Examining psychedelic drug action Copy

Dewran Kocak and Bryan Roth discuss a psychedelic — 5-MeO-DMT — and what we might learn from its properties.

It was in 2016 when several small-scale clinical studies using psilocybin — the active ingredient in ‘magic’ mushrooms — reported promising results. Phase II trials have now shown that one administration of psilocybin can produce statistically significant clinical effects for depression and anxiety1,2. This early clinical success led the US Food and Drug Administration to grant psilocybin its coveted ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ designation for treatment-resistant depression. Psilocybin is now being evaluated in phase III trials for treatment-resistant depression....