Believers say microdosing psychedelics helps them. Scientists are trying to measure the claims

New Mexico's Medical Psilocybin Act is a step toward unbiased science

The Medical Psilocybin Act illustrates changes to the state’s drug schedule, removing psilocybin — the psychoactive chemical in “magic mushrooms” — from the list of Schedule 1 drugs so that it may be implemented medically.

Eighty-two years ago, a weird and wonderful bicycle ride changed culture forever

On April 19, 1943, Albert Hofmann, a chemist working at the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz, swallowed 240 micrograms of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and had the first intentional acid trip in history. Hofmann had first synthesized the compound five years earlier while exploring whether ergot—a fungus that grows on rye—could yield new respiratory and circulatory medicines. — Read the rest The post Eighty-two years ago, a weird and wonder…

Decreased CO2 saturation during circular breathwork supports emergence of altered states of consciousness

Altered states of consciousness (ASCs), induced e.g. during psychedelic-assisted therapy, show potential to treat prevalent mental health disorders like depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. However, access to such treatments is restricted by legal, medical, and financial barriers. Circular breathwork may present a non-pharmacological and hence more accessible alternative to engage similar therapeutic processes. Scientific studies of bre…

Believers Say Microdosing Psychedelics Helps Them. Scientists Are Trying to Measure the Claims

Microdosing is gaining popularity with a new breed of health seekers. These self-experimenters take a very small amount of psilocybin mushrooms or LSD to try to reduce anxiety, stress and depression. Some claim the practice gives them access to joy, creativity and connection they can’t get otherwise. Join our WhatsApp group Subscribe to our Daily […]

Believers say microdosing psychedelics helps them. Scientists are trying to measure the claims

Microdosing is gaining popularity with a new breed of health seekers. These self-experimenters take a very small amount of psilocybin mushrooms or LSD to reduce anxiety, stress and depression.

Antidepressant effects of psychedelics may be overstated in some clinical trials

A meta-analysis of studies examining the antidepressant effects of psychedelics has found that the strength of these effects depends heavily on the design of the study. For example, studies that used active drugs as a placebo did not report antidepressant effects, while those comparing psychedelic treatments to waitlist control groups typically reported large effects. The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Psychedelics ar…