Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
This review explains the fast-growing problem of so-called "legal highs", which are better called novel psychoactive substances or NPS. Unknown labs keep making slightly different chemicals to avoid bans, and this led to about 80 new substances being spotted in one year. The paper groups these drugs into five main…
This paper reviews human and animal research on so-called psychedelics (like psilocybin and LSD) and entactogens (mainly MDMA). The authors say these drugs can produce fast improvements in mental health that sometimes last for months or longer. But we do not yet understand exactly how they work. Human studies point…
This article is a broad review of the new psychedelic industry. The authors look at how psychedelic drugs and clinics moved from decades-old research into a fast-growing business with hundreds of companies and big investment. They describe what companies are trying to sell, point out major scientific, legal, and ethical…
This review looks at recent research where drugs like MDMA and psilocybin are given inside carefully run therapy programs. People get hours of preparation, one or more drug sessions, and several follow-up therapy sessions to help make sense of the experience. Trials so far show big improvements for some people…
The authors reviewed 83 papers and guides about how therapists prepare people for substance-assisted psychotherapy — therapy that uses drugs like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, or ketamine together with psychological support. They found clear agreement that good preparation before a drug session is important for safety and for helping people get…
This paper is a first look at whether the fast-acting psychedelic 5‑MeO‑DMT might help people with alcohol use disorder. The authors reviewed existing studies in humans and animals and found early signs that 5‑MeO‑DMT can cause intense mystical feelings and a loss of self-boundaries, and that it changes brain rhythms…
This review explains how certain psychoactive drugs can cause hallucinations and why that matters. It says drugs such as psilocybin and LSD change brain chemicals called serotonin and dopamine, and that can make people see or hear things that are not there. Effects can be mild or very serious, sometimes…
