Universität Zürich, ZORA
June 1, 2026
Klemens Egger, Robert Bozsak, Helena D Aicher et al.
A psychedelic dose of DMT combined with the MAO-A inhibitor harmine, mimicking ayahuasca, globally increased cerebral glucose metabolism by 12.5% compared to placebo in 14 healthy males. Scans acquired during peak drug effects using FDG-PET showed widespread cortical increases, particularly in higher-order brain networks. Higher harmine plasma levels correlated with greater global glucose metabolism, while DMT levels and subjective intensity did not. This metabolic signature recapitulates a classic finding for psilocybin, suggesting a potential hallmark of the psychedelic state.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
October 10, 2025
Wolfgang Emanuel Zürrer, Lionel Wettstein, Helena Aicher et al.
Salvinorin A, the main psychoactive compound in Salvia divinorum and a potent kappa opioid receptor agonist, has been tested in animal models of pain, stroke, addiction, and depression. It shows anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and anti-addictive effects. However, findings on depression are inconsistent, with both antidepressant and depressogenic outcomes reported. Toxicity data indicate anxiogenic effects and motor and cognitive impairment, with minimal impact on vital parameters. Pharmacokinetic data show rapid onset, fast peak, and a half-life of about one hour. Sixteen structurally distinct analogues were identified with potentially improved safety and pharmacokinetic profiles.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
September 29, 2025
Egger, Klemens, Meling, Daniel, Polat, Firuze et al.
Meditation alone increased network segregation in the brain, while a combination of meditation and a DMT–harmine formulation (an ayahuasca-inspired compound) increased connectivity within the visual network and between visual and attention networks. Forty meditation practitioners participated in a 3-day retreat and were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or buccal DMT–harmine. Brain scans taken before and after showed no lasting disruption of cortical gradients, indicating brain organization returned to typical patterns shortly after the psychedelic experience. These distinct neural effects suggest meditation and psychedelic-augmented meditation engage different mechanisms, warranting further study of their combined therapeutic potential.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
August 16, 2025
Dila Suay, Helena Dorothea Aicher, Berit Singer et al.
A psychedelic formulation combining DMT and harmine impaired convergent thinking, especially in people with higher baseline reasoning, while harmine alone had no such effect. Divergent thinking showed no overall change, though there were trend-level reductions in fluency and elaboration under the combined formulation. In a real-world painting task, both the combined formulation and harmine alone reduced incubation-related transitions, and the combined formulation uniquely decreased transitions from incubation to illumination, suggesting altered pathways to insight. Subjective experiences like altered meaning perception and increased insightfulness predicted divergent, but not convergent, thinking outcomes. The effects of psychedelics on creativity are not uniform and depend on the cognitive stage and individual differences.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
July 1, 2025
Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Kyle T. Greenway, Leor Roseman et al.
An international Delphi consensus study involving 89 experts from 17 countries generated guidelines for reporting contextual variables in psychedelic clinical research. Over four rounds, 770 responses were synthesized into 49 items, with 30 reaching consensus as important or very important for at least 70% of experts. These items form the Reporting of Setting in Psychedelic Clinical Trials (ReSPCT) guidelines, covering physical environment, dosing session procedure, therapeutic framework and protocol, and subjective experiences. The findings reveal significant ambiguities in current conceptualizations of set and setting, and the guidelines provide a new standard for documenting extra-pharmacological factors in psychedelic research.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
June 19, 2025
Helena Dorothea Aicher, Ilhui Wicki, Daniel Meling et al.
A single dose of an ayahuasca-inspired DMT/harmine formulation increased mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion toward others in 31 healthy participants one day after treatment, compared with placebo. The effects were larger in participants who reported higher sensitivity to the drug. The findings suggest that such formulations may have therapeutic potential for mood disorders by enhancing mindfulness and compassion, though further studies in clinical settings are needed.
Universität Zürich, ZORA
May 1, 2025
Niloufar Pouyan, Jacob S. Aday, E Harte, Steven et al.
After naturalistic psychedelic use, people with depression, PTSD, or anxiety reported reduced identification of their identity with their illness, as measured by the pictorial representation of illness and self measure (PRISM). Among 297 individuals, the majority in each condition reported symptom improvement: 95.4% with depression, 98.36% with PTSD, and 94.87% with anxiety. PRISM scores significantly decreased after the most salient psychedelic experience, and larger reductions in self-condition enmeshment were associated with greater symptom improvement. The findings suggest PRISM can detect changes in self-perception across conditions, though limitations include retrospective reporting and unclear dosing.