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 how the mushroom drugs psilocybin and psilocin are broken down in the body. Psilocybin is mainly a pro-drug that enzymes convert into the active compound psilocin. Psilocin is then further changed, and the main substance found in urine is psilocin-O-glucuronide, which matters for clinical and forensic testing.…
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 25 healthy volunteers each took a single 100 mg dose of MDMA or placebo (one week apart) while their brains were scanned. MDMA produced clear increases in positive mood and caused localized decreases in blood flow in parts of the right medial temporal lobe (including…
Researchers reviewed studies of drugs that act on serotonin (so-called serotonergic psychedelics) and MDMA. They found that harms and bad reactions are not clearly defined in these studies and are probably reported less often than they actually happen. Some intense or frightening experiences during treatment might help people heal, but…
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 research on using psychedelic drugs to treat addiction. The authors say scientific and medical interest has grown a lot in the last ten years and that early evidence is starting to show these treatments can be safe and may help with psychiatric problems including addiction. The review…
Researchers looked at published papers about psychedelic drugs from the last century, using citation maps and other tools to see how the field changed up to March 2022. They found that research was small and mostly about safety for many decades, then grew a lot after the 1990s into a…
This review compares recreational MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) with MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA‑AT) for PTSD. It says MDMA-AT showed promising early results in controlled trials: after three MDMA sessions with psychotherapy many people stopped meeting PTSD criteria, and benefits lasted at follow-up. The FDA called MDMA-AT a Breakthrough Therapy in 2017 but asked…
The Canadian Psychedelic Survey (CPS) surveyed 2,045 people in January 2022 about their use of psychedelic drugs in Canada. The survey found that psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD were the most used drugs. People most often used psychedelics for fun, self-exploration, general mental well-being, and personal growth. Large shares of respondents…
The paper reviews how people use two different names for MDMA’s mind effects—"empathogen" (being open and connected to others) and "entactogen" (being connected to oneself). It finds evidence that MDMA produces both kinds of effects, that researchers use the two terms inconsistently, and that a single name—"connectogen"—better captures MDMA’s core…
Researchers reviewed the fast-growing interest in psychedelic therapies. They found that even though hundreds of studies are under way, no psychedelic medicine is officially approved for any mental health condition yet. The review explains the kinds of drugs being tested, the conditions people hope to treat, and big challenges such…
This paper reviews research on ayahuasca and its main ingredient, DMT, and how they might help with mental health. Ayahuasca is a plant brew that makes DMT work when you drink it because it also contains chemicals that stop the body from breaking DMT down. Lab studies and a small…
This article reviews how drug laws in the United States are changing and clashing. Many states have moved to legalize or reduce penalties for marijuana and are testing whether psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA can help with mental health. At the same time, some places have pushed back and even…
