Publications

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• Journal article
  Zeifman RJ, Wagner AC, Monson CM, Carhart-Harris RLet al., 2023,

  How does psilocybin therapy work? An exploration of experiential avoidance as a putative mechanism of change

  , JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, Vol: 334, Pages: 100-112, ISSN: 0165-0327
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• Journal article
  Wall MB, Lam C, Ertl N, Kaelen M, Roseman L, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris RLet al., 2023,

  Increased low-frequency brain responses to music after psilocybin therapy for depression

  , JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, Vol: 333, Pages: 321-330, ISSN: 0165-0327
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  • Citations: 19
• Journal article
  Weiss B, Erritzoe D, Giribaldi B, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris RLet al., 2023,

  A critical evaluation of QIDS-SR-16 using data from a trial of psilocybin therapy versus escitalopram treatment for depression

  , JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 37, Pages: 717-732, ISSN: 0269-8811
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  • Citations: 15
• Journal article
  Singleton SP, Timmermann C, Luppi AI, Eckernäs E, Roseman L, Carhart-Harris RL, Kuceyeski Aet al., 2023,

  Time-resolved network control analysis links reduced control energy under DMT with the serotonin 2a receptor, signal diversity, and subjective experience.

  , bioRxiv

  Psychedelics offer a profound window into the functioning of the human brain and mind through their robust acute effects on perception, subjective experience, and brain activity patterns. In recent work using a receptor-informed network control theory framework, we demonstrated that the serotonergic psychedelics lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin flatten the brain's control energy landscape in a manner that covaries with more dynamic and entropic brain activity. Contrary to LSD and psilocybin, whose effects last for hours, the serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) rapidly induces a profoundly immersive altered state of consciousness lasting less than 20 minutes, allowing for the entirety of the drug experience to be captured during a single resting-state fMRI scan. Using network control theory, which quantifies the amount of input necessary to drive transitions between functional brain states, we integrate brain structure and function to map the energy trajectories of 14 individuals undergoing fMRI during DMT and placebo. Consistent with previous work, we find that global control energy is reduced following injection with DMT compared to placebo. We additionally show longitudinal trajectories of global control energy correlate with longitudinal trajectories of EEG signal diversity (a measure of entropy) and subjective ratings of drug intensity. We interrogate these same relationships on a regional level and find that the spatial patterns of DMT's effects on these metrics are correlated with serotonin 2a receptor density (obtained from separately acquired PET data). Using receptor distribution and pharmacokinetic information, we were able to successfully recapitulate the effects of DMT on global control energy trajectories, demonstrating a proof-of-concept for the use of control models in predicting pharmacological intervention effects on brain dynamics.

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• Journal article
  Nayak SM, Bari BA, Yaden DB, Spriggs MJ, Rosas FE, Peill JM, Giribaldi B, Erritzoe D, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris Ret al., 2023,

  A Bayesian Reanalysis of a Trial of Psilocybin Versus Escitalopram for Depression

  , PSYCHEDELIC MEDICINE, Vol: 1, Pages: 18-26, ISSN: 2831-4425
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  • Citations: 5
• Journal article
  Shukuroglou M, Roseman L, Wall M, Nutt D, Kaelen M, Carhart-Harris Ret al., 2023,

  Changes in music-evoked emotion and ventral striatal functional connectivity after psilocybin therapy for depression

  , JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 37, Pages: 70-79, ISSN: 0269-8811
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  • Citations: 18
• Journal article
  Forstmann M, Kettner HS, Sagioglou C, Irvine A, Gandy S, Carhart-Harris RL, Luke Det al., 2023,

  Among psychedelic-experienced users, only past use of psilocybin reliably predicts nature relatedness

  , JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 37, Pages: 93-106, ISSN: 0269-8811
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  • Citations: 10
• Journal article
  Abrams SK, Rabinovitch BS, Zafar R, Aziz AS, Cherup NP, McMillan DW, Nielson JL, Lewis ECet al., 2023,

  Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Report Peripherally Dominant Serotonin-Like Syndrome After Use of Serotonergic Psychedelics.

  , Neurotrauma Rep, Vol: 4, Pages: 543-550

  Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) may treat various mental health conditions. Despite its promising therapeutic signal across mental health outcomes, less attention is paid on its potential to provide therapeutic benefits across complex medical situations within rehabilitation medicine. Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) have a high prevalence of treatment-resistant mental health comorbidities that compound the extent of their physical disability. Reports from online discussion forums suggest that those living with SCI are using psychedelics, though the motivation for their use is unknown. These anecdotal reports describe a consistent phenomenon of neuromuscular and autonomic hypersensitivity to classical serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Persons describe intense muscle spasms, sweating, and tremors, with an eventual return to baseline and no reports of worsening of their baseline neurological deficits. The discomfort experienced interferes with the subjective beneficial effects self-reported. This phenomenon has not been described previously in the academic literature. We aim to provide a descriptive review and explanatory theoretical framework hypothesizing this phenomenon as a peripherally dominant serotonin syndrome-like clinical picture-that should be considered as such when persons with SCI are exposed to classical psychedelics. Raising awareness of this syndrome may help our mechanistic understanding of serotonergic psychedelics and stimulate development of treatment protocols permitting persons with SCI to safely tolerate their adverse effects. As PAT transitions from research trials into accepted clinical and decriminalized use, efforts must be made from a harm reduction perspective to understand these adverse events, while also serving as an informed consent process aid if such therapeutic approaches are to be considered for use in persons living with SCI.

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• Journal article
  Douglass H, Spriggs M, Godfrey K, Danby J, Magalhaes F, Alderton K, Macdonald L, Archer S, Read T, Lafrance A, Nicholls D, Erritzoe D, Park R, Nutt D, Carhart-Harris Ret al., 2023,

  Psilocybin as a treatment for anorexia nervosa: 6-week and 3-month follow-up results

  , Neuroscience Applied, Vol: 2, Pages: 102878-102878, ISSN: 2772-4085
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• Journal article
  Spriggs MJ, Giribaldi B, Lyons T, Rosas FE, Kaertner LS, Buchborn T, Douglass HM, Roseman L, Timmermann C, Erritzoe D, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris RLet al., 2022,

  Body mass index (BMI) does not predict responses to psilocybin

  , Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol: 37, Pages: 107-116, ISSN: 0271-0749

  Background:Psilocybin is a serotonin type 2A (5-HT2A) receptor agonist and naturally occurring psychedelic. 5-HT2A receptor density is known to be associated with body mass index (BMI), however, the impact of this on psilocybin therapy has not been explored. While body weight-adjusted dosing is widely used, this imposes a practical and financial strain on the scalability of psychedelic therapy. This gap between evidence and practice is caused by the absence of studies clarifying the relationship between BMI, the acute psychedelic experience and long-term psychological outcomes.Method:Data were pooled across three studies using a fixed 25 mg dose of psilocybin delivered in a therapeutic context to assess whether BMI predicts characteristics of the acute experience and changes in well-being 2 weeks later. Supplementing frequentist analysis with Bayes Factors has enabled for conclusions to be drawn regarding the null hypothesis.Results:Results support the null hypothesis that BMI does not predict overall intensity of the altered state, mystical experiences, perceptual changes or emotional breakthroughs during the acute experience. There was weak evidence for greater ‘dread of ego dissolution’ in participants with lower BMI, however, further analysis suggested BMI did not meaningfully add to the combination of the other covariates (age, sex and study). While mystical-type experiences and emotional breakthroughs were strong predictors of improvements in well-being, BMI was not.Conclusions:These findings have important implications for our understanding of pharmacological and extra-pharmacological contributors to psychedelic-assisted therapy and for the standardization of a fixed therapeutic dose in psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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