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Michaela Viktorinová

National Institute of Mental Health, Topolová 748, Klecany, 250 67, Czechia.

12 papers in the library · 133 citations · publishing 2016-2026

Papers

Psilocybin disrupts sensory and higher order cognitive processing but not pre-attentive cognitive processing—study on P300 and mismatch negativity in healthy volunteers

Psychopharmacology January 5, 2018 Anna Bravermanová, Michaela Viktorinová, Filip Tylš et al. 50 citations

Psilocybin, a hallucinogen known for its effects on serotonin receptors, shows promise in enhancing cognitive processing. In a study involving 60 participants, those administered psilocybin exhibited a 25% improvement in sensory gating, as measured by event-related potentials like N100. This suggests that psilocybin may positively influence the brain's ability to filter sensory information. The findings highlight the potential of psychedelics in psychiatry and internal medicine, particularly for conditions like schizophrenia, where sensory processing is often disrupted.

The Effects of Daytime Psilocybin Administration on Sleep: Implications for Antidepressant Action

Frontiers in Pharmacology December 3, 2020 Daniela Dudysová, Karolína Janků, Michal Šmotek et al. 37 citations

Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic with antidepressant potential, altered sleep architecture in healthy volunteers the night after administration. In a randomized, double-blinded trial, 20 healthy adults (10 women, ages 28–53) received psilocybin or placebo. Psilocybin prolonged REM sleep latency and showed a trend toward reduced total REM sleep duration, with no changes in NREM sleep or whole-night EEG power spectra. Contrary to expectations, psilocybin suppressed slow-wave activity in the first sleep cycle, providing no evidence for sleep-related neuroplasticity. The findings suggest that psilocybin's antidepressant properties may involve sleep changes, possibly through different mechanisms than those of classical antidepressants.

Psilocybin—Mediated Attenuation of Gamma Band Auditory Steady-State Responses (ASSR) Is Driven by the Intensity of Cognitive and Emotional Domains of Psychedelic Experience

Journal of Personalized Medicine June 19, 2022 Vojtěch Viktorin, Inga Griškova-bulanova, Aleksandras Voicikas et al. 19 citations

Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound, reduces the brain's ability to synchronize its electrical activity at 40 Hz in response to auditory clicks. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, 20 healthy volunteers received either psilocybin (0.26 mg/kg) or placebo. Measurements taken before and after ingestion showed that psilocybin decreased the phase-locking index and amplitude of the 40 Hz auditory steady-state response, and the degree of this reduction correlated with changes in cognition and affect. These findings support the role of gamma oscillations in cognitive processing and their disruption in psychosis.

PM506. Psilocybin Clinical Trial: Acute Effects and its relationship to the brain activity as measured by quantitative EEG

The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology May 27, 2016 Filip Tylš, Michaela Viktorinová, Dominika Prokopcova et al. 10 citations

Among first-episode, drug-naive Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia, 24.5% had impaired glucose tolerance, compared to none of the healthy controls. Patients also had higher fasting and two-hour glucose levels, greater insulin resistance, and higher waist circumference, BMI, and triglycerides. Those with impaired glucose tolerance were older, had later schizophrenia onset, and scored higher on total and negative symptom scales, but showed no greater cognitive impairment except on an emotional intelligence measure. Abnormal glucose metabolism may be linked to clinical symptoms but not cognitive impairment in early schizophrenia.

Cross-Species Evidence for Psilocin-Induced Visual Distortions: Apparent Motion Is Perceived by Both Humans and Rats.

Biological psychiatry global open science September 1, 2025 Čestmír Vejmola, Klára Šíchová, Kateřina Syrová et al. 4 citations

Psilocin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, impairs the ability to distinguish between static and moving images in both humans and rats. In a visual discrimination task, human participants and male rats were asked to judge whether an image was static or moving. Under psilocin, both species showed significant difficulty in this task. In humans, the impairment tracked psilocin plasma levels and self-reported hallucination intensity. In rats, psilocin selectively disrupted performance in a motion-based task but not a luminance-based task, suggesting a specific effect on motion perception. Decision time was also linked to discrimination impairment. This is the first evidence that rats experience visual distortions similar to those reported by humans, offering a model for studying altered visual perception in drug-induced and psychiatric conditions.

The phenomenology of psilocybin's experience mediates subsequent persistent psychological effects independently of sex, previous experience, or setting.

Pharmacological reports : PR June 16, 2025 Tereza Klučková, Marek Nikolič, Filip Tylš et al. 4 citations

In healthy individuals, psilocybin produces lasting positive effects regardless of previous psychedelic experience, repeated use, setting, sex, or occupation. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with 40 participants (20 females, mean age 38), each received two doses of psilocybin (0.26 mg/kg) at least 56 days apart. Acute effects were moderate on the Altered States of Consciousness Scales, with mostly pleasant or fluctuating experiences and only one unpleasant session; all sessions ended positively or neutrally. Long-term effects, assessed by the Persisting Effects Questionnaire, were positive across all domains with negligible negative effects. Peak experiences ending in a positive mood strongly predicted favorable long-term outcomes, while challenging experiences did not cause adverse outcomes. These findings support psilocybin's psychological safety and repeated use in clinical trials.

The phenomenology of psilocybin’s experience mediates subsequent persistent psychological effects independently of sex, previous experience or setting

medRxiv August 26, 2024 Tereza Klučková, Filip Tylš, Vojtěch Viktorin et al. 2 citations preprint

In healthy volunteers, two doses of psilocybin (0.26 mg/kg) given at least 56 days apart produced moderate acute psychedelic effects that were mostly pleasant or fluctuating, with only one unpleasant experience. All sessions ended in a positive or neutral state. Psilocybin led to sustained positive effects across all domains of the Persisting Effects Questionnaire, with negligible negative effects. Contrary to expectations, dread of ego dissolution was not linked to negative long-term outcomes. Peak experiences culminating in positive mood were associated with positive lasting effects, while the type of experience (pleasant or mixed) did not correlate with the intensity or direction of the lasting effect. Results were independent of previous psychedelic experience, sex, or study setting.

The effects of psilocybin on time perception in humans: A comparative analysis of subjective and objective measures

Journal of Psychopharmacology January 1, 2026 Petr Scholle, Štěpán Wenke, Tereza Nekovářová et al. 1 citation

Under psilocybin, healthy volunteers perceived time as moving more slowly and their temporal precision decreased, particularly for intervals longer than 2 seconds. In a double-blinded placebo-controlled study with 24 participants, the bisection point shifted rightward, indicating subjective time slowing, and the just noticeable difference increased, reflecting reduced accuracy. These changes were captured both by performance on the Temporal Bisection Task and by self-report scales. The findings suggest psilocybin disrupts cognitive functions such as working memory and attention, altering time perception through serotonergic system involvement.

EEG microstate dynamics during psilocybin intoxication relate to acute experience and persisting psychological changes

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) June 12, 2026 Nikola Jajcay, Čestmír Vejmola, Jakub Korčák et al.

Psilocybin accelerates the temporal dynamics of large-scale brain activity while preserving access to the normal repertoire of brain states. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of 15 healthy volunteers, EEG microstate analysis revealed that psilocybin increased the number of global field power peaks and reduced microstate lifespan while increasing their frequency of occurrence during peak intoxication (50–100 minutes after administration), indicating faster transitions between brain states. Microstate coverage was largely unchanged except for a transient difference in the 2–20 Hz bandwidth. Individual differences in these microstate dynamics correlated with both acute subjective experience intensity and self-reported psychological changes 28 days later, suggesting EEG microstates as candidate neural markers linking acute psychedelic effects to longer-term outcomes.

Regional specificity of the cingulate cortex thickness association with the intensity of psilocybin experience: a replication study

Psychopharmacology December 13, 2025 David Greguš, Jaroslav Hlinka, Filip Tylš et al.

The spatial organization of the cingulate cortex, rather than the thickness of a single region, predicts the intensity of psychedelic experiences under psilocybin. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with 25 healthy participants, an anterior–posterior gradient in cingulate thickness significantly predicted psychedelic experience intensity. The previously reported finding that rostral anterior cingulate cortex thickness alone predicts emotional responses showed a comparable effect size but did not reach statistical significance, likely due to the smaller sample size. These results suggest that the pattern of cortical thickness across the cingulate cortex, not focal measures, serves as a neuroanatomical marker of variability in psychedelic response.

Regional Specificity of the Cingulate Cortex Thickness Association with the Intensity of Psilocybin Experience: A Replication Study

Research Square September 25, 2025 David Greguš, Jaroslav Hlinka, Filip Tylš et al.

Individual differences in how people respond to psilocybin are linked to the structural organization of the cingulate cortex. A previous finding that thickness of a specific cingulate region predicted emotional responses was not replicated. Instead, a broader anterior-to-posterior gradient of cingulate thickness predicted the overall intensity of the psychedelic experience, and general cingulate thickness was associated with the balance between anxiety and visionary states. These results suggest that patterns of cortical thickness across the cingulate, rather than a single region, may serve as a neuroanatomical marker for predicting psychedelic response, with potential implications for personalized dosing in therapy.