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.…
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 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…
