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 looks at studies about classic psychedelics (like LSD, psilocybin, and DMT/ayahuasca) and their effects on neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to change. Animal studies show these drugs can raise genes tied to plasticity and cause dendrite and synapse growth. Human results are mixed, especially when studies use blood…
Microdosing means taking a very small, sub‑hallucinogenic amount of a psychedelic drug. Research so far is limited and mixed: some large observational studies report small-to-medium mood gains, but at least one randomized trial found no objective benefit. There is no standard definition of microdosing, potency and legality vary, and long‑term…
This paper reviews the recent comeback of psychedelic research and points out that much of that work borrows from indigenous healing traditions. The authors say Indigenous people, ethnic and racial minorities, women, and other marginalized groups are often left out of research and the mainstream story about psychedelic medicine. The…
Researchers used a large prospective online survey to test whether psychedelic drug use changes people’s metaphysical beliefs. After psychedelic use, people tended to move away from physicalist or materialist views and toward panpsychism and fatalism. Except for fatalism, these shifts lasted for at least 6 months. The shifts were linked…
Researchers studied more than 1,200 people at six multiday mass gatherings in the US and the UK. They found that psychedelic use was linked with better mood. That link appeared to work through people reporting a transformative experience and feeling more socially connected. The link was stronger when use had…
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder, or HPPD, is a rare condition tied to using hallucinogenic drugs. People with HPPD keep having changes in how they see things after the drug wears off. It is diagnosed more often in people who already had mental health problems or problems with drug use, but…
Renewed interest in the effects of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders warrants a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of these substances. During the past two decades, state-of-the-art studies of animals and humans have yielded new important insights into the molecular, cellular, and systems-level actions…
This 2021 review of human studies found that classic psychedelics (for example psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca) tend to reduce performance on standard memory tests in a dose-dependent way: low doses usually showed no impairment and higher doses caused more impairment. At the same time, these drugs often made autobiographical memories feel…
This study used a smartphone app to compare 4,050 people who said they microdose psychedelics with 4,653 people who did not. Psilocybin was the most common microdose substance, and people who microdosed often said they did so for health and wellness reasons. In people who reported past mental health concerns,…
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…
Researchers ran a national online survey of U.S. adults from November 2020 to March 2021 that was weighted to represent the adult population. They asked about use of psychedelic mushrooms (psilocybin), reasons for use, and mental health. Many users said they took mushrooms for general mental health and well-being. Users…
Researchers read through 66 published case reports and case series about a condition called hallucinogen‑persisting perception disorder, or HPPD. Together the reports described about 100 people and 64 different perceptual problems. The review found that HPPD often involves many kinds of symptoms, not just the classic visual "flashbacks," and that…
