Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy—A Systematic Review of Associated Psychological Interventions

What do we mean when we say Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy (PAP)? While some general guidelines to conduct PAP treatment programs are quite established and agreed upon, the degree of variability within the preparation - drug session - integration model is still very high. Our latest publication collects, compares and analyses the different therapeutic approaches that are… Continue reading Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy—A Systematic Review of Associated Psychological Interventions

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Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review Unraveling the Biological Underpinnings of Psychedelics

The therapeutic potential of psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca) is increasingly shown by clinical studies and is proposed to result from increases in neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to change throughout life. This systematic literature review summarizes the evidence that psychedelics induce neuroplasticity by focusing on psychedelics’ cellular and molecular neuroplasticity effects after single and repeated administration, as investigated in… Continue reading Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review Unraveling the Biological Underpinnings of Psychedelics

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(Sub-)Acute Effects of Psilocybin on Creativity, Empathy and Satisfaction with Life

Ongoing research from our group, presented at Breaking Convention 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEGJWxH-jYs Creative thinking and empathy are crucial for everyday interactions and subjective well-being. This is emphasised by studies showing a reduction in these skills in populations where social interaction and subjective well-being is significantly compromised (e.g. depression). Anecdotal reports and recent studies suggest a single… Continue reading (Sub-)Acute Effects of Psilocybin on Creativity, Empathy and Satisfaction with Life

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How Magic Mushrooms Might Dissolve the Ego Revealed

New research from our group, published in Neuropsychopharmacology: Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design, we utilized an ultra-high field multimodal brain imaging approach and demonstrated that psilocybin (0.17 mg/kg) induced region-dependent alterations in glutamate, which predicted distortions in the subjective experience of one’s self (ego dissolution). Whereas higher levels of medial prefrontal cortical glutamate were… Continue reading How Magic Mushrooms Might Dissolve the Ego Revealed