Psychedelic Research Links October 2022

This is all the other psychedelic research that came in October 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

• Psychedelic Medicine: A Rapid Review of Therapeutic Applications and Implications for Future Research (huge review)

• Pros and cons of esketamine treatment in psychiatry (review)

• Potential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin: A Systematic Review (review)

• (Es)Ketamine for Suicidal Ideation and Behavior: Clinical Efficacy (review)

• Natural Products for the Treatment of Drug Addiction: a Narrative review (review)

• The Efficacy of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Managing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A New Frontier? (review)

• Intravenous ketamine for depression: A clinical discussion reconsidering best practices in acute hypertension management (review, safety, hypertension related to ketamine use)

• Classic psychedelics and alcohol use disorders: A systematic review of human and animal studies (review)

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

• Commentary on Cochrane review: “Ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators for depression in adults with unipolar major depressive disorder” (review, additional analyses, showing esketamine favourably over placebo)

• Trauma and Remembering: From Neuronal Circuits to Molecules (review, how PTSD works; “We propose that psychedelics, acting by serotonin-glutamate interactions, destabilize trauma-related engrams and open the door to change them during psychotherapy“)

• Applying Lessons From Cannabis to the Psychedelic Highway (commentary, call to build infrastructure)

• Bibliometric Analysis of Academic Journal Articles Reporting Results of Psychedelic Clinical Studies (study of number of publications, but on initial look seems to undercount psilocybin and overcount LSD studies)

• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) as a biomarker of treatment response in patients with Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD): A systematic review & meta-analysis (meta-analysis, covers ketamine, BDNF associated with changes in depression scores)

• A Critical Appraisal of Evidence on the Efficacy and Safety of Serotonergic Psychedelic Drugs as Emerging Antidepressants (review)

• Ketamine-assisted meaning-centered psychotherapy for a patient with severe suicidal behavior (n=1, case study, ketamine plus meaning-centred psychotherapy (MCP))

• Yale Program for Psychedelic Science (YPPS) Manual for Psilocybin-OCD Session Monitors for Protocol HIC: 2000020355 (protocol, for Yale OCD trial)

• Predictors of Psychedelic Experience: A Thematic Analysis (analysis of Erowid trip reports, “This revealed three external predictors (nature, music, and preparation) and three internal predictors (understanding, mind-set, and motivation)“)

• The neuroprotective and neuroplastic potential of glutamatergic therapeutic drugs in bipolar disorder (review)

• Conformational Landscape and Properties of Psilocybin: A Computational Approach (chemistry, analysis of psilocybin (interestingly not psilocin) structure)

• Formal Total Synthesis of Salvinorin A (chemistry, synthesis of Salvinorin A)

• Methods of Lysergic Acid Synthesis—The Key Ergot Alkaloid (chemistry)

• MS2Prop: A machine learning model that directly predicts chemical properties from mass spectrometry data for novel compounds (chemistry x machine learning)

• Reconsideration of the Benefits of Pharmacological Interventions for the Attenuation of the Cognitive Adverse Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy (summary of meta-analysis/review, mentions ketamine as adjunct to ECT for improving cognition afterwards)

• Psilocybin: a revolution in psychedelic medicines in the US? (perspective)

• Stress, mental disorder and ketamine as a novel, rapid acting treatment (review, ketamine brain mechanisms)

• Characteristics of Real-World Commercially Insured Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression Initiated on Esketamine Nasal Spray or Conventional Therapies in the United States (comparison of esketamine-treated patients and wider TRD population, finds more severity and higher initial costs to medical system)

• Self-administration of Psilocybin in the Setting of Treatment-resistant Depression (n=1, case study, psilocybin mushrooms for TRD)

• Aortic dissection following “ecstasy” use complicated by compartment syndrome (n=1, case study, medical emergency of someone who uses MDMA, last time 2 days earlier – note: also kidney failure and other complications)

• A Case of Ecstasy-Induced Acute Hepatic Injury (n=1, case study, 3x per week MDMA use, liver injury)

• Life-Threatening Hyponatremia Secondary to Chronic Kratom Use: A Case Presentation (n=1, case study, kratom recreational use danger)

• What Conceptual Metaphors Appear in Texts on Psychedelics and Medicine? Corpus-Based Cognitive Study (conceptual analysis)

• Statistics-Based Optimization of the Extraction Process of N,N-dimethyltryptamine from Mimosa tenuiflora Stem Bark (DMT extraction)

• MDMA-assisted psychotherapy; Inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in the frontiers of PTSD treatment trials (equity and ethics, n=16 focus group to identify issues/solutions to broader inclusion)

• “Spiritual Awakening” With Ibogaine Instead Awakens Acute Liver Injury And Rhabdomyolysis: A Case Report (n=1 case study, ibogaine leading to liver injury)

• Transcranial magnetic stimulation and intravenous ketamine combination therapy for treatment-resistant bipolar depression: A case report (n=1 case study, rTMS (brain stimulation) combined with ketamine for depression)

• Molecular Structure, Reactivity and Spectroscopic Properties of Hallucinogens Psilocybin, Mescaline and their Derivatives – A Computational Study (chemical analysis, “The following conclusions are made from the present investigation. (1) DFT (BP86/TZVP) optimized structures are minima in the potential energy surface and possess no imaginary frequencies. (2) ORCA computed HOMO-LUMO energy gap values for psilocybin, psilocin, and mescaline derivatives strongly suggest the thermodynamic stability of these molecules.“)

• Fast antidepressant action of ketamine in mouse models requires normal VGLUT1 levels from prefrontal cortex neurons (in mice, “Low prefrontal cortex (PFC) VGLUT1 levels limits antidepressant action of ketamine, eEF2 activation and de novo synthesis of the immature form of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (pro-BDNF).”)

• Comprehensive metabolomic characterization of the hippocampus in a ketamine mouse model of schizophrenia (in mice, “ketamine dramatically decreased the Lys, Gly, and Ser levels while significantly increasing the Gln level and relative Glu-to-GABA ratio. Our study suggested that Gln, Gly and Ser metabolism disturbances might be involved in ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like phenotypes.“)

• The psychotomimetic ketamine disrupts the transfer of late sensory information in the corticothalamic network (in mice/rats, “… present findings support the hypothesis that NMDA receptor antagonism disrupts the transfer of perceptual information in the somatosensory cortico-thalamo-cortical system.”)

• Heteroaromatic Salvinorin a Analogue (P-3l) Elicits Antinociceptive and Anxiolytic-Like Effects (in mice, Salivinorin A analogue, “These results support P-3l potentially possessing clinical utility and substantiate the need for additional pharmacological characterization.“)

• Effect of MDMA exposure during pregnancy on cell apoptosis, astroglia, and microglia activity in rat offspring striatum (in mice (rats), evidence for harm to the embryo)

• MDMA administration attenuates hippocampal IL-β immunoreactivity and subsequent stress-enhanced fear learning: An animal model of PTSD (in mice (rats), “these results support the hypothesis that MDMA blocks SEFL through an immunosuppressive mechanism and supports the use of MDMA as a potential therapeutic agent for those experiencing this disorder. Together, these experiments are the first to examine the effect of MDMA in the SEFL model and these data contribute significantly towards the clinical PTSD findings.“)

• Ketamine may exert rapid antidepressant effects through modulation of neuroplasticity, autophagy, and ferroptosis in the habenular nucleus (in mice (rats), “Ketamine-treated [Chronic Restraint Stress] rats showed a significant improvement in habenular nuclear neuroplasticity.”)

• Regulatory, Ethical and Political Challenges of Experimentation with LSD on Human Subjects (book chapter, unfortunately, misspells Hofmann’s name)

• Polysubstance use profiles among US adults using Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa): A latent class analysis using The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (kratom use in the US)

• Use of psychoactive and stimulant plants on the south coast of Peru from the Early Intermediate to Late Intermediate Period (early use of San Pedro (mescaline) and ayahuasca)

• Lucy is back in Brazil with a new dress (novel psychedelic substance (NPS) in Brazil which serves as pro-drug to LSD)

• Novel mescaline-related N-acylhydrazone and its unsubstituted benzoyl derivative: Promising metallophores for copper-associated deleterious effects relief in Alzheimer’s disease (novel psychedelic substance (NPS) similar to mescaline, hypothesised to help with Alzheimer’s)

• New ketamine analogue: 2-fluorodeschloro-N-ethyl-ketamine and its suggested metabolites (novel psychedelic substance (NPS), similar to ketamine)

• The complete organellar genomes of the entheogenic plant Psychotria viridis (Rubiaceae), a main component of the ayahuasca brew (genomic analysis of DMT-containing plant used in ayahuasca brew)

• Use of psychedelics in the Czech Republic: results of recent population surveys (Czech Republic, 5-6% use psychedelics in their lifetime)

• Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between lifetime psychedelic use (MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin) and major depressive episodes (survey re-analysis, showing lower/no effect of recreational psychedelic use on depression (correlation) in minorities)

• Psilocybin-assisted therapy for reducing alcohol intake in patients with alcohol use disorder: protocol for a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled 12-week clinical trial (The QUANTUM Trip Trial) (trial protocol, psilocybin for alcoholism)

• Ibogaine/Noribogaine in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: a Systematic Review of the Current Literature (review)

• N,N-Diformylmescaline: a novel analogue of mescaline detected in Queensland (novel mescaline-like molecule)

• Are Magic Mushrooms Really Magic? (perspective)

• Acid liberalism: Silicon Valley’s enlightened technocrats, and the legalization of psychedelics (essay)

• Epistemic losses, cultural exclusions, and the risk of biopiracy in the globalization of ayahuasca: A reply to Labate et al. (commentary/reply)

• Culture, context, and ethics in the therapeutic use of hallucinogens: Psychedelics as active super-placebos? (editorial)

• Are Magic Mushrooms Really Magic? (editorial)

• Psychedelic medicine at a crossroads: Advancing an integrative approach to research and practice (perspective)

• Is good science leading the way in the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs? (perspective)

• Could psychedelic drugs have a role in the treatment of schizophrenia? Rationale and strategy for safe implementation (perspective)

• Set and setting in microdosing: an oft-overlooked principle (perspective)

• Decolonization, Polarization, Psychoanalysis, Privilege: Toward a Cosmopolitan and Culturally Intelligent Psychotherapist (perspective)

• Proposed Consensus Statement on Defining Psychedelic Drugs (perspective, define psychedelics as used on Blossom too, including ketamine and MDMA)

• Adaptation and latent structure of the Brazilian version of the Ego Dissolution Inventory (EDI-BR): An exploratory study (translation and validation of Ego Dissolution Inventory)

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

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

• Electrical spiking of psilocybin fungi (“This short analysis provides a proof of intrinsic electrical communication in psilocybin fungi, and further establishes these fungi as a valuable tool for studying fungal electro-physiology.“)

• Study protocol for “MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for major depressive disorder: A proof of principle study” (protocol for MDMA-AT for depression)

• Validation of a new instrument for assessing attitudes on psychedelics in the general population (new measure to survey a general public on attitudes/knowledge of psychedelics, validated in Croatian population)

• Association of anhedonia and suicidal ideation in patients with treatment-refractory depression after intravenous ketamine infusions (n=79, “Anhedonia as measured by the MADRS appeared to not be positively related to suicidal ideation after serial ketamine infusions.“)

• Off-label pharmacological treatment for neuropathic pain: A Delphi study by the Spanish Pain Society Neuropathic Pain Task Force (alternative treatments for pain, includes ketamine)

• Psychosis and psychedelics: Historical entanglements and contemporary contrasts (differences/similarities between psychosis (treatment) and psychedelics)