Classical psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline alter perception, emotion, and cognition by activating serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. After early research was halted in 1967 due to legal restrictions, studies resumed in the 1990s. Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has shown promise for treating anxiety and depression in cancer patients, as well as treatment-resistant depression and substance addictions. The article discusses the historical development, therapeutic applications, and ethical considerations of psychedelic therapy for depression, trauma disorders, and substance use disorders.
A compound derived from ibogaine, oxa-noribogaine, reduces alcohol consumption in rats by strengthening learning from negative drinking outcomes. It produces sustained decreases in alcohol intake and relapse-like drinking, matching or exceeding ibogaine's efficacy without detectable motor or cardiac side effects. These effects involve transient changes in prefrontal brain activity, lasting alterations in glutamatergic signaling after aversion-related learning, and normalization of neurotrophic signaling in cortico-striatal circuits. The results generalize across multiple models, genetically diverse animals, and independent study sites, identifying oxa-noribogaine as a promising treatment candidate for alcohol use disorder.