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 that classical serotonergic psychedelics — drugs like psilocybin, DMT (in ayahuasca), LSD, and ibogaine — can change brain cells and connections in lab and animal studies. These drugs have been shown to help neurons grow new branches and form more synapses, which are the contact points where…
Researchers looked back at recordings and interviews from 26 people who got ketamine infusions for treatment-resistant depression. They found that things people were exposed to in the days before treatment — especially digital media like videos — sometimes showed up inside their ketamine experiences and changed how emotional or “mystical”…
Researchers pooled results from 29 human studies that measured blood levels of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, after people received so-called psychoplastogen drugs such as ketamine or psychedelics. They found no clear change in blood BDNF after these drugs. The authors say this does not prove the…
This report describes informal ibogaine treatments given in a small program. In 24 sessions (18 aimed at addiction), a single ibogaine dose often stopped physical opioid withdrawal and created a window when people felt more able to choose. Some people stayed drug-free for months or years, but many relapsed and…
