Psychedelic Research Links November 2023

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

You can find all the added papers in our Papers Database.

Related Papers

In Rodents

• Psilocybin does not induce the vulnerability marker HSP70 in neurons susceptible to Olney’s lesions (in rats, “In contrast to S-ketamine- and MK-801-treated animals, we did not detect any HSP70-positive neurons in retrosplenial cortex of rats treated with psilocybin. Our results suggest that psilocybin might be safer for clinical use compared to S-ketamine regarding neuronal damage.“)
• Role of the gut-brain axis via the subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve in stress resilience of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in mice exposed to chronic restrain stress (in mice, “… gut-brain axis via the subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve might contribute to the stress resilience of MDMA.“)
• Antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like activities and acute toxicity evaluation of the Psilocybe cubensis mushroom in experimental models in mice (in mice, “Our results provide preclinical evidence of the anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects of the P. cubensis mushroom without producing neurotoxicity after enteral or parenteral administration, where psilocybin and psilocin were identified mainly after AQ extraction.“)
• Microdosing ketamine in Drosophila does not inhibit SERT like SSRIs, but causes behavioral changes mediated by glutamate and serotonin receptors (in larvae!, “At microdoses, ketamine did not affect serotonin, which was different from SSRIs. However, higher doses inhibited dSERT.“)
• Reduction of BDNF Levels and Biphasic Changes in Glutamate Release in the Prefrontal Cortex Correlate with Susceptibility to Chronic Stress-Induced Anhedonia (in rats, “Reductions of BDNF levels may be key neurobiological markers of susceptibility to stress-induced anhedonia.“)
• Modulation of DOM-Induced Head-Twitch Response by mGluR2 Agonist/Inverse Agonist is Associated with 5-HT2AR-Mediated Gs Signaling Pathway (in mice, “The results showed that DOM-induced HTR in mice was dose-dependently inhibited by LY379268, LY354740, and LY404039, while it was dose-dependently enhanced by LY341495.”)
• Low-dose Esketamine suppresses NLRP3-mediated apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death in microglial cells to ameliorate LPS-induced depression via ablating GSK-3β (in mice, “ Taken together, low-dose Esketamine ameliorated LPS-induced depressive symptoms in mice through regulating the GSK-3β/NLRP3 pathway, and our work suggested that appropriate doses of Esketamine were essential for the treatment of depression in clinic.“)

Chemistry

• N, N-dimethyltryptamine forms oxygenated metabolites via CYP2D6 – an in vitro investigation (in cells, “DMT was rapidly metabolised by CYP2D6, while stable with all other investigated CYP enzymes.“)
• Comprehensive toxicological screening of common drugs of abuse, new psychoactive substances and cannabinoids in blood using supported liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (screening)
• Cultivation, chemistry, and genome of Psilocybe zapotecorum (analysis)
• Innovative spectrofluorometric method for determination of harmaline and harmine in different matrices (identification)
• A multivariable analysis delineating hair color, hair dyeing, and hat wearing as predictors of level of cocaine and MDMA detection in human hair samples (detection)
• Design of smart nanoparticles for the electrochemical detection of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine to allow in field screening by law enforcement officers (detection)
• Metabolism of four novel structural analogs of ketamine, 2-FXE [2-(ethylamino)-2-(2-fluorophenyl) cyclohexan-1-one], 2-MDCK [2-(methylamino)-2-(o-tolyl) cyclohexan-1-one], 3-DMXE [2-(ethylamino)-2-(m-tolyl) cyclohexan-1-one], and 2-DMXE [2-(ethylamino)-2-(o-tolyl) cyclohexan-1-one], in human liver microsomes based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (identification)
• Novel Psilocin Prodrugs with Altered Pharmacological Properties as Candidate Therapies for Treatment-Resistant Anxiety Disorders (creation and testing of psilocybin-like molecules by Enveric Biosciences team)
• Novel harmine derivatives as potent acetylcholinesterase and amyloid beta aggregation dual inhibitors for management of Alzheimer’s disease (in cells, “Further exploration of the mechanism through kinetic studies and molecular modelling confirmed that compound 13 could interact with both the CAS and the PAS of AChE. These findings suggested that harmine derivatives hold great potential as dual – targeted candidates for treating AD.“)

Perspectives/Opinions

• Psychedelic treatments are speeding towards approval – but no one knows how they work (commentary/news feature)
• The remarkable reimagining of psilocybin (letter to the editor)
• Commentary on Keyes and Patrick: Changes in psychedelic use in the United States may require changes in our narrative of psychedelic harms (commentary)
• Author reply to Letter to the Editor regarding ‘Understanding subjective experience in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: The need for phenomenology’ (commentary)
• Comment on ‘A comparative analysis of antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects of repeated ketamine infusions in elderly and younger adults with depression’ (commentary)
• Looking for Ted: black trips, “psychedelic” humanism, and silence (opinion)
• Can research on entactogens contribute to a deeper understanding of human sexuality? (perspective/review)
• Overcoming blinding confounds in psychedelic randomized controlled trials using biomarker driven causal mediation analysis (perspective)
• How Should the FDA Evaluate Psychedelic Medicine? (perspective)
• Drug-induced psychiatric disorders: A pharmacovigilance update (perspective/safety, covers ketamine)
• Psychedelics for treatment resistant depression: are they game changers? (opinion)
• Stimulant and hallucinogenic novel psychoactive substances; an update (opinion)
• Expectancy Effects Cannot Be Neglected in MDMA-Assisted Therapy Research (viewpoint)
• Call for evidence-based psychedelic integration (opinion)
• A Heuristic Approach: Against Consensus Definitions of Psychedelics (opinion)
• Ketamine and the neurobiology of depression: Toward next-generation rapid-acting antidepressant treatments (perspective)
• Novel therapeutic approaches to treat neuroinflammation in the central nervous system (editorial, covers ketamine)

Reviews

• Ketamine for Major Depressive Disorder (review/academic book chapter)
• Psilocybin and Other Classic Psychedelics in Depression (review/academic book chapter)
• Psychedelic renaissance: revitalized potential therapies for psychiatric disorders (review)
• Three Decades of Research on the Development of Ibogaine Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: A Scientometric Analysis (review)
• Mindfulness meditation and psychedelics: potential synergies and commonalities (review)
• Methylphenidate as a treatment option for substance use disorder: a transdiagnostic perspective (review)
• LSD and psilocybin for chronic nociplastic pain: A narrative review of the literature supporting the use of classic psychedelic agents in chronic pain (review)
• MDMA-Based Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Brief Narrative Overview of Current Evidence (review)
• Synergistic psychedelic – NMDAR modulator treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders (review, combination of ketamine and classical psychedelics)
• Present and future of metabolic and metabolomics studies focused on classical psychedelics in humans (review, “The integration of metabolomics and pharmacokinetics for investigating the molecular interaction between psychedelics and multiple targets may open new avenues in understanding the therapeutic role of psychedelics.“)
• The possible place for psychedelics in pharmacotherapy of mental disorders (review)
• The Therapeutic Potential of Amphetamine-like Psychostimulants (review, covers MDMA)
• The Effects of Psychedelics on Neuronal Physiology (review)
• Psychedelic phenomenology and the role of affect in psychological transformation (review)
• Ancient medicine for a modern disease: traditional Amazonian medicine to treat substance use disorders (review, look at Takiwasi Center’s program)
• α-Ethyltryptamine: A Ratiocinatory Review of a Forgotten Antidepressant (review)
• Psychedelics for treatment resistant depression: are they game changers? (review)
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation and ketamine: implications for combined treatment in depression (review, TMS combined with ketamine for depression)
• Interaction of hallucinogenic rapid-acting antidepressants with mGlu2/3 receptor ligands as a window for more effective therapies (review, “[W]e explore AD-like behavioral, synaptic, and molecular action of RAAs such as ketamine, scopolamine, and psilocybin, in combination with mGlu2/3 receptor antagonists.“)
• What clinicians need to know about intranasal esketamine for treatment-resistant depression? (review)
• Assessment of the acute subjective psychedelic experience: A review of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical research on classical psychedelics (review)
• Efficacy and Safety of Four Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Adults with Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (review)
• Psychedelic Drugs or Hallucinogens: Exploring Their Medicinal Potential (review)
• Efficacy and safety of ketamine to treat cancer pain in adult patients: A systematic review (review)
• Ketamine – a new antidepressant drug with anti-inflammatory properties (review)
• Psychedelia: The interplay of music and psychedelics (review)
• MDMA-Based Psychotherapy in Treatment-Resistant Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A Brief Narrative Overview of Current Evidence (review)
• Could Psychedelics Treat Neuropathic Chronic Pain? (review)
• A brief historical overview of psychedelic research (review)
• The effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) on the Positive Valence Systems: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Informed Systematic Review (review)
• A Comprehensive Review of the Current Status of the Cellular Neurobiology of Psychedelics (review)
• Psychedelic Drugs And Psychology (review)
• Ketamine and the neurobiology of depression: Toward next-generation rapid-acting antidepressant treatments (review)
• Treating posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder comorbidity: Current pharmacological therapies and the future of MDMA-integrated psychotherapy (review, covers MDMA)
• IUPHAR-review: The Integration of Classic Psychedelics into Current Substance Use Disorder Treatment Models (review)

Other

• Preliminary Evaluation of a Web-Based International Journal Club for Ketamine in Psychiatric Disorders: Cross-Sectional Survey Study (survey study on journal club for those using ketamine medically, “The journal club successfully reached its intended audience and developed into a web-based community. The majority of the participants were satisfied with the format and found it impactful.“)
• Psychedelics and treatment of mental disorders: A survey of attitudes and knowledge among psychiatrists, general practitioners and psychologists in Iceland (survey, article in Icelandic, “The use of mind-expanding hallucinogens in the treatment of mental illnesses is still not timely in the opinion of these professions, but the education of health professionals about the nature and consequences of their use needs to be strengthened in light of the increased interest in the substances in this country.“)
• Mental health facilities with ketamine infusion therapy in the United States in 2020: Co-location of dual diagnosis mental health and substance use disorder treatment (study on ketamine clinics, n=134 in the study, in the US)
• Efficacy of insula deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with varenicline for smoking cessation: A randomized, double-blind, sham controlled trial (TMS for smoking cessation, alternative to psychedelic treatments)
• Membrane Permeation of Psychedelic Compounds (computational study)
• Mystical and Affective Aspects of Psychedelic Use in a Naturalistic Setting: A Linguistic Analysis of Online Experience Reports (analysis of trip report to further nail down the ‘ineffable’ mystical experience)
• Prohibition of LSD in the Nordic Countries (thesis)
• A network model of the modulation of gamma oscillations by NMDA receptors in cerebral cortex (computational model, “We conclude that NMDA antagonists induce an increased excitability state, which may or may not produce gamma oscillations, but the response to external inputs is exacerbated, which may explain phenomena such as altered perception or hallucinations.”)
• Mechanisms of Sustained Increases in γ Power Post-Ketamine in a Computational Model of the Hippocampal CA3: Implications for Ketamine’s Antidepressant Mechanism of Action (computational model)
• National network of depression centers position statement: Insurance coverage for intravenous ketamine in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (statement on insurance coverage of ketamine treatment for depression (TRD))
• Establishing an esketamine clinic in Australia: Practical recommendations and clinical guidance from an expert panel (on esketamine clinics in Australia, “Guidance presented in this paper should assist Australian clinicians to set up an esketamine clinic, and provide practical advice on the infrastructure and clinical requirements for treatment of patients with this agent.”)
• Ketamine for Traumatic Assault-Induced Depression: A Case Report (n=1, case report, ketamine for trauma/depression)
• Case report: Maintaining altered states of consciousness over repeated ketamine infusions may be key to facilitate long-lasting antidepressant effects: some initial lessons from a personalized-dosing single-case study (n=1, case study, “We found a strong correlation between the experienced ASCs during ketamine infusions and the antidepressant effect: the stronger the ASCs overall, the stronger the resulting antidepressant effect.“)
• Hallucinating hallucinogens (essay, AI x novel psychoactive substances)
• Cognitive behavioral therapy following esketamine for major depression and suicidal ideation for relapse prevention: The CBT-ENDURE randomized clinical trial study protocol (trial protocol)
• False or Misleading Claims in Online Direct-to-Consumer Ketamine Advertising in Maryland (false/misleading advertising for ketamine)
• A Psychometric Evaluation of the Dutch Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (Dutch version of MEQ)
• Psilocybin therapy to reduce depression following a terminal diagnosis (poster presentation)
• Clinical, behavioral, and electrophysiological profiles along a continuum of suicide risk: evidence from an implicit association task (n=75, ketamine study for SI)
• Effect of single intravenous injection of esketamine on postpartum depression after labor analgesia and potential mechanisms: a randomized, double-blinded controlled trial (n=120, esketamine for PPD, found significant effect)
• Association of Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder with Trait Neuroticism and Mental Health Symptoms (HPPD x personality traits)