Chronic Stress
January 1, 2022
Sarah Kuburi, Anne-Marie Di Passa, Vanessa K. Tassone et al.
14 citations
A systematic review of neuroimaging studies on psychedelics for major depressive disorder found that psilocybin, ayahuasca, and LSD alter brain activity and connectivity in ways linked to antidepressant response. Key changes include amygdala activity and functional connectivity alterations, shifts in medial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity, and decreased global brain network modularity. One ayahuasca study reported increased limbic activity. The evidence, based on only four datasets, suggests the default mode and limbic networks may be important targets for future research, but more data are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.
Journal of substance use and addiction treatment
August 1, 2025
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Shakila Meshkat, Ilya Demchenko et al.
12 citations
Ketamine may offer short-term benefits for treating substance use disorders, including alcohol, cocaine, opioid, and cannabis use disorders. In alcohol use disorder, it reduced withdrawal symptoms and the need for benzodiazepines. For cocaine use disorder, it decreased craving and increased abstinence rates. In opioid use disorder, high-dose ketamine combined with psychotherapy improved abstinence and reduced craving. For cannabis use disorder, it reduced weekly use and increased confidence in abstinence. However, the evidence is limited by small sample sizes and a lack of randomized trials. Larger, well-controlled studies are needed to determine optimal dosing, mechanisms, long-term efficacy, and risks before broader clinical use can be recommended.
European Psychiatry
January 1, 2026
Shakila Meshkat, Qiaowei Lin, Rachel Sousa-Ho et al.
Control groups in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy trials show substantial symptom improvement, likely due to non-specific factors such as expectancy and concurrent psychotherapy. A meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials (643 participants) found that treatment groups had greater symptom reductions than control groups for depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. For PTSD, inactive placebo groups showed larger within-group improvements. The findings underscore the need for robust control conditions and careful interpretation of treatment effects in psychedelic research.
Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica
August 1, 2022
Helen Liu, Jaimie Kerzner, Ilya Demchenko et al.
A systematic review of published studies and ongoing clinical trials on nitrous oxide (N2O) for psychiatric disorders identified five published articles, four of which focused on depression. Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder suggest that N2O has preliminary feasibility with rapid-acting effects on depressive symptoms. Ten ongoing trials are exploring N2O for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and suicidal ideation. Typical treatment involves a single session of 50% N2O for 60 minutes, though 25% is also being tested. Larger-scale RCTs with repeated doses and follow-up beyond one month are needed to confirm efficacy and sustainability.