Are psychedelic drug treatments seeing a comeback in psychiatry?

Sessa, B.

doi:10.1002/pnp.94

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This may be reflective of the power of stigma and culture in facilitating research. Switzerland has a long history of being more accepting of psychedelic use, even legalizing LSD and MDMA therapies from 1988 to 1993 [ 48 ] and granting individual allowances for the therapeutic use of LSD and MDMA since 2014 [ 49 ]. It is no surprise that the country that celebrates “bicycle day” is also the country with the highest rate of research on the topic [ 50 ].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Medical Conditions: An Analysis of Currently Registered Psychedelics Studies in the American Drug Trial Registry

Kurtz¹,

Patel²,

Gendreau³

et al. 2022

Cureus

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Although early therapeutic research on psychedelics dates back to the 1940s, this field of investigation was met with many cultural and legal challenges in the 1970s. Over the past two decades, clinical trials using psychedelics have resumed. Therefore, the goal of this study was to (1) better characterize the recent uptrend in psychedelics in clinical trials and (2) identify areas where potentially new clinical trials could be initiated to help in the treatment of widely prevalent medical disorders. A systematic search was conducted on the clinicaltrials.gov database for all registered clinical trials examining the use of psychedelic drugs and was both qualitatively and quantitatively assessed. Analysis of recent studies registered in clinicaltrials.gov was performed using Pearson's correlation coefficient testing. Statistical analysis and visualization were performed using R software. In totality, 105 clinical trials met this study's inclusion criteria. The recent uptrend in registered clinical trials studying psychedelics (p = 0.002) was similar to the uptrend in total registered clinical trials in the registry (p < 0.001). All trials took place from 2007 to 2020, with 77.1% of studies starting in 2017 or later. A majority of clinical trials were in phase 1 (53.3%) or phase 2 (25.7%). Common disorders treated include substance addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depressive disorder. Potential research gaps include studying psychedelics as a potential option for symptomatic treatment during opioid tapering. There appears to be a recent uptrend in registered clinical trials studying psychedelics, which is similar to the recent increase in overall trials registered. Potentially, more studies could be performed to evaluate the potential of psychedelics for symptomatic treatment during opioid tapering and depression refractory to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

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Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Medical Conditions: An Analysis of Currently Registered Psychedelics Studies in the American Drug Trial Registry

Kurtz¹,

Patel²,

Gendreau³

et al. 2022

Cureus

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“…In good agreement with the results arising from such intervention-based experimental/therapeutic studies, cross-sectional studies have recently shown that recreational or ceremonial use of psychedelics is also associated with increased Openness scores (Barbosa et al, 2016; Nour et al, 2017). Interestingly, cognitive flexibility has been shown to be positively modulated by 5-HT 2A -R functioning (Boulougouris and Tsaltas, 2008; Furr et al, 2012) and 5-HT 2A -R agonists (such as LSD, DMT and psilocybin) to facilitate enhanced cognitive flexibility and creative thinking (Frecska et al, 2012; Harman et al, 1966; Janiger and Dobkin de Rios, 1989; King et al, 1974; Kuypers et al, 2016; McGlothlin et al, 1967; St John Sessa, 2008). Based on these observations in combination with evidence that repeated administrations of 5-HT 2A agonist psychedelics pre-clinically cause 5-HT 2A -R down-regulation (Buckholtz et al, 1988), it is possible that 5-HT 2A -R binding is negatively associated with Openness scores among recreational users of substances that directly (psychedelics) or indirectly (MDMA) stimulate the 5-HT 2A -R – a relationship not yet explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreational use of psychedelics is associated with elevated personality trait openness: Exploration of associations with brain serotonin markers

et al. 2019

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Background: Recent studies have suggested therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for a variety of mental health conditions. The understanding of how single psychedelic administrations can induce long-lasting effects are, in large, still lacking. However, recent studies in both healthy and clinical populations suggest a role for personality changes. Aim: To test support for some of these plausible mechanisms we evaluated (cross-sectional) associations between recreational use of psychedelics and 3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and (a) personality measures and (b) key markers of cerebral serotonergic signalling (serotonin transporter and serotonin-2A-receptor binding). Methods: In 10 psychedelic-preferring recreational users, 14 MDMA-preferring users and 21 non-using controls, personality was assessed using the ‘big five‘ instrument Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Frontal serotonin transporter and serotonin-2A-receptor binding potentials were quantified using [11C]DASB and [18F]altanserin positron emission tomography, respectively. Results: Of the five NEO-PI-R traits, only openness to experience scores differed between the three groups; psychedelic-preferring recreational users showing higher openness to experience scores when compared with both MDMA-preferring users and controls. Openness to experience scores were positively associated with lifetime number of psychedelic exposures, and among all MDMA-preferring user/psychedelic-preferring recreational user individuals, frontal serotonin transporter binding – but not frontal serotonin-2A-receptor binding – was positively associated with openness to experience. Conclusion: Our findings from this cross-sectional study support increasing evidence of a positive association between psychedelic experiences and openness to experience, and (a) expands this to the context of ‘recreational’ psychedelics use, and (b) links serotonergic neurotransmission to openness to experience. A modulation of personality induced by psychedelic experiences may have important therapeutic implications via its impact on peoples’ value systems, cognitive flexibility, and individual and social behaviour.

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The acute effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and methamphetamine on driving: A simulator study

Stough

Downey

King

et al. 2012

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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Are psychedelic drug treatments seeing a comeback in psychiatry?

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Medical Conditions: An Analysis of Currently Registered Psychedelics Studies in the American Drug Trial Registry

The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Medical Conditions: An Analysis of Currently Registered Psychedelics Studies in the American Drug Trial Registry

Recreational use of psychedelics is associated with elevated personality trait openness: Exploration of associations with brain serotonin markers

The acute effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and methamphetamine on driving: A simulator study

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