of the Hallucinogen N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (Dmt) (synthesis)
• A „Magic Mushroom“ Multi-Product Sesquiterpene Synthase (synthesis)
• Microneedle array-based electrochemical sensor functionalized with SWCNTs for the highly sensitive monitoring of MDMA in interstitial fluid (identification)
• Unraveling the In Vitro Toxicity Profile of Psychedelic 2C Phenethylamines and Their N-Benzylphenethylamine (NBOMe) Analogues (in cells, toxicity)
• High-Throughput Assay of Cytochrome P450-Dependent Drug Demethylation Reactions and Its Use to Re-Evaluate the Pathways of Ketamine Metabolism (analysis)
• Designing of molecularly imprinted polymer with carboxylic acid functionality for chiral separation of (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (analysis/identification)
• A Route to Potent, Selective, and Biased Salvinorin Chemical Space (synthesis)

Perspectives/Opinions

• Psychedelic Policy, Religious Freedom, and Public Safety: An Overview (policy)
• Repeated infusions of ketamine for treatment-resistant bipolar depression in real-world practice (commentary)
• Control side effects of the psychedelic renaissance (commentary)
• New study reveals long-term effects of MDMA on the brain’s glutamate-glutamine complex (letter to the editor)
• Ketamine versus electroconvulsive therapy for treatment-resistant depression: An updated meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (letter to the editor)
• Understanding the chemical language of the natural pharmacopeia: Whose hallucinogen is it anyway? (editorial)
• Is Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Medication Influenced by Bias? (editorial, for nurses audience)
• Salvaging Salvinorin: From Hallucinogen to Potential Therapeutic through Chemical Synthesis (commentary)
• Serotonin 5-HT2B Receptor Agonism and Valvular Heart Disease: Implications for the Development of Psilocybin and Related Agents (editorial, “In keeping with the FDA draft guidance, comprehensive and thorough evaluation for the potential of drug-induced VHD is warranted.”)
• Unraveling Psychedelic Responses: Targeted Protein Degradation and Genetic Diversity (viewpoint, “This Viewpoint discusses the intersection of targeted protein degradation (TPD) technologies and psychedelic research.“)
• Have Effective Antidepressants Finally Arrived? Developments in Major Depressive Disorder Therapy (perspective)
• Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: Which psychotherapy? (perspective, “We conclude that interpersonal psychotherapy and intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy align with that experience, although others are currently being trialled.“)
• Pioneering Changes in Psychiatry: Biomarkers, Psychedelics, and AI (viewpoint)
• 2B Determined: The Future of the Serotonin Receptor 2B in Drug Discovery (perspective, adding to articles this month focussed on 5-HT2b receptor)
• Psychedelic Microdosing: What Is It Good For? (commentary)
• Ensuring psychedelic treatments and research do not leave anyone behind (perspective)
• The rise (and possible fall) of ketamine treatment in New Zealand (editorial)
• Bridging the gap: an interdisciplinary perspective on ketamine in psychiatric disorders (editorial)
• Is the Psychedelic Experience an Essential Aspect of the Therapeutic Effect of Serotonergic Psychedelics? Conceptual, Discovery, Development and Implementation Implications for Psilocybin and Related Agents (perspective)
• Preventing the Gaps in Psychedelic Research from Becoming Practice Pitfalls: A Translational Research Agenda (perspective)
• Ethics in the practice of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (perspective, ethics, French)
• Adapting psychedelic medicine for headache and chronic pain disorders (perspective)
• Psychedelic Therapy—A New Paradigm of Care for Mental Health (editorial on the Usona trial – soon to be added to this site)

Reviews

• Could classic psychedelics influence immigrants’ acculturation process? A narrative review contemplating how (review)
• Understanding the Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide and the Importance of Its Prevention (review, strange use of language – unknown authors)
• GABAA receptors as targets for treating affective and cognitive symptoms of depression (review, covers (es)ketamine)
• A Brief Review on the Potential of Psychedelics for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Depression (review)
• Psilocybin’s Emerging Role in Combating Depressive Disorder (review)
• The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in clinical trials and experimental research studies for depression (review, covers fMRI use in clinical trials or depression, “Ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects make it a particularly useful compound for studying depression with fMRI; its effects on brain activity and connectivity trended toward normalizing the increases and decreases in brain activity and connectivity associated with depression.“)
• Classical psychedelics in psychiatry – renaissance of interest and therapeutic perspectives (review, Polish audience)
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence (review)
• Hallucinogenic potential: a review of psychoplastogens for the treatment of opioid use disorder (review)
• Psychedelic drugs in the treatment of psychiatric disorders (review, Danish)
• Ethics of Psychedelic Use in Psychiatry and Beyond—Drawing upon Legal, Social and Clinical Challenges (review, ethics, “Psychedelics need to be culturally contextualized, epistemic harm minimized and represented to ensure informed consent. Open data and commissions are needed to ensure safe and equal distribution.“)
• MDMA-Based Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Brief Overview of Current Evidence (review)
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence (review)
• Hallucinogenic potential: a review of psychoplastogens for the treatment of opioid use disorder (review)
• Better Biomarkers, Faster Drugs, Stronger Models: Progress Towards Precision Psychiatry (review, covers psychedelics/ketamine)
• Efficacy and Safety of Ketamine-assisted Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depressive Episode: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis (review, “Ketamine-assisted ECT is tolerable and may be efficacious in improving depressive symptoms, but a relative adverse impact on cognition may be an important clinical consideration.”)
• Women and MDMA: particularities of gender and sex (review, “While women may have a higher susceptibility to hyponatremia, intriguingly, they appear to be less vulnerable to MDMA-induced hyperthermia.“)
• Psychedelic Drugs used in the Treatment of Depression: A Literature Review (review)
• Beyond Psilocybin: Reviewing the Therapeutic Potential of Other Serotonergic Psychedelics in Mental and Substance Use Disorders (review)
• Brain-based correlates of antidepressant response to ketamine: a comprehensive systematic review of neuroimaging studies (review)
• Interventions for Deficits in Recognition of Emotions in Facial Expressions in Major Depressive Disorder: An Updated Systematic Review of Clinical Trials (review, cover psychedelics)
• MDMA-Based Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Brief Overview of Current Evidence (review)
• Psilocybin history, action and reaction: A narrative clinical review (review)

Other

• The functional connectome of 3,4-methyldioxymethamphetamine-related declarative memory impairments (safety/risks, chronic MDMA use, n=85, “Our findings suggest that functional underpinnings of MDMA-related memory impairments encompass altered patterns of multimodal sensory integration within auditory processing regions to a functional heteromodal connector hub, the left postcentral gyrus. In addition, hyperconnectivity in regions of a cognitive control network might indicate compensation for degraded sensory processing.“)
• 80 – Plant Poisons, Hallucinogens, and Traditional Medicines (academic book chapter)
• Limitless Experience through Limited Consumption: Psychedelics, Mystical Mindfulness, and Sustainable Corporate Leadership Development (psychedelics x leadership)
• The effect of obstructive sleep apnea severity on PTSD symptoms during the course of esketamine treatment: a retrospective clinical study (n=60, retrospective, esketamine for veterans with sleep apnea, “Veterans with PTSD and depression tend to benefit from esketamine treatment, but OSA may interfere with esketamine effectiveness. Comorbid OSA should be assessed for and treated to maximize esketamine’s benefits in PTSD.“)
• Subanaesthetic doses of ketamine reduce, but do not eliminate, predictive coding responses: implications for mechanisms of sensory disconnection (n=14, “Subanaesthetic dosing of ketamine reduced correlates of predictive coding but did not eliminate them. Future studies should evaluate whether states of sensory disconnection, including anaesthetic doses of ketamine, are associated with a complete absence of predictive coding responses.“)
• A Study on the Preventive Effect of Esketamine on Postpartum Depression (PPD) after Cesarean Section (retracted, never included in our database)
• Addiction specialists’ attitudes toward psychedelics: A National Survey (n=145, addiction specialists opinions, “Most respondents expressed positive attitudes to the therapeutic use of psychedelics, but a sizeable minority expressed concern for their addictive potential.“)
• “But the reality is it’s happening”: A qualitative study of eating disorder providers about psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (n=32, eating disorder providers, “Despite these concerns, participants were hopeful to see psilocybin therapy as a treatment for patients with eating disorders“)
• Substance use, harm reduction attitudes and behaviors among attendees of nature rave parties in Israel (n=1206, drug use at festivals)
• Chapter 8 Acid Scholarship: Timothy Leary and the Academic Background of Psychedelic Occulture (academic book chapter)
• Long-term remission following esketamine nasal spray sessions in a patient with severe and highly treatment-resistant depression: a single-case report (n=1, case study, “Over 20 bi-weekly sessions, she had no significant adverse effects and was stabilized into remission. During the maintenance phase and 1 year after, she continues to be stable. This case report provides an example of a patient with severe TRD that showed significant improvement after treatment with intranasal esketamine.“)
• Differential effectiveness between Ketamine and Esketamine: the predictive role of dissociative features. A treatment-resistant depression case (n=1, case study, “Here we present the critical case of a patient who took both molecules experiencing remission just with endovenous Ketamine, whose impact in terms of dissociative symptoms was greater. In this short report, we discuss the differences between the two drugs and the possibility of dissociative features to predict their efficacy.“)
• Esketamine nasal spray in severe bipolar depression with borderline personality disorder and history of multiple substance abuse: A case report (n=1, case study)
• Psychoplastogens: A Novel Therapeutic Approach for Neurological Diseases and Disorders (patent highlight)
• Exploring Next-Generation Therapeutics: Morphic Mixtures and Specified Salts for the Treatment of Mental Disorders and CNS Modulation (patent highlight)
• ‘Psychedelic Justice: Towards a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture’ (book review)
• Psychedelics and neonihilism: connectedness in a meaningless world (conceptual analysis)
• Moving beyond a figurative psychedelic literacy: Metaphors of psychiatric symptoms in ayahuasca narratives (conceptual analysis)
• Chasing the Numinous: Hungry Ghosts in the Shadow of the Psychedelic Renaissance (exploration of ‘Hungry Ghost’ Asian cultural archetype x psychedelics)
• Effects of LSD and Psilocybin on Self and Social Adaptation Processing: Contribution of Serotonin 2a Receptors in Social Influence (thesis)
• Approaches to Treat Opioid Use and Concurrent Mental Health Disorders in Canada: An Exploratory Analysis of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (thesis)
• Associations between individual hallucinogens and hallucinogen misuse among U.S. adults who recently initiated hallucinogen use (n=5.252, psychedelic use, survey, “Additionally, PCP increased the odds of three main hallucinogen dependence and abuse criteria measures…”)
• Predicting outcome with Intranasal Esketamine treatment: A machine-learning, three-month study in Treatment-Resistant Depression (ESK-LEARNING) (machine-learning on Spravato data)
• Psychedelics, embodiment, and intersubjectivity (anthropological analysis)
• On microdosing with the Mario mushroom (review of three books in fly agaric/Amania muscaria)
• How to Disappear Completely (interview study about ego dissolution)
• Psychedelic Commercialization: A Wide-Spanning Overview of the Emerging Psychedelic Industry (analysis of the commercialisation of psychedelics)
• “Diversity makes the richness of humanity”: the emergence of mental imagery after self-reported psilocybin mushrooms intake in an autistic woman with “blind imagination” (aphantasia): a 1-year retrospective case report (n=1, case study, mental imagery where one first had aphantasia)
• Neural geometrodynamics: a psychedelic perspective (psychedelics x mathematics)
• Entheogens: Psychedelic religion in the United States, part one (history)
• Developing a Direct Observation Measure of Therapeutic Connection in Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy: A Feasibility Study (testing if you can quantify the ‘therapeutic connection/alliance’ moments, finds it can be done)
• Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Report Peripherally Dominant Serotonin-Like Syndrome After Use of Serotonergic Psychedelics (case studies, persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) x psychedelic use)
• Medical Students’ Attitudes and Beliefs Toward Psilocybin: Does Terminology and Personal Experience with Psychedelics Matter? (n=295, student attitudes, overall positive)
• A Proposal to Study the Safety and Efficacy of Psilocybe cubensis in Preclinical and Clinical Studies as a Therapeutic Alternative for Major Depressive Disorder (study (protocol) proposal, using whole mushrooms vs synthetic psilocybin)
• Mescaline, Peyote and San Pedro: Is sustainability important for cacti consumers? (n=284, survey, “Wild Peyote is not the most popular mescaline source, but consumption of related products remains unsustainable. Promoting San Pedro as a Peyote substitute may act as an intervention to reduce Peyote consumption.“)
• Trends in Hallucinogen-associated Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations in California from 2016–2021 (pre-print, “Rates of hallucinogen associated ED visits increased by 69% between 2016 and 2021 compared to a 24% decrease and 1.9% decrease in rates of alcohol associated and cannabis associated ED visits respectively.“)
• Exploring the relationship between mental health, drug use, personality, and attitudes towards psilocybin-assisted therapy (n=118, survey, “This convenience sample of young adults [in Australia] was generally positively disposed towards PAT. People who were more open to experience and who had used recreational or psychedelic drugs had more favourable attitudes towards PAT.”)
• Differences in attitudes and beliefs about psychedelic-assisted therapy among social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists in the United States (n=856, “There were no significant differences between groups in confidence that PAT would be effective. However, there were significant between-group differences in psychiatrists’ understanding of PAT compared to social workers. Next, psychologists’ mean ratings of the acceptability of PAT were significantly greater than social workers’ ratings.“)
• Psychedelics and Artificial Intelligence: Integrating AI-Powered Analysis in Phenomenological Mental Health Studies (pre-print, using AI-based tools to better analyse data from psychedelic reports (phenomenology))
• Psychedelic Futures: A Psychedelic Feminist Autoethnography of Western Psychedelic Therapy (thesis)
• Seasonal Variation of Use of Common Psychedelics and Party Drugs Among Nightclub/Festival Attendees in New York City (real-world use, “Summer was associated with higher odds for use of LSD (aOR 2.72; 95% CI, 1.88–3.93) and psilocybin (aOR 1.65; CI, 1.12–2.43), independent of increases in psilocybin use over time (p < .001).“)
• Microdosing Psychedelics Under Local, State, and Federal Law (psychedelics x law, “It concludes with recommendations for the safe and equitable integration of microdosing into existing, proposed, and future psychedelics regulation. As more jurisdictions decriminalize or legalize psychedelics, they can use the Article as a resource and guide.“)
• Psychedelic Capitalism and the Perceptual Threshold (psychedelics x law)
• What Psychedelic Practitioners Can Learn from Eye Surgeons About ‘Soft Furniture’ Method Patent Reform (patent discussion)
• Efficacy of Ketamine with and without Lamotrigine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Preliminary Report (retrospective analysis, finds that anti-seizure medication doesn’t improve ketamine’s effectiveness, nor changes dissociation (acute effects))
• Healing Words: Effects of Psychoeducation on Likelihood to Seek and Refer Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Among BIPOC Individuals (“Our findings suggest that once provided psychoeducation, BIPOC participants are receptive to seeking or referring others to PAP. BIPOC participants also appear to prioritize physical safety and rate of success of PAP in these decisions.“)
• A Pilot Study Comparing a Community of Practice Program with and without Concurrent Ketamine-Assisted Therapy (n=57, shows both groups (with and without ketamine) had similar improvements)