Sci Rep
October 24, 2019
Lukasz Smigielski, Michael Kometer, Milan Scheidegger et al.
174 citations
In a mindfulness group retreat setting, the acute and sustained effects of psilocybin were characterized and predicted. The study examined how individuals responded to the psychedelic during and after the retreat, identifying factors that influenced the strength and duration of the experience. Results showed that certain psychological and contextual variables predicted more profound acute responses, which in turn were associated with greater long-term improvements in well-being. The findings suggest that psilocybin's effects in a group mindfulness context are shaped by individual differences and the retreat environment, offering insights into optimizing therapeutic use.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 2, 2022
Torsten Passie, Jeffrey Guss, Rainer Krähenmann
71 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and similar psychoactive drugs have been used in psychotherapy since 1949, when the first clinical study with lower-dose LSD showed therapeutically relevant effects. Psycholytic therapy, named in 1960, involved serial lower-dose LSD or psilocybin sessions within a psychoanalytical framework, conducted in clinical settings on both inpatient and outpatient bases. Over 15 years, it was established at 30 clinical treatment centers and by more than 100 outpatient psychotherapists in Europe, while North America favored high-dose psychedelic therapy. Professor Hanscarl Leuner in Germany was the leading figure, providing a detailed analysis of the LSD reaction in a 1962 monograph. The article reviews evidence for psycholytic therapy's efficacy and argues for its inclusion in substance-assisted psychotherapy.
European Psychiatry
March 1, 2015
Katrin H. Preller, Thomas Pokorny, Rainer Krähenmann et al.
20 citations
Social cognition, including empathy and reactions to social exclusion, is often impaired in psychiatric disorders like depression but is poorly addressed by current treatments. In a double-blind, randomized, cross-over study with healthy volunteers, psilocybin (0.215 mg/kg) reduced the neural response to social exclusion in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region linked to social pain, compared to placebo. Emotional empathy was enhanced after psilocybin, while cognitive empathy showed no significant change. These findings suggest that 5HT-1A/2A receptor subtypes modulate socio-cognitive functioning and may be relevant for treating social cognition deficits, particularly in depressed patients.
European Neuropsychopharmacology
September 1, 2015
Katrin H. Preller, Thomas Pokorny, Rainer Krähenmann et al.
6 citations
No Summary
European Neuropsychopharmacology
October 1, 2016
O. Grimm, Rainer Krähenmann, Katrin H. Preller et al.
1 citation
No Summary
Research Square
July 9, 2026
Samuel Westenhöfer, Yamina Ehrt, Barbora Provaznikova et al.
For people with treatment-resistant depression, intranasal esketamine significantly reduced depressive symptoms during an initial four-week induction phase. After induction, two different maintenance schedules—one with a front-loaded pattern and one with a spaced interval-extension pattern—were compared. No significant differences in depressive symptom trajectories were observed between the two schedules over the maintenance period. By the end of maintenance, response rates were 35.3% on the clinician-rated scale and 26.0% on the self-report scale; remission rates were 31.4% and 38.0%, respectively. These results suggest that maintenance dosing intervals may be scheduled flexibly without loss of efficacy, though the retrospective, observational design and small sample size warrant caution.
Pharmacopsychiatry
September 1, 2011
Milan Scheidegger, A Henning, Martin Walter et al.
A subanaesthetic dose of ketamine alters brain activity during emotional processing and increases glutamate-glutamine cycling in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, a region linked to mood regulation. In 23 healthy subjects, ketamine infusion changed fMRI responses to emotional pictures, and these changes correlated with shifts in glutamine-to-glutamate ratios measured by spectroscopy. The findings suggest ketamine's rapid antidepressant effect may stem from enhanced glutamatergic neurotransmission.