Acta Neuropsychiatrica
November 4, 2025
Chiranth Bhagavan, Alexander Bryson, Olivia Carter et al.
4 citations
Combining psychedelics with physiotherapy may offer a new treatment for motor functional neurological disorder (FND), a condition with no effective medications and often persistent disability. This protocol describes the first trial testing two psilocybin-assisted physiotherapy regimens in 24 people with refractory motor FND. Participants are randomly assigned to either 15 mg psilocybin with movement tasks during the drug's acute effects or 25 mg psilocybin alone. All receive two physiotherapy sessions before dosing and six after, with follow-ups at one and four weeks. The study assesses tolerability, feasibility, symptom severity, and brain imaging to inform a larger definitive trial.
Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice
July 23, 2024
Chiranth Bhagavan, Richard Kanaan, Olivia Carter et al.
2 citations
A protocol for the first study testing whether movement tasks can be performed safely while under the influence of psilocybin. Twelve healthy participants will each receive three different doses (5 to 20 mg) in a randomized, blinded order at least one week apart. Motor function, safety, brain activity via fMRI, and subjective experience will be measured during the acute drug effects. The study aims to inform future research combining psychedelics with motor retraining for conditions involving motor dysfunction.
medRxiv
December 23, 2025
Chiranth Bhagavan, O. Carter, Glenn Nielsen et al.
1 citation
Movement tasks such as walking, reaching, and dexterity tests were feasible for healthy volunteers who took psilocybin doses up to 15 mg. At 20 mg, impairments appeared in tasks that combined movement with cognitive demands, such as the Box and Block Test and Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Nausea (62% of participants) and headache (54%) were the most common adverse events; no serious adverse events occurred. Participants and physiotherapists guessed the dose correctly only about half the time, indicating adequate blinding. These results suggest that psilocybin-assisted physical rehabilitation may be safe and feasible for future trials in people with movement disorders.
Psychopharmacology
June 17, 2026
Pierre Klintefors, Chiranth Bhagavan, Richard Kanaan et al.
Low to moderate doses of psilocybin (5–20 mg) do not meaningfully disrupt manual dexterity or hand coordination in healthy adults. In a blinded trial, participants showed a modest biphasic dose-response pattern at higher doses (10–20 mg): slight impairment during peak effects and slight improvement 4.5 hours after administration, but effect sizes were small compared to baseline variability. Kinematic analyses found no substantial changes in movement smoothness or velocity, and the latent coordination structure remained stable, though finger movements showed a subtle increase in complexity. These results support the feasibility of combining psilocybin with active motor rehabilitation.