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.
Research shows several different ways can help with sadness or low mood. Right now, the strongest clinical evidence for a fast-acting drug comes from ketamine and its approved form esketamine. At the same time, a wave of studies on classic psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD, DMT) and entactogens (MDMA) looks promising, especially when the drug is given together with careful psychological support. However, most psychedelic studies are still small or early-stage. They often rely on the setting, preparation, and therapy as part of the treatment, so researchers say we need larger, controlled trials and more long-term safety data. Also, non-drug options like brain stimulation and standard psychotherapies remain important parts of treatment plans and have mixed but useful evidence.
Major depressive disorder is a serious illness. Researchers reviewed how ketamine — a drug that blocks a brain receptor called the NMDA receptor — can lift depression symptoms quickly and for a sustained time in people and in animals. They describe possible ways ketamine works: it may boost another type…
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…
