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.
54 papers
Researchers are testing several new and old approaches to treat addiction. The most attention is on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy — that is, giving a drug like psilocybin, MDMA, or ibogaine together with careful therapy — and on new drug compounds tested in animals. Some early clinical trials and many reviews call these approaches “promising,” but most evidence is still limited, mixed, or from small studies. At the same time, for some substances like methamphetamine there are no approved medicines that clearly reduce use. Animal studies and new chemical versions of old drugs show strong early results, but human safety and larger trials are still needed. Researchers also stress that the drug effect and the therapy around it (preparation, setting, and follow-up) both matter for how well treatment works.
This meta-analysis combined 241 effect sizes from 114 studies to test how six habitual emotion-regulation strategies relate to symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance-related problems. Rumination showed the strongest (large) link with symptoms. Avoidance, problem solving, and suppression showed medium-to-large links, while reappraisal and acceptance showed smaller (small-to-medium)…
Researchers gave different psychedelic drugs to mice and found the drugs could reopen a window of brain plasticity used for learning social rewards. This reopened window went along with changes in a social hormone system in a key reward area of the brain and with changes in genes that control…
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…
The authors reviewed psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy studies published from 1993 to 2017 to see how many people of color took part. They found 18 studies with about 280 people. About 82% of participants were non-Hispanic White, while only small percentages were African American, Latino, Asian, indigenous, or mixed race. Because so…
Researchers reviewed many outcome studies and meta-analyses of psychodynamic therapy, which is a type of talking therapy that explores feelings, relationships, and past experiences. They found that psychodynamic therapy often works better than doing nothing (for example being on a waitlist, getting only usual care, or a placebo) for depression,…
This paper reviews genetic studies that link several genes to higher risk for ADHD. It says problems in the brain's reward system—especially low dopamine activity—may make people seek things that raise dopamine. The authors propose that these gene variants form a “reward deficiency syndrome” (RDS) that may include ADHD, and…
This webpage explains how DoktorABC offers medical cannabis services in Germany. You fill an online medical questionnaire, a licensed doctor reviews it, and may issue a prescription. The page also describes costs, delivery times, legal status, types of products, common effects of THC and CBD, and possible side effects.
This review looked at many studies about classic psychedelics (like psilocybin and LSD), MDMA, ketamine, and plant medicines (like ayahuasca). The authors explain how these drugs can change the brain’s wiring, calm inflammatory processes, and shift key brain chemicals. Those actions may help explain why small clinical trials and animal…
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 collected and read 15 studies where patients described their own experiences with psychedelic treatments for mental disorders. These studies looked at about 180 patient accounts across different drugs and different illnesses. Even though the drugs and treatment settings were very different, many patients described similar helpful processes, such as…
Researchers around the world have started clinical studies again to see if psychedelic drugs can help treat serious mental health problems. This work picks up after research that stopped around the 1950s. Scientists are running controlled studies to test whether these substances can safely reduce problems like depression, anxiety, addiction…
Kratom is a tropical plant whose leaves are made into tea, powders, or extracts. The review says kratom can act like a stimulant at low doses and like an opioid at higher doses, producing pain relief and euphoria, and that use is rising in parts of the world. The authors…
