Brain sciences
March 27, 2024
James Chmiel, Agnieszka Malinowska, Filip Rybakowski et al.
4 citations
Mindfulness meditation may reduce hunger, risk of relapse, stress, depression, and aggression in people with methamphetamine addiction, and can improve cognitive function, whether used alone or with transcranial direct current stimulation. A review of ten studies using behavioral measures found mindfulness an effective treatment option, potentially by inducing neuroplasticity. No drugs are approved for methamphetamine addiction, and existing treatments have moderate effectiveness, so mindfulness offers a promising avenue. However, the review calls for more high-quality research using neuroimaging and neurophysiological measures to confirm these findings and understand underlying mechanisms.
International journal of molecular sciences
April 12, 2026
James Chmiel, Agnieszka Malinowska, Donata Kurpas
Interest in using psychedelics for ADHD has grown, but evidence remains scarce. A systematic review of five prospective studies—three naturalistic microdosing cohorts, one randomized placebo-controlled trial of low-dose LSD, and one ayahuasca retreat pilot—found that uncontrolled studies reported short-term symptom reductions and improved well-being, but these were highly vulnerable to expectancy and self-selection bias. The only randomized controlled trial showed improvement in both LSD and placebo groups, with no statistically significant advantage for LSD on ADHD outcomes. Current evidence does not separate pharmacological effects from contextual influences and is insufficient to support psychedelics as an evidence-based ADHD treatment.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
February 26, 2026
James Chmiel, Filip Rybakowski
Antidepressant response to psychedelic-assisted therapies depends more on what happens during the dosing session and how the therapeutic context shapes that experience than on static patient characteristics. Across 48 studies, greater emotional breakthrough, mystical experiences, and insight consistently predicted larger and more durable symptom reductions, while anxiety-dominant states attenuated benefit. A stronger therapeutic alliance and music perceived as resonant predicted both meaningful acute experiences and later clinical gains. Baseline factors such as PTSD comorbidity sometimes weakened outcomes, extensive prior psychedelic use was linked to smaller incremental benefits, and demographics were generally uninformative. Biological markers of increased neural flexibility and plasticity also correlated with better outcomes.