Current topics in behavioral neurosciences
January 1, 2022
David B Yaden, Sandeep M Nayak, Natalie Gukasyan et al.
31 citations
End-of-life and palliative care have improved, but psychopharmacological options for depression, existential distress, and well-being remain limited. This review examines recent clinical research on psychedelics for patients with life-threatening diagnoses and proposes that psychedelics could offer clinicians an additional treatment option in end-of-life and palliative care settings.
The journal of pain
October 1, 2022
Robert H Dworkin, Brian T Anderson, Nick Andrews et al.
22 citations
Psychedelic substances have been used historically for spiritual and mystical experiences, and recent interest focuses on their potential to treat chronic pain. Clinical trials support psychedelics' effectiveness for psychiatric conditions, but studies on chronic pain—such as cancer pain, phantom limb pain, migraine, and cluster headache—are few and mostly uncontrolled. Risks are relatively rare with careful patient screening and supervision. Key challenges include identifying mechanisms of action, selecting appropriate pain conditions, designing rigorous trials with proper control groups, minimizing unblinding bias, and accounting for patient mindset and setting. Evidence-based recommendations are needed for future research to yield informative results.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2023
Julian Urrutia, Brian T Anderson, Sean J Belouin et al.
21 citations
Combining psychedelic science, contemplative practices, and Indigenous and other traditional knowledge systems in integrative, community-based models of care could transform global health. Both contemplative practices and certain psychedelic substances reliably induce self-transcendent experiences that positively affect health, well-being, and prosocial behavior, and combining them appears synergistic. Traditional knowledge systems offer ethnobotanical expertise and time-tested practices. A decolonized agenda for psychedelic research requires collaborative engagement with traditional knowledge stewards to co-develop evidence-based integrative care accessible to their communities. Health systems could include Indigenous and traditional healers as stakeholders in designing, implementing, and evaluating community-based approaches for safely scaling psychedelic treatments.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
Kelan L Thomas, Robert Jesse, Nicky J Mehtani et al.
4 citations
Policymakers are increasingly using clinical trial data to justify deprioritizing, decriminalizing, or legalizing psychedelic substances, but personal possession limits written into law often lack scientific grounding. This commentary argues that allowable amounts should be based on moderate-high doses shown safe and effective in clinical trials, common naturalistic use, and dose-equivalence studies. The authors provide a table of evidence-informed moderate-high doses for seven psychedelics to guide consistent and equitable policy limits, aiming to replace arbitrary thresholds with scientifically justified ones.
Journal of pain and symptom management
March 1, 2026
William B Alexander, Eric D Hansen, Brian T Anderson et al.
1 citation
Loss of meaning is a hallmark of demoralization syndrome, a prevalent condition in palliative care linked to diminished quality of life, increased symptom burden, and higher suicide risk. Existential psychological interventions improve psychosocial outcomes, but evidence for their effect on demoralization is limited. Psychedelic therapies, which enhance meaning-making and integrate existential approaches, show promise for existential distress and demoralization in early clinical trials. Novel combined pharmacological and psychological interventions like psychedelic therapy warrant further investigation.
Drug and alcohol dependence
May 1, 2026
Juan Carlos C Montoy, Ralph C Wang, Allison R Coker et al.
From 2002 to 2019, first-time use of any hallucinogen among US civilians aged 12 and older averaged 0.71% per year, with a small but statistically significant increase (odds ratio 1.009 per year). New use decreased among 12- to 17-year-olds (OR 0.96) and increased among those 65 and older (OR 1.56). LSD showed a notable rise (OR 1.08 per year), while psilocybin and MDMA did not. From 2021 to 2023, 0.79% reported new hallucinogen use, with no overall change (OR 0.97). Patterns of first-time use vary by substance and age group, with adolescents using less and older adults using more.
Current topics in behavioral neurosciences
November 22, 2025
Maha N Mian, Allison R Coker, Grace Kretzer et al.
Communities that use psychedelics as religious sacraments have developed their own frameworks for safety and hold distinct views on risk and harm. To better understand their lived realities, researchers can collaborate closely with these communities using community-based participatory research (CBPR) practices, which center communities in co-creating research, improve engagement, build trust, and highlight local priorities. This paper presents preliminary findings from a CBPR study with entheogenic communities, sharing lessons learned from forming a community advisory board and initial pilot data gathering. Lessons include consulting community engagement experts, considerations for compensation and confidentiality, using multimodal recruitment strategies, and recognizing the unique historical context of these communities. These lessons aim to develop best practices for psychedelic research, policy, and public education.