Psychedelic Research Links September 2023

This is all the other psychedelic research that came out in September 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

• Gβγ subunit inhibitor decreases DOM-induced head twitch response via the PLCβ/IP3/Ca2+/ERK and cAMP signaling pathways (in mice, “Our results demonstrated that Gβγ subunits play an important role in the DOM-induced HTR. “)

• (R)-ketamine restores anterior insular cortex activity and cognitive decits in social isolation-reared mice (in mice, “…we found that social isolation attenuates aIC neuronal activation upon social contact and that (R)-ketamine, but not (S)-ketamine, is able to 52 counteracts this reduction.”)

• Limbic system response to psilocybin and ketamine administration in rats: A neurochemical and behavioral study (in rats, pre-print “A marked anxiolytic effect of psilocybin in acute phase and 24 h post-treatment was shown in the open field test.“)

Chemistry

• A molecular analysis of substituted phenylethylamines as potential microtubule targeting agents through in silico methods and in vitro microtubule-polymerization activity (analysis)

• Discovery and In Vitro Characterization of SPL028: Deuterated N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (chemistry, making of longer-lasting DMT analogue (SPL028)

• Elucidation of the mescaline biosynthetic pathway in peyote (Lophophora williamsii) (synthesis pathway)

• Synthetic Strategies toward Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Ergoline Synthesis via α-Arylation, Borrowing Hydrogen Alkylation, and C–H Insertion (synthesis)

• Systematic characterization of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide metabolites in Caenorhabditis elegans by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (analysis in organism)

• Psilocybin analog 4-OH-DiPT enhances fear extinction and GABAergic inhibition of principal neurons in the basolateral amygdala (in cells, “ Our findings suggest that 4-OH-DiPT activates BLA interneurons via the 5-HT2A receptor to enhance GABAergic inhibition of BLA principal neurons, which provides a potential mechanism for suppressing learned fear.“)

Perspectives/Opinions

• Adapting psychedelic medicine for headache and chronic pain disorders (perspective)

• Psychedelic Therapy—A New Paradigm of Care for Mental Health (editorial)

• A perspective on psychedelic teratogenicity: the utility of Zebrafish models (opinion)

• Regulating Ketamine Use in Psychiatry (editorial)

• Ketamine versus ECT for Nonpsychotic Treatment-Resistant Major Depression (response)

• From prohibited to prescribed: The rescheduling of MDMA and psilocybin in Australia (editorial)

• Current treatment options for cluster headache: limitations and the unmet need for better and specific treatments—a consensus article (consensus article, mentions psychedelics for cluster headaches)

• Challenges With Short-term Use of Intravenous Racemic Ketamine With Psychotherapy for a Hospitalized Patient With Severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression (letter to the editors)

• Psilocybin for anorexia nervosa: If it helps, let’s learn how (viewpoint)

• Classic Psychedelics for the Treatment of Depressive Disorders: An Update for Psychiatrists in Training (perspective/guideline)

• “We don’t want to run before we walk”: the attitudes of Australian stakeholders towards using psychedelics for mental health conditions (perspective)

• Unlocking the potential of psychedelics as medicine: Past obstacles and future outlooks (viewpoint)

• Psychedelic drug MDMA moves closer to US approval following success in PTSD trial (news)

• The psychedelic experience and treatment-resistant depression (commentary)

• Lifeboat ethics, risk, and therapeutic opportunity: an appeal for equitable psychedelic therapy access in the “high-risk” addiction patient (perspective)

• Tripping outside the lines: lessons from observational studies of combination psychedelic use beyond regulated clinical contexts (commentary)

• TESCREAL hallucinations: Psychedelic and AI hype as inequality engines (perspective)

• Applying Key Lessons from the Hospice and Palliative Care Movement to Inform Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (commentary)

• Psychedelics and critical theory A response to Hauskeller’s individualization and alienation in psychedelic psychotherapy (commentary)

• Letter to the editor regarding “Understanding subjective experience in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: The need for phenomenology” (perspective)

• Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, patient vulnerability and abuses of power (brief)

Reviews

• VR models of death and psychedelics: An ‘un-collapsed’ aesthetic paradigm for designing high-entropy experiences with ill-defined priors (pre-print, theory-building, VR x NDE / psychedelics)

• A journey with psychedelic mushrooms: From historical relevance to biology, cultivation, medicinal uses, biotechnology, and beyond (review)

• Psilocybin history, action and reaction: A narrative clinical review (review)

• Review of studies on the use of microdosing with hallucinogens that combine psychotherapeutic techniques with administrations of LSD, MDMA or Psilocybin, as pharmacological complements in chronic psychopathologies, moderate, high, severe or chronic disorders, as well as in life-threatening diseases (review)

• The zebrafish for preclinical psilocybin research (review)

• Molecular and structural insights into the 5-HT2C receptor as a therapeutic target for substance use disorders (review)

• Acute Subjective Effects of Psychedelics within and Beyond WEIRD Contexts (review)

• Ketamine Use in Adult and Pediatric Patients Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO): A Systematic Review (review)

• Use of the Classic Hallucinogen Psilocybin for Treatment of Existential Distress Associated with Cancer (academic book chapter)

• DNA methylation and the opposing NMDAR dysfunction in schizophrenia and major depression disorders: a converging model for the therapeutic effects of psychedelic compounds in the treatment of psychiatric illness (review)

• Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Military and Veterans Healthcare Systems: Clinical, Legal, and Implementation Considerations (review)

• The efficacy and safety of esketamine in pediatric anesthesia: A systematic review and meta-analysis (review & meta-analysis)

• Use of Psychedelics for Pain: A Scoping Review (review)

• Treatment-resistant depression: definition, prevalence, detection, management, and investigational interventions (review, covers ketamine)

• Do Psychedelics Facilitate Emergence of Unconscious Psychological Processes? (review)

• Ketamine: Mechanisms and Relevance to Treatment of Depression (review)

• Psychedelic Science, Contemplative Practices, and Indigenous and Other Traditional Knowledge Systems: Towards Integrative Community-Based Approaches in Global Health (review)

• Beyond Therapeutic Potential: A Systematic Investigation of Ketamine Misuse in Major Depressive Disorder Patients (review)

• Ketamine for bipolar depression: an updated systematic review (review)

• Psychedelic-assisted Therapy Training: Firsthand Experience of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness in the Development of Competence (review)

• Psychedelic-assisted Psychotherapy in 3-D: Acceptance, Connectedness, and Defensiveness (review)

• Bedside to bench: the outlook for psychedelic research (review)

• Recent advances in the study of anesthesia-and analgesia-related mechanisms of S-ketamine (review)

Other

• Case report: Ibogaine reduced severe neuropathic pain associated with a case of brachial plexus nerve root avulsion (n=1, case study, “…we describe a 53-year-old male with two decades of severe intractable pain due to brachial plexus nerve root avulsion from vehicular trauma who was successfully treated with both high dose inpatient and low dose outpatient administrations of ibogaine.“)

• History of the administration of psychedelics in France (history, “With just a few rare cases of recovery reported, these substances were not considered as medicines, but rather as tools for exploration in the context of experimental research; thought of not as psychedelics (“mind manifesters”) but as psychodysleptics (“mind disruptors”)“)

• Not New, but Nearly Forgotten: Hypnodelic Therapy as Treatment for Addiction (student review, LSD x hypnosis)

• Healing Words: Effects of Psychoeducation on Likelihood to Seek and Refer Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Among BIPOC Individuals (effect of education on likelihood of seeking PAT)

• Therapeutic effects of 7- to 14-day subanesthetic ketamine infusions for chronic pain on standardized psychiatric measures (ketamine for pain, “There was a significant 52% reduction in pain severity and 33% reduction in pain interference scores following ketamine treatment. Ketamine treatment also reduced scores on the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) by 28% and scores on the Generalised Anxiety and Depression Assessment (GAD-7) by 36%.“)

• Therapeutic Effects of Ceremonial Ayahuasca Use for Methamphetamine Use Disorders and Other Mental Health Challenges: Case Studies in an Indigenous Community in Sonora, Mexico (n=3, case studies, “The preliminary results demonstrate therapeutic progress and improved psychometric outcomes observed in the three case studies presented, indicating promise for this intercultural therapeutic intervention.“)

• Efficacy of Psilocybin-assisted Psychotherapy for Treatment-resistant Depression: a Comparative Meta-analysis (thesis)

• Potential Benefits of Psilocybin for Lupus Pain: A Case Report (n=1, case report)

• Testing the activity of novel psychedelics on the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptor (master thesis)

• Ketamine and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in an Adolescent with Treatment-Resistant Depression (case study, n=1, adolescent x ketamine & TMS)

• Influence of Intravenous S-Ketamine on the Pharmacokinetics of Oral Morphine in Healthy Volunteers (drug x drug interactions, morphine x ketamine)

• Synthetic Strategies Towards LSD and Discovery of Isotryptamine Isosteres of Ergoline Alkaloids (thesis)

• The use of psychedelics in psychotherapy: A systematic review (thesis)

• Self-perception and self-recognition while looking in the mirror on psilocybin (survey, “It was found that it was rare to see one’s own face as a different entity (e.g., an animal or other person) however people were equally likely to see themselves as they really are or distorted. People were significantly more positive than negative when perceiving their own face.“)

• Pasifika Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (thesis)

• The Effectiveness of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide to Increase Well-being and Related Positive Mental Health Outcomes in Healthy Individuals : A Systematic Review of Placebo-controlled Trials (thesis)

• Drugs and Psychedelics in Tourism (academic book chapter)

• Propofol for treatment resistant depression: A randomized controlled trial (not a psychedelic, but other novel treatment for depression, RCT)

• Efficacy and safety of esketamine nasal spray in addition to standard of care in patients with major depressive disorder who have active suicidal ideation with intent: A subgroup analysis of the Asian cohort of ASPIRE I (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study) (sub-group analysis, finds similar efficacy & safety)

• Comparing Substance Use Consequences between Serotonergic Psychedelics, MDMA, and other Drugs of Abuse Among United States Adults with History of Psychiatric Illness (safety, survey)