Scientific Reports
February 7, 2024
Tommaso Barba, Hannes Kettner, Caterina Radu et al.
24 citations
Psychedelics may improve sexual functioning and satisfaction days or weeks after use, according to two studies. In a large naturalistic study, people who used psychedelics reported greater pleasure, communication during sex, and satisfaction with their partner and appearance. A controlled clinical trial comparing psilocybin therapy with the SSRI escitalopram for depression found that those given psilocybin reported positive changes in sexual functioning after treatment, while those given escitalopram did not. This is the first quantitative investigation of psychedelics' post-acute effects on sexual functioning, suggesting a potential benefit and a need for further research.
Comprehensive psychiatry
July 1, 2025
Luca Pellegrini, Naomi A Fineberg, Sorcha O'Connor et al.
17 citations
A 10 mg dose of psilocybin produced a rapid, moderate-to-large reduction in compulsive symptoms in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), lasting up to one week after dosing. In a blinded pharmacological challenge study, 18 adults with at least moderate OCD received a 1 mg and then a 10 mg dose of oral psilocybin, separated by four weeks. One week after the 10 mg dose, scores on the compulsion subscale of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale showed a significant improvement compared to the 1 mg dose (Cohen's d = 0.74). No effect on depression was detected. The drug was well tolerated with no serious adverse events.
Journal of Psychopharmacology
April 12, 2024
Joseph Peill, Miriam Marguilho, David Erritzoe et al.
16 citations
In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, 59 patients with depression received either a high (25 mg) or placebo (1 mg) dose of psilocybin. Those given the high dose reported stronger perceived 'inner healing' effects, and within that group, higher inner healer scores predicted greater improvement in depressive symptoms two weeks later. The findings suggest that the concept of an intrinsic healing mechanism activated by psychedelics merits further scientific investigation, though the idea remains scientifically nascent.
Psychedelic Medicine
October 28, 2022
Bruna Giribaldi, Sandeep M. Nayak, Bilal A. Bari et al.
15 citations
A Bayesian reanalysis of a trial comparing psilocybin (25 mg) to escitalopram (20 mg) over 6 weeks in 59 patients with major depressive disorder found that psilocybin outperformed escitalopram on three of four depression scales, though evidence was not uniformly clinically meaningful. Using skeptical priors that bias results toward zero, the analysis showed strong to extremely strong evidence favoring psilocybin on the BDI-1A, MADRS, and HAMD-17, while evidence on the primary outcome (QIDS SR-16) was indeterminate. For clinically meaningful superiority, evidence was moderate against it for the QIDS SR-16 but moderate to strong for the MADRS and HAMD-17. Psilocybin showed extremely strong evidence of noninferiority to escitalopram across all scales. The findings support further research on psilocybin's relative efficacy.
Frontiers in Psychology
June 6, 2025
William Roseby, Hannes Kettner, Leor Roseman et al.
6 citations
Psychedelics like psilocybin strongly increase the sense that life has meaning, based on three different studies: a clinical trial for depression, a healthy volunteer study, and naturalistic retreats. The 'presence of meaning' rose substantially after a psychedelic experience, while the 'search for meaning' dropped only slightly. These meaning enhancements were moderately linked to improvements in mental health, such as greater wellbeing and reduced depression. Mystical, ego dissolution, and emotional breakthrough experiences were associated with increased meaning, though the strength varied by context. The evidence converges to show a robust, lasting positive effect of psychedelics on meaning in life, with context influencing outcomes.
Neuroscience Applied
December 2, 2024
Kate Godfrey, Brandon Weiss, Joseph Peill et al.
5 citations
A single high dose of psilocybin (25 mg) given to healthy volunteers who had never used psychedelics reduced neuroticism one month later, consistent with prior research. The reduction was linked to how meaningful the experience felt and to the dread of ego dissolution during the drug's acute effects. Personality was measured with the Big Five Inventory and Big Five Aspect Scale; acute effects were tracked with the Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire and Psychological Insight Scale. Electroencephalography measured alpha power and Lempel-Ziv complexity. The findings suggest that acute psychedelic states can catalyze lasting personality changes in a beneficial direction, with implications for therapy and understanding personality.
Cureus
January 29, 2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
2 citations
The study aims to uncover the neural mechanisms by which psilocybin-assisted therapy affects obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and whether those brain changes align with improvements in cognitive symptoms. A secondary goal is to test whether a low, tolerable dose is both practical and effective as a clinical treatment. The results will provide essential data for designing a future randomized controlled trial.
June 30, 2022
Sandeep M. Nayak, Bilal A. Bari, David B. Yaden et al.
1 citation
preprint
A Bayesian reanalysis of a trial comparing psilocybin (COMP360) to escitalopram for major depressive disorder found that psilocybin outperformed escitalopram, but not by a clinically meaningful amount. The analysis also found extremely strong evidence that psilocybin is non-inferior to escitalopram. Evidence for psilocybin's superiority varied by depression scale: indeterminate for one, strong for two, and extremely strong for another. For a clinically meaningful difference, evidence was moderate against it on one scale, indeterminate on two, and moderate supporting it on one. These results provide a more nuanced interpretation and support further research.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
May 1, 2025
Claudio Agnorelli, Joseph Peill, Gabriela Sawicka et al.
preprint
A single psychedelic dose of ketamine (1 mg/kg, intravenous) alters brain chemistry and connectivity in healthy people for at least one to eight days. After the dose, glutamate levels in the anterior cingulate cortex rose significantly. Functional connectivity decreased within high-order networks such as the default mode network, while integration between low- and high-order networks increased. Increases in a PET marker of synaptic plasticity correlated with reduced intrinsic activity in default mode network regions and a diminished influence of the posterior cingulate cortex on global network dynamics. The posterior cingulate cortex appears to be a central hub through which ketamine may reshape brain hierarchies over the long term.
Cureus
January 1, 2025
Sorcha O'Connor, Kate Godfrey, Sara Reed et al.
correction
A protocol describes a planned study testing whether a low-moderate dose of psilocybin (10 mg), combined with non-interventional therapy, can improve cognitive flexibility and neuroplasticity in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Twenty blinded participants will receive an active placebo (1 mg psilocybin) in a first session and 10 mg in a second session four weeks later. Cognitive flexibility will be measured with the intradimensional-extradimensional shift task two days after each session, and neuroplasticity will be assessed via electroencephalography immediately after each session. Secondary outcomes include OCD symptom severity and patient-reported measures. The results are expected to clarify neural mechanisms and guide a future randomized controlled trial.