Psychedelic Research Links September 2022

This is all the other psychedelic research that came out in September 2022. These papers don’t (yet) have their own page in our database.

You can find all interesting papers in our Papers Database.

Related Papers

• Expectancy in placebo-controlled trials of psychedelics: if so, so what? (perspective, “We conclude that the results of contemporary placebo-controlled RCTs of psychedelics should neither be dismissed due to imperfections in design, nor should early data be taken as firm evidence of effectiveness.“)

• Coping motives mediate the relationship between PTSD and MDMA use in adolescents with substance use disorders (n=111, adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs), those who had more traumatic events/PTSD were more likely to use MDMA)

• Ketamine for Chronic Pain (academic book chapter – open access book)

• Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy: Clinical Outcomes and Self-Transcendence in Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (thesis)

• The association between stage of treatment-resistant depression and clinical utility of ketamine/esketamine: A systematic review (review, efficacy lower at more severe TRD)

• Nitrous Oxide, a Rapid Antidepressant, Has Ketamine-like Effects on Excitatory Transmission in the Adult Hippocampus (in rats, mechanisms of N2O, similar to ketamine in the hippocampus)

• Detection of 3,4-Methylene Dioxy Amphetamine in Urine by Magnetically Improved Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensing Strategy (detection of MDA)

• Tripping to Cope: Coping Strategies and Use of Hallucinogens during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Three Cultural Contexts (survey, n=2971, “These results show an adaptive pattern of coping strategies among hallucinogen users. Further research should take into account that coping strategies are only marginally associated with hallucinogenic drug use.“)

• To treat or not to treat? High-potency benzodiazepine use in a case of comorbid hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and alcohol use disorder (n=1, case study, “It is necessary to discern the correct cause of visual disturbances in order to provide proper treatment. The risks and benefits of long-term benzodiazepine use must be weighed when deciding whether to prescribe them for patients with comorbid HPPD and alcohol use disorder.“)

• Potential Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (patent highlight, LSD for OCD)

• MDMA and Their Analogs as Therapeutics for Mental Disorder and Response Predictor (patent highlight, MDMA and analogues)

• The Link Between Marijuana and Hallucinogen Use Among US Adolescents (n=12,548, “An increase in the intensity of marijuana use is shown to be associated with higher odds of hallucinogen use in the US adolescent population.“)

• Interplay of hydrogen bonding in deciding the conformers of psilocin: Computational insights (spectroscopic study of psilocin (active metabolite of psilocybin), “AIM analysis revealed that the conformer-A (global minimum) is stable due to intramolecular H-bond formation between ethyl amine nitrogen and indolic hydroxyl group. This is in contradiction to earlier X-ray crystal studies of this molecule reported in literature. Dimers of both conformer-A and B were studied utilizing DFT method and it was observed that even in the dimer of conformer-A the intramolecular H-bond energy dominates over the intermolecular H-bond.“)

• Experimenters’ sex modulates mouse behaviors and neural responses to ketamine via corticotropin releasing factor (in mice, ketamine, “Mice showed aversion to the scent of male experimenters, preference for the scent of female experimenters and increased stress susceptibility when handled by male experimenters.“)

• Emerging drugs for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (review)

• The use of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (review, Icelandic)

• Preparing for the Bursting of the Psychedelic Hype Bubble (perspective, “We encourage our colleagues to help deflate the psychedelic hype bubble in a measured way so that we can get on with the hard work of more precisely determining the risks and benefits of psychedelics.”)

• The Safety and Efficacy of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies for Older Adults: Knowns and Unknowns (review, need more data on older people with comorbidities)

• Ayahuasca-induced psychosis: A case report (n=1, case report, “Psychosis induced by ayahuasca is a rare occurrence. However, due to an increase in the access and distribution of this substance, it is necessary to highlight the cases in which it occurs.“)

• The Role of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy to Support Patients With Cancer: A Critical Scoping Review of the Research (review)

• Use of plant-based hallucinogens and dissociative agents: U.S. Time Trends, 2002-2019 (increases in recreational use of psychedelics, including ketamine, but decrease in those under 25)

• Evaluation of the In Vitro Wound-Healing Potential of Ayahuasca (in cells, ayahuasca for wound healing)

• Transdiagnostic connectome signatures from resting-state fMRI predict individual-level intellectual capacity (n=1721, fMRI data to predict individual-level intellectual capacity (IQ-ish), possibly interesting data to use with psychedelic fMRI studies)

• At-home ketamine; still a lot to learn (perspective, at-home ketamine)

• Abnormal fractional Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuation in chronic ketamine users (non-medical (chronic) use of ketamine, n=58, finds abnormal brainwaves (low-frequency fluctuations)

• Evidence on the impairing effects of Ayahuasca on fear memory reconsolidation (in mice, “Our findings support the view that a low dose of AYA treatment impairs early and late stages of memory reconsolidation instead of facilitating fear extinction.“)

• Schrooms against booze: Potential of mycotherapy for the treatment of AUD (perspective)

• An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the use of psilocybin by veterans with symptoms of trauma (n=7, interview study with veterans who (are looking to) use psilocybin for trauma, finds relief in those who used psilocybin)

• Why Otolaryngologists Should Be Interested in Psychedelic Medicine (why those treating head/neck should be interested in psychedelics as medicines)

• Association between peripheral biomarkers and clinical response to IV ketamine for unipolar treatment-resistant depression: An open label study (n=15, open-label, ketamine 35mg/70kg, 10 infusions over four weeks, finds positive effect on depression – BDNF possibly a prognostic biomarker)

• Effect of psilocybin on marble-burying in ICR mice: Role of 5-HT1A receptors and implications for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (previously also covered in our July links – in mice, no effect on OCD-like behaviour of psilocybin)

• Three-decade research development of ibogaine use for the treatment of substance-related disorders: a bibliometric analysis (more ibogaine publications over the years)

• Sex dependence of opioid-mediated responses to subanesthetic ketamine (in mice, finds that only in males the opioid-dependent pathways play a role in ketamine’s effects)

• Psychedelics in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (perspective)

• Psychedelics for Psychiatric Disorders: Promise, Not Panacea (perspective)

• Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Great Promise and Great Challenges (perspective)

• Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies in Patients With Serious Illness: Opportunities and Challenges (perspective)

• Editorial: Ketamine for treatment of acute and chronic pain: The relationship of mechanism and exposure to therapeutic outcome (editorial, ketamine as alternative treatment for chronic pain – vs opioids)

• Comparative Pharmacology and Circuit-Level Models of the Effects of Psychedelic Drugs on the Human Brain (commentary – possibly misrepresents ‘visual hallucinations’ as there are no ‘hallucinations’ typically with psychedelics)

• Psychedelics for Alzheimer’s Disease Palliative Care (perspective, psychedelics for Alzheimer’s (palliative) care – i.e. relieving depression associated with it)

• Association between Lifetime Classic Psychedelic Use and Sick Leave in a Population-Based Sample (n=407.000, population-based survey, finds lower sick leave for those using psychedelics, but correlations is not causation)

• Healing early neonatal death related family trauma with psilocybin—A retrospective case study (n=1, positive findings from several psilocybin ceremonies for healing family trauma)

• Efficacy of ketamine intervention to decrease alcohol use, cravings, and withdrawal symptoms in adults with problematic alcohol use or alcohol use disorder: A systematic review and comprehensive analysis of mechanism of actions (s=8, n=634, meta-analysis finds no conclusive evidence of ketamine for alcoholism effectiveness)

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (r-TMS) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis and clinical implications (OCD, finds transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to be effective in those who don’t respond to SSRIs, not psychedelic but alternative treatment)

• Modulation of DNA methylation and protein expression in the prefrontal cortex by repeated administration of D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): Impact on neurotropic, neurotrophic, and neuroplasticity signaling (in mice, alterations in gene expression and neuroplasticity signalling (i.e. possibly mechanism how psychedelics can have (positive) effects)

• Self-Reported Efficacy of Treatments in Cluster Headache: a Systematic Review of Survey Studies (review, “Oxygen and subcutaneous triptan injections were most reported as effective abortive treatments, while psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide were most commonly reported as effective prophylactic treatments.“)

• A role of microRNA-149 in the prefrontal cortex for prophylactic actions of (R)-ketamine in inflammation model (in mice. “regulation of NFATc4 signaling by miR-149 might play a role in persistent prophylactic effects of (R)-ketamine, and that gut microbiota may regulate the gene expression of miRNAs in the PFC through gut–microbiota–brain axis.“)

• A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-Guided Dashboard to Review Psilocybin Target Domains: A Systematic Review (review using the RDoC framework)

• Psilocybin as a healer (n=12, semi-structured interviews, reports subjective positive effects of microdosing)

• Effects of GRIN2B, GRIA1, and BDNF Polymorphisms on the Therapeutic Action of Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression Patients: Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Clinical Trial (n=60, “There was no association between rs1805502, rs1994862, or rs6265 polymorphisms and antidepressant response (P = 0.909, P = 0.776, and P = 0.482, respectively), remission P = 0.790, P = 0.086, and P = 0.669), or Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale scores at each time point (P = 0.907, P = 0.552, and P = 0.778)“)

• Discovery of β-Arrestin-Biased 25CN-NBOH-Derived 5-HT 2A Receptor Agonists (“This led to the development of the first efficacious βarr2-biased 5-HT2AR agonists 4a-b and 6e-f, βarr2 preferring, relative to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).“)

• Ecstasy metabolites and monoamine neurotransmitters upshift the Na +/K + ATPase activity in mouse brain synaptosomes (in mice, “This study demonstrates the ability of MDMA metabolites, monoamine neurotransmitters, L-Dopa and DOPAC to alter the Na+/K+ ATPase function. This could represent a yet unknown mechanism of action of MDMA and its metabolites in the brain.“)

• Long-term Transformative Effects and Integration Challenges of Psychedelic Experiences: A Mixed Methods Phenomenological Study of the Romanian Population (thesis)

• Diversity inclusion in clinical trials investigating esketamine for depression: A systematic review (s=11, review, “Females were generally well represented, whereas non-White and Hispanic/Latinx participants were consistently underrepresented.“)

• Contrasting effects of DOI and lisuride on impulsive decision-making in delay discounting task (in rats, “DOI and lisuride have contrasting effects on impulsive decision-making via distinct receptors. DOI-induced increase of impulsivity is mediated by the 5-HT2A receptor, while lisuride-induced inhibition of impulsivity is regulated by the dopamine D2/D3 receptor.“)

• Deepening our understanding of psychedelics by expanding psychedelic data collection in the United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health (perspective, call for more real-world/recreational psychedelic use data collection)

• Ketamine in the Real World: Where Do We Go From Here? (commentary)

• Individual differences in the positive outcome from adolescent ketamine treatment in a female mouse-model of anorexia nervosa involves drebrin A at excitatory synapses of the medial prefrontal cortex (in mice, anorexia-like behaviour in female adolescent mice – “altogether pointing to 30mgKET-induced homeostatic plasticity that engages drebrin A at excitatory synapses of both PN and GABA-IN“)

• The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Medical Conditions: An Analysis of Currently Registered Psychedelics Studies in the American Drug Trial Registry (review, more psychedelic clinical trials, but also more overall trials in general)

• Experiences of Listening to Icaros during Ayahuasca Ceremonies at Centro Takiwasi: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (n=180, phenomenological analysis of music experience at ayahuasca retreats)

• The methanol and ethanol solvates of 4-glutarato-N,N-diiso­propyl­tryptamine (4-HO-DiPT prodrugs)

• Raising awareness: The implementation of medical cannabis and psychedelics used as an adjunct to standard therapy in the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer (n=1, treatment of cancer with psilocybin and cannabis, note: n=1, causation can’t be determined)

• The Emerging Field of Psychedelic Psychotherapy (review, Mood Disorders publication, “Psychedelic psychotherapy, a unique remarriage of biological therapy and psychotherapy, has the potential to transform mental health care.”)

• Effects of the Phenethylamine 2-Cl-4,5-MDMA and the Synthetic Cathinone 3,4-MDPHP in Adolescent Rats: Focus on Sex Differences (in mice, “[T]his study demonstrates that 3,4-MDPHP and 2-Cl-4,5-MDMA are unlikely to induce dependence in occasional users but can induce other effects at both central and peripheral levels that may significantly differ between males and females.“)

• Ecstasy metabolites and monoamine neurotransmitters upshift the Na+/K+ ATPase activity in mouse brain synaptosomes (in mice, “This study demonstrates the ability of MDMA metabolites, monoamine neurotransmitters, L-Dopa and DOPAC to alter the Na+/K+ ATPase function. This could represent a yet unknown mechanism of action of MDMA and its metabolites in the brain.“)

• Sex differences on the response to antidepressants and psychobiotics following early life stress in rats (in rats, “All treatments reversed depressive-like behavior in females and escitalopram and ketamine in males“)

• Neurovascular Uncoupling: Multimodal Imaging Delineates the Acute Effects of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (in rats, “We show that methylenedioxymethamphetamine induces localized increases in glucose metabolism in limbic projection areas involved in emotional processing.”)

• Psychedelic use predicts objective knowledge about climate change via increases in nature relatedness (n=641, survey, “The results suggest that the relationship of psychedelics with pro-environmental variables is not due to psychological biases, but manifests in variables as diverse as emotional affinity towards nature as well as knowledge about climate change.“)

• Post-Partum Depression Lactating Rat Model for Evaluating Ketamine’s Safety as a Pharmacotherapeutic Treatment: Roles in Cardiac and Urinary Function (in mice, “Our findings suggest that ketamine is safe for use in postpartum depression and does not induce cardiovascular and/or urinary systems toxicity.“)

• Development and initial validation of an MDMA/Ecstasy motives assessment (n=1754, “Four primary motives were identified for MDMA use: Social, expansion, coping, and energy“)

• Christianity and Psychedelic Medicine: A Pastoral Approach (call for Christian response/inquiry into psychedelics as medicine)

• Analysis of 2,5-dimethoxy-amphetamines and 2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamines aiming their determination in biological matrices: a review (review on analysing NPSs)

• Triangulating Amsterdam’s illicit stimulant use trends by wastewater analysis and recreational drug use monitoring (drug monitoring, “Increased consumption of MDMA, cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine.“)

• Pooled Urine Analysis at a Belgian Music Festival: Trends in Alcohol Consumption and Recreational Drug Use (drug monitoring, Belgium festival)

• LncRNA TUG1 Promoted Stabilization of BAG5 by Binding DDX3X to Exacerbate Ketamine-Induced Neurotoxicity (in cells)

• White matter alterations in chronic MDMA use: Evidence from diffusion tensor imaging and neurofilament light chain blood levels (n=78, half chronic MDMA users, “We conclude that MDMA use is not associated with significant white matter lesions due to the absence of reduced fractional anisotropy and increased NfL levels commonly observed in conditions associated with white matter lesions, including stimulant and ketamine use disorders.“)

• Heads, Seekers, Psychonauts, and One-Timers: Patterns in Stories of Psychedelic Consumption (n=37, interviews, “The data suggest a potential 4-part categorization based on five factors: named forms of psychedelic substances used, reported frequency of psychedelic ingestions, stated reasons for consumption and desistance, self-imposed rules surrounding use, and descriptions of drug effects and experiences“)

• Efficacy of psychotropic medications on suicide and self-injury: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (analysis of different medications for suicide prevention, including ketamine which produced above average (positive) results)

• BDNF Alterations in Brain Areas and the Neurocircuitry Involved in the Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine in Animal Models, Suggest the Existence of a Primary Circuit of Depression (review)

• A Concise and Malleable Synthesis of (±)-Lysergic Acid (synthesis of LSD)

• Immunological Modulation and Control of Parasitaemia by Ayahuasca Compounds: Therapeutic Potential for Chagas’s Disease (in cells, the possibility of ayahuasca (β-carboline alkaloid harmine & DMT) against internal parasites)

• Seeing in Visionary and Mystical Experience: A Perceptual and Cognitive-Semantic Account (analysis of visual experience on psychedelics)

• MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: The devil is in the detail (review, NZ/AUS audience)

• Pharmacological modulation of meaning attribution (book chapter, by the excellent Enzo Tagliazucchi)

• Identifying iconographic evidence for a mushroom cult in the preliterate Southern Levant (history, psychedelics use based on cave paintings)

• Becoming a nitrous oxide user on social media: Learning to maximise pleasures and minimise harms (harm reduction, data from subreddit about N20 use)

• Ketamine Self-Medication in a Patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbid Therapy-Resistant Depression (n=1, case study, relief from suicidal ideation, depression (TRD) and autism symptoms)

• An evidence-based approach to psychopharmacology for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – 2022 update (treatment escalation protocol for PTSD, notes but doesn’t recommend psychedelics (too novel))

• Synaptic plasticity as a therapeutic target to modulate circuits in psychiatric disorders (editorial)

• Decolonization is a metaphor towards a different ethic. The case from psychedelic studies (perspective)

• Psychedelics therapeutics: What we know, what we think, and what we need to research (perspective)

• Case report: the psychotic-mystical effects related to an unaware use of Salvia divinorum (n=1, case study, salvia use)

• The use of classic psychedelics among adults: a Danish online survey study (n=500, Danish, positive experiences with psychedelics use)

• “Getting to the Root”: Ayahuasca Ceremony Leaders’ Perspectives on Eating Disorders (n=15, perspective from ayahuasca ceremony leaders on eating disorders)

• Innovative chemistry yields potential antidepressant drugs (briefing, “Computational simulation of interactions of each of 75 million molecules with a model structure of the 5-HT2A receptor, which mediates the actions of psychedelic drugs, identified molecules that selectively activate the receptor. When tested in mice, two of these compounds had antidepressant-like actions without the side effects of psychedelic drugs.“)

• Can psychedelics provide a glimpse into the experience of death? (short perspective)

• Esketamine and Psilocybin—The Comparison of Two Mind-Altering Agents in Depression Treatment: Systematic Review (review)

• Depression and antidepressant effects of ketamine and its metabolites: The pivotal role of gut microbiota (review, ketamine and the gut)

• Evaluation of Early Ketamine Effects on Belief-Updating Biases in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression (n=56, belief updates after ketamine)

• 3,4-Methylenedioxy methamphetamine, synthetic cathinones and psychedelics: From recreational to novel psychotherapeutic drugs (review)

• Animal Behavior in Psychedelic Research (in mice, review)

• A century of research on psychedelics: A scientometric analysis on trends and knowledge maps of hallucinogens, entactogens, entheogens and dissociative drugs (meta-analysis of publications, finds trends such as the resurgence since the late 90s in psychedelic research)

• The next bet for cerebral aneurysms treatment: Psychedelics (mini review, psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents)

• Novel Therapies for Centralized Pain: a Brief Review (review, pain, covers ketamine)

• Poisoning with central stimulant drugs: an observational study from Oslo, Norway (n=104/1131 cases of drug poisoning were with MDMA, of those about 70% also consumed alcohol – hospitals/out clinics in Olso)

• Reasonable expectations for replications of psychedelic-assisted therapy: The case for prediction intervals rather than P-values (perspective, “Here, we review recent and classic work on prediction intervals and power analysis to reveal that trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy that emphasize statistical significance will likely include failures to replicate, especially if sample sizes do not increase dramatically. The field and the public should expect some failed replication attempts based on sampling variability alone“)

• Nature Outlook (science-based articles) special edition on psychedelics paid for by ataiPsychedelic medicine faces the acid testTaking the tripping out of psychedelic medicineHope that psychedelic drugs can erase traumaHow MDMA resensitizes the brainThe psychedelic escape from depressionFinding medical value in mescalineYour brain on psychedelicsPsychedelic research and the real worldPsychedelic microdosing hits a rough patch in clinical trialsResearch round-up: psychedelic medicineThe psychedelic remedy for chronic painCan psychedelic drugs uncover the secrets of consciousness?Why federal agencies say now is the time to explore psychedelics (sponsor feature)