Explore the latest in psychedelics and psychopharmacology - from clinical trials and regulatory shifts to new therapeutic protocols and drug development.
A new study from the Okasha Institute of Psychiatry (Ain Shams University, Egypt) reveals a troubling trend: some intravenous heroin users have begun misusing anticholinergic eye drops to intensify their high - at the cost of their cognitive health. The research compared heroin users, dual users, and healthy controls, uncovering significantly greater impairments in attention and processing speed among those combining heroin with anticholinergic drops. While all heroin users showed cognitive disruption, this emerging form of polysubstance use appears to impose an additional and specific cognitive burden.
A preliminary imaging study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports suggests that people who smoke cannabis together with tobacco may experience measurable disruptions to the brain's endocannabinoid system - a network involved in stress regulation, mood, and emotional balance. Using positron emission tomography, researchers found elevated levels of FAAH, an enzyme that breaks down the calming endocannabinoid anandamide, in those who co-used tobacco compared with cannabis-only users. The discovery highlights a potential neurobiological reason why co-use is often linked to worse clinical outcomes.
In one of the most rigorous modern tests of a classic psychedelic compound, researchers have found that a single dose of MM120, a purified lysergide formulation, produced significant and sustained reductions in generalized anxiety. The phase 2b, randomized, double-blind clinical trial - published in JAMA Psychiatry - showed dose-dependent improvements in anxiety scores up to four weeks after treatment. The results mark a pivotal step toward reintroducing lysergide-based compounds into mainstream psychiatry, not as a countercultural relic, but as a precisely tuned therapeutic molecule.
Once confined to counterculture and ritual use, psychedelics are now entering mainstream science and regulated therapy. But as interest grows, so does the need for certainty about what these plants, fungi, and brews really contain. A new study delivers just that - a validated laboratory test that can accurately confirm 26 different psychedelic compounds across mushrooms, cactus, teas, and supplements, setting a new standard for safety and precision in psychedelic research.
A new study from UCSF pinpoints the brain circuitry behind a troubling side effect of Parkinson's treatment. Dopamine agonist drugs, prescribed to ease motor symptoms, can in some patients trigger compulsive gambling, shopping, or risky behaviors. The research shows that the culprit lies in how these drugs rewire firing patterns in the striatum, driving impulsive decision-making.
