Psychedelic Research Links August 2022

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

This page will be updated (almost) every day.

You can find all interesting papers in our Papers Database.

Related Papers

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out? A Typology of Psychedelic Microdosing as Technologies of the Self (review, cultural-sociological perspective)

The Ego Dissolution Scale: A Novel Valid and Reliable Measure (thesis, new scale for measuring (sub-components of) ego dissolution, possibly helpful compliment to current MEQ(-like) scales)

Investigating the Connection between Trauma, ACE, and Addiction: The Efficacy of Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy in Treatment (thesis, trauma leading to addiction and how PAT could help)

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of mescaline and major metabolites in human plasma (identification of mescaline in blood (plasma))

Neuroimaging Correlates of Treatment Response with Psychedelics in Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review (review)

Entheogens and psychedelics in Canada: Proposal for a new paradigm (perspective/policy)

Ortholog genes from cactophilic Drosophila provide insight into human adaptation to hallucinogenic cacti (“Our results provide evidence of selection in genetic variants related to alkaloids toxicity, xenobiotic metabolism, and neuronal plasticity in Aymara and Quechua populations, suggesting a possible process of gene-culture coevolution driven by religious practices.”)

Ischemic stroke secondary to the use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and frontal lobe involvement, manifesting disinhibition syndrome – Case report (case report, n=1, changed personality (negatively) after LSD (and long-term drug abuse))

Psychedelic integration: An analysis of the concept and its practice (conceptual analysis, good review of literature on integration)

The current state of ayahuasca research in animal models: A systematic review (review)

Pharmacokinetics, systemic toxicity, thermoregulation and acute behavioural effects of 25CN-NBOMe (in rats, “25CN-NBOMe readily passes the blood–brain barrier and exhibits a moderate level of toxicity and behavioural effect comparable with other NBOMes.“)

Pharmacological Strategies for Suicide Prevention Based on the Social Pain Model: A Scoping Review (review)

Non-hallucinogenic Psychedelic Analog Design: A Promising Direction for Depression Treatment (perspective, interestingly from Chinese authors)

Psychiatry organization does not endorse psychedelic treatment (… and that is ok, it’s too early for the biggest psychiatry organisation (APA) to endorse psychedelics)

Psilocybin use patterns and perception of risk among a cohort of Black individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (n=28, few have used psilocybin, some may be reluctant to seek PAT treatment, but very small sample to base anything off)

Not too quick on “Debunking the myth of ‘Blue Mondays’” (reaction to Sessa et al., 2021 – as we noted before, the article doesn’t disprove ‘Blue Mondays’ and is limited to specific (research/therapy) settings – and in particular those dealing with alcoholism (but could generalise to all research/therapy settings)

Comparative study of low-dose ketamine infusion and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: A posthoc pooled analysis of two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies (n=153, retrospective analysis, no long-term (>1 month) effect of ketamine)

“Forest medicines,” Kinship Alliances, and Equivocations in the Contemporary Dialogues between Santo Daime and the Yawanawá (anthropology, Santo Daime (ayahuasca) church)

Experiences With Sacred Mushrooms and Psilocybin In Dialogue: Transdisciplinary Interpretations Of The “Velada” (anthropology, “The resurgence of psychedelic medicine prompts us into a transdisciplinary dialogue that encompasses both the anthropological perspective and the set and setting of the entheogenic experience during the sacred mushroom ritual.“)

Ayahuasca Calling: Sacredness and the Emergence of Shamanic Vocations in Denmark and Peru (anthropology)

Apophenia, absorption and anxiety: Evidence for individual differences in positive and negative experiences of Hallucinogen Persisting Perceptual Disorder (survey, n=117, finds correlations with aspects of different HPPD groups)

Where do we go next in antidepressant drug discovery? A new generation of antidepressants: a pivotal role of AMPA receptor potentiation and mGlu2/3 receptor antagonism (review)

Cyclic square-wave voltammetric discrimination of the amphetamine-type stimulants MDA and MDMA in real-world forensic samples by 3D-printed carbon electrodes (MDMA detection/analysis method)

Presentation of two cases of fatal MDMA poisoning (safety, MDMA and other drugs (e.g. alcohol) overdoses, French article)

Differences across sexes on head-twitch behavior and 5-HT2A receptor signaling in C57BL/6J mice (in mice, found difference in psychedelic-indicator (head-twitch) between sexes in one type of mice, but not another)

Prevalence and associations of classic psychedelic-related seizures in a population-based sample (n=613, safety, finds 1,5% seizure rate, not unlike that in the general population, “Among those who reported seizures while using a classic psychedelic, almost half reported co-use of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, or opioid replacement therapies at the time of the seizures. Notably, classic psychedelic-related seizures were more commonly reported in certain respondents, especially those with a personal or family history of epilepsy.“)

Predicting Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine: The Role of the Pregenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex as a Multimodal Neuroimaging Biomarker (n=24, “pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) activity to predict antidepressant effects of ketamine“)

A bibliometric analysis of research on (R)-ketamine from 2002 to 2021 (review, arketamine studies, the right-handed enantiomer (handedness) of ketamine)

Ketamine use in critically ill patients: a narrative review (review, mostly on pain, also touches upon antidepressant effects)

Psilocybin Efficacy and Mechanisms of Action in Major Depressive Disorder: a Review (review)

Inconsistencies between national drug policy and professional beliefs about psychoactive drugs among psychiatrists in the United States (survey, n=181, psychiatrists’ opinions on safety of drug treatments including ketamine and psilocybin)

Policy considerations that support equitable access to responsible, accountable, safe, and ethical uses of psychedelic medicines (policy, both medical and other uses of psychedelics, need for training)

Buddhist-like opposite diminishing and non-judging during ketamine infusion are associated with antidepressant response: an open-label personalized-dosing study (n=11, open-label, individualised dosing of ketamine and Buddhist-like thinking)

Case report: Intranasal esketamine for severe major depressive disorder with psychotic features (n=1, case report, TRD plus psychotic features, multiple esketamine dosings, showed significant improvement that lasted one year)

Helpful or Harmful? The Therapeutic Potential of Medications with Varying Degrees of Abuse Liability in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (review)

New investigational agents for the treatment of major depressive disorder (review, ketamine)

Insights for Modern Applications of Psilocybin Therapy from a Case Study of Traditional Mazatec Medicine (investigation/reporting on Mazatec way of using psilocybin (as a medicine))

Psilocybin and the Meaning Response: Exploring the Healing Process in a Retreat Setting in Jamaica (investigation/reporting on psilocybin retreat centres in Mexico)

Dark Side of the Shroom: Erasing Indigenous and Counterculture Wisdoms with Psychedelic Capitalism, and the Open Source Alternative (perspective, “While prominent psychedelic psychiatrists and behaviorists are focused on rooting out and transforming individual habits of mind, we argue that there is another, latent potential for psychedelics to draw attention to—and transform—the invisible, hegemonic infrastructures and ideologies that subtly naturalize and perpetuate deeply unequal societies.“)

The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Task Force Report: Serotonergic Psychedelic Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder (review, for a Canadian audience, finds evidence not yet up to the standards of the taskforce CANMAT)

A-118 Psychedelic Interventions for Neuropsychological Conditions (review)

The differentiation of LSD and its 17 related compounds by GC-EI-MS and GC-CI-QTOF-MS (identifying LSD and similar (analogue) compounds)

Examining Attitudes to Psilocybin: Should Candidates for Medical Psilocybin be Required to Pass a Contextual Suitability Test? (n=219, test to see if psilocybin prescription (-assisted therapy) is appropriate. “In terms of practical application, if clinicians were considering a candidate for a prescription of psilocybin, these data suggest that initially requiring the candidate to perform a psychological suitability test—exploring personality traits and the patient’s understanding of the EP factors—might offer valuable information that could help the clinician discern whether that course of treatment is appropriate.“)

Application of Deuterated N,N-Dimethyltryptamine in the Potential Treatment of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders (DMT patent highlight, Small Pharma, by Robert Kargbo)

Restoration of Motor Function Post-Neurological Injury Using Serotonergic Agonist (novel psychedelic patent highlight, Mindset Pharma, by Robert Kargbo)

Effects of psychotropic drugs on ocular parameters relevant to traffic safety: A systematic review (review, effect of psychedelics (psychoactive substances more broadly) on driving)

Guidelines of the International Headache Society for Controlled Clinical Trials in Cluster Headache (guidelines, could apply to psychedelic studies for cluster headaches)

Medicines legislation and regulation in the United Kingdom 1500–2020 (review, legislation in the UK)

High risk and low prevalence diseases: Serotonin syndrome (review, serotonin syndrome (a risk factor mostly with MDMA))

The Association of Classic Serotonergic Psychedelic Use and Intention of Future Use with Nature Relatedness (survey, “When sociodemographic variables were added, only ayahuasca/DMT past and current use were positively associated with [nature relatedness]. Intention of future use was only significantly associated with NR in individuals who reported intention of future use of psilocybe mushrooms.“)

Identification of three novel new psychoactive substances 4F-AB-BUTINACA, AB-PHETINACA and 2F-NENDCK (novel psychedelics)

Cystathionine Gamma-Lyase Regulate Psilocybin Biosynthesis in Gymnopilus dilepis Mushroom via Amino Acid Metabolism Pathways (“[T]his study revealed a new molecular mechanism that affects psilocybin biosynthesis, which can provide a theoretical basis for improving psilocybin synthesis and the possibility for the development of biomedicine.”)

Changing attitudes to psychedelic drug assisted therapy: The induction of empathy to enhance community support for innovative interventions in mental health (n=73, survey, “Attitudes towards MDMA assisted therapy are positive in the present study, regardless of the health condition being treated. Negative affective reactions towards patients previously associated with stigma (mental health patients) were reversed by the induction of cognitive empathy with an associated increase in willingness to help such patients.“)

Does the trip matter? Investigating the role of the subjective effects of psychedelics in persisting therapeutic effects (perspective)

Adolescent and adult time trends in US hallucinogen use, 2002–19: any use, and use of ecstasy, LSD and PCP (survey data, n=1 million (“Since 2002, hallucinogen use in the United States has decreased among adolescents but increased in adults and is now estimated to affect more than 3 million adults aged 26+ years and more than 5.5 million adults aged 18+ years.“)

The role of immunomodulators in treatment-resistant depression: case studies (perspective, ketamine as anti-inflammatory agent to treat depression)

Rapid homeostatic plasticity and neuropsychiatric therapeutics (review, different types of plasticity, covers ketamine)

A Participant-Level Integrative Data Analysis of Differential Placebo Response for Suicidal Ideation and Non-Suicidal Depressive Symptoms in Clinical Trials of Intravenous Racemic Ketamine (n=151, s=10, reviews the placebo response on suicidal ideations, anxiety, and depression, finds a greater response on suicidal ideation versus depression but not anxiety – might explain why there are smaller effect sizes found as the placebo group thus has a higher (relative) response rate)

Assessing the quality of publicly available videos on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD (review of YouTube videos of MDMA-AT for PTSD finds that videos were of poor quality, still most mention the combination with therapy (85%) and that it’s not FDA-approved (82%), only a third (32%) mention risks of potential for abuse)