Frontiers in Pain Research
March 18, 2025
Jenna McAfee, Avinash Hosanagar, Vijay Tarnal et al.
18 citations
In a small open-label pilot trial, five people with fibromyalgia received two doses of psilocybin (15 mg and 25 mg) along with psychotherapy. The treatment was well-tolerated: there were temporary increases in blood pressure or heart rate during dosing that returned to normal, no serious adverse events, and four of five participants had short-lived headaches. One month after the second dose, participants reported large reductions in pain severity, pain interference, and sleep disturbance. One participant rated their symptoms as very much improved, two as much improved, and two as minimally improved. Recruitment stopped early due to generalizability concerns and changing FDA guidance, but the results suggest psilocybin-assisted therapy is safe for fibromyalgia and warrants larger trials.
CNS drugs
October 1, 2022
Niloufar Pouyan, Zahra Halvaei Khankahdani, Farnaz Younesi Sisi et al.
16 citations
A systematic review of psilocybin research organized by the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework found that psilocybin has beneficial effects across multiple domains, particularly on positive valence systems, negative valence systems, and social processes. Short-term (23 assessments) and long-term (15 assessments) benefits were reported for positive valence systems. For the negative valence system, 12 outcome measures indicated increased fear, 19 showed no significant effect, and 7 parameters indicated lowered sustained threat over the long term. Thirty-four outcome measures revealed short-term alterations in social systems, including enhanced perception and understanding of others and affiliation. Cognitive systems findings mostly reported dyscognitive effects. Seven studies suggested transdiagnostic effects.
CNS drugs
December 1, 2023
Niloufar Pouyan, Farnaz Younesi Sisi, Alireza Kargar et al.
12 citations
A review of 28 clinical studies with 477 participants examined how lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) affects reward processing, using the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. LSD produced dose-dependent mood improvement in 20 short-term and 3 long-term studies. Its subjective and neural effects were linked to the 5-HT2A receptor. Animal studies suggested LSD could mildly reinforce conditioned place preference without aversion and reduce responsiveness to other rewards. Findings on reward learning were inconsistent but hinted at potential enhancements in associative learning. Reward valuation measures indicated possible reductions in effort expenditure for other reinforcers. The review identified areas for future research but noted limitations including diverse study designs not initially RDoC-oriented and potential bias from open-label human studies.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
September 19, 2024
Anne Baker, Niloufar Pouyan, Julie Barron et al.
9 citations
A survey of 107 people who provide psychedelic support services outside clinical trials found that 40.2% held a full or in-progress license and 44.9% lacked a relevant graduate degree. Almost all practitioners pre-screened clients, offered preparation, integration, and trip-sitting, and used primarily non-directive approaches. Clients most often consumed psilocybin for conditions similar to those in clinical research. Practitioners perceived mostly positive symptom changes, though a small proportion reported worsened personality disorder symptoms. Further research on naturalistic psychedelic-assisted therapy is needed.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
May 1, 2025
Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S Aday, Steven E Harte et al.
1 citation
People with treatment-resistant conditions often see their illness as part of their identity. The pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM) gauges this self-condition enmeshment. In a survey of 297 individuals who used psychedelics therapeutically on their own, most reported symptom improvement: 95.4% with depression, 98.36% with posttraumatic stress disorder, and 94.87% with anxiety. PRISM scores dropped significantly after the most salient psychedelic experience, indicating reduced identification with the condition. The decrease in PRISM scores correlated with symptom improvement across all conditions. PRISM appears useful for tracking how psychedelics affect self-perception across diagnoses, though limitations include convenience sampling, potential positive bias, and retrospective reporting.
Drugs
June 4, 2026
Kevin F Boehnke, Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S Aday
Chronic pain is common, costly, and often poorly treated by existing therapies. Classic serotonergic psychedelics—psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, DMT, and mescaline—have re-emerged as potential tools for chronic pain, administered alone or within psychedelic-assisted therapy. This review examines mechanisms relevant to pain, including effects on neuroplasticity, inflammation, brain network dynamics, and psychological processes like pain acceptance and cognitive flexibility. Observational studies and early-phase clinical trials show preliminary signals of benefit for fibromyalgia, migraine, cluster headache, and other chronic pain syndromes. The field is limited by small sample sizes, functional unblinding, and a lack of large, well-controlled randomized trials. The authors outline methodological priorities and future research directions needed to rigorously evaluate these compounds for chronic pain.
Scientific Reports
April 15, 2026
Jacob S. Aday, Nicolas G. Glynos, Anne K. Baker et al.
A new questionnaire, the Psychedelic-related Major Life Changes Questionnaire (P-MLCQ), was developed to capture major life changes following psychedelic use that standard clinical measures miss. In a survey of 581 people who used psychedelics naturally, 83% reported at least one major life change influenced by their use, averaging 3.29 changes per person. The most common changes were in goals (54%), values (54%), and religion or spirituality (49%). These changes were rated highly positively on average. More frequent psychedelic use over the past five years was linked to more reported life changes. Women were 21% more likely than men to report changes, while older age and higher education were associated with fewer changes. The authors note that results may be influenced by positive bias and need replication in representative samples.
November 4, 2024
Jacob S. Aday, Jenna McAfee, Deirdre A. Conroy et al.
preprint
In a small open-label proof-of-concept trial, five adults with fibromyalgia received two doses of psilocybin (15 mg and 25 mg) two weeks apart, along with psychotherapy sessions. No serious adverse events occurred; transient blood pressure or heart rate elevations during dosing resolved by the end of treatment, and four of five participants had temporary headaches. One month after the second dose, participants reported clinically meaningful improvements in pain severity, pain interference, and sleep disturbance. One participant rated their symptoms as very much improved, two as much improved, and two as minimally improved. Improvements were also seen in fibromyalgia symptoms, anxiety, and fatigue. The findings suggest psilocybin-assisted therapy is well-tolerated and warrants larger randomized controlled trials.