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Molecular Psychiatry

23 Papers Indexed in Blossom

Published Papers

Open Accessmeta

Subjective and neurocognitive profiling of clinical doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in healthy volunteers: implications for therapeutic use

This narrative review (2026) examines placebo-controlled single-dose studies of MDMA (75 to 125 mg) in healthy volunteers and finds that it acutely increases mood, empathy, trust and prosocial feelings, while causing temporary memory impairment and modest declines in motor coordination and cognitive flexibility. It also notes that post-acute fatigue and low mood can occur, and that MDMA may complicate trial blinding and expectancy in psychotherapy studies.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Ramaekers, J. G., Kuypers, K. P. C., Vollenweider, F. X.
Open Accessindividual

The dynamics of AMPA receptors underlies the efficacy of ketamine in treatment resistant patients with depression

Using the PET tracer [11C]K-2 to image AMPAR density in vivo, the authors found that lower AMPAR availability correlates with greater illness severity and differs between patients with treatment‑resistant depression and healthy controls. Ketamine produced region‑specific changes in AMPAR density that correlated with clinical improvement and partially restored the abnormal AMPAR phenotype, supporting AMPAR dynamics as a mechanistic substrate of ketamine’s antidepressant effect in TRD.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Nakajima, W., Hatano, M., Ohtani, Y., Tani, H., Yatomi, T., Tsuchimoto, S., Fujimoto, Y., Eiro, T., Ichijo, S., Nakano, K., Arisawa, T., Takada, Y., Kimura, K., Abe, H., Sano, A., Nomoto-Takahashi, K., Yonezawa, K., Tomiyama, S., Nagai, N., Kusudo, K., Honda, S., Moriyama, S., Nakajima, S., Yamada, T., Iwabuchi, Y., Jinzaki, M., Yoshimura, K., Syed, S. A., Tsugawa, S., Uchida, H., Takahashi, T.
Open Accessindividual

The forgotten psychedelic: Spatiotemporal mapping of brain organisation following the administration of 2C-B and psilocybin

Using 7T resting-state fMRI in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, the authors show that acute 2C-B and psilocybin both reduce intra-network static connectivity while increasing between-network and subcortical–cortical coupling and brain complexity, but 2C-B causes less between-network desynchronisation and relative elevations in transmodal connectivity compared with psilocybin. These spatially divergent effects align with monoaminergic transporter and serotonergic receptor distributions and link transmodal-axis desynchronisation to behavioural measures, highlighting 2C-B as a distinct tool for psychedelic neuroscience and potential pharmacotherapies.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Mallaroni, P., Singleton, P., Mason, N. L., Satterthwaite, T. D., Ramaekers, J. G.
Open Accessindividual

Dissociable effects of psilocybin and escitalopram for depression on processing of musical surprises

In adults with MDD, psilocybin therapy produced larger reductions in anhedonia than escitalopram and preserved subjective affective responses to musical surprises while decreasing ventromedial prefrontal and angular gyrus activation and increasing sensory-region responses. By contrast, escitalopram reduced surprise-related affective responses and increased activation in memory and emotional processing areas, implying divergent mechanisms — psilocybin may lower prediction-error salience or strengthen hedonic priors, whereas escitalopram may diminish them.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Harding, R., Singer, N., Wall, M. B., Hendler, T., Erritzoe, D., Nutt, D. J., Carhart-Harris, R. L., Roseman, L.
Open Accessindividual

Psilocybin increases emotional empathy in patients with major depression

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 51 patients with major depression, a single dose of psilocybin (0.215 mg/kg) given alongside a four-week psychological support intervention produced significant increases in explicit emotional empathy—especially towards positive stimuli—relative to placebo that persisted for at least two weeks. The findings indicate that psychedelics can enhance social cognition in depression and may contribute to their therapeutic effects.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Jungwirth, J., Von Rotz, R., Dziobek, I., Vollenweider, F. X., Preller, K. H.
Open Accessmeta

Effects of psychoplastogens on blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis of 29 studies found no evidence that psychoplastogens (e.g. ketamine, psychedelics, MDMA, scopolamine) acutely increase peripheral BDNF in humans (SMD = 0.024, p = 0.64), with results unchanged by drug, dose, blood fraction, age or diagnosis. The authors conclude peripheral BDNF is unlikely to be a useful marker of rapid neuroplasticity in humans and recommend more precise neuroimaging and stimulation-based measures for future translation.

Published
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Authors
Calder, A. E., Hase, A., Hasler, G.

Quick Facts

Papers Indexed
23
h-Index
261
Open Access
No
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Country
United Kingdom
Website
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