New Atlas

Medical Audio available

New ketamine-like drug offers antidepressant benefits without psychedelic side effects

Rich Haridy April 17, 2019

A study led by scientists at Yale University has described the promising early-stage results of a new drug designed to mimic the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine, but without that drug’s dissociative psychoactive qualities. The experimental drug is currently in early phases of human testing.

A new drug designed to mimic the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine without the negative side ...

Science Audio available

Provocative new insight into how ketamine exerts its rapid anti-depressant effects

Rich Haridy March 28, 2019

Following the FDA’s approval of a ketamine-inspired nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, new research is offering provocative insights into how the drug exerts such a rapid anti-depressant effect and points to new pathways for research into alternative drugs to treat depression.

New research presents a new and controversial hypothesis to explain how ketamine generates its rapid anti-depressant ...

Science Audio available

Mice tripping on psychedelics help explain neural origins of hallucinations

Rich Haridy March 26, 2019

A new study is helping clarify what is going on in our brains when we are hallucinating. To do this, researchers from the University of Oregon dosed mice with a powerful psychedelic drug and with unprecedented detail zoomed in on how the animal’s brains subsequently generated visual hallucinations.

The research offers insight into what happens to our brain when we visually hallucinate (Credit: Background: ...

Science Audio available

Short-acting psychedelic offers promising new treatment pathway for depression and anxiety

Rich Haridy March 18, 2019

A survey into the anti-depressant qualities of a short-acting psychedelic has reported positive improvements in well-being. The research suggests the brief duration of action seen in the drug 5-MeO-DMT makes it potentially more useful in clinical applications than longer acting psychedelics.

A new survey revealed 80 percent of DMT users reported improvements in well-being, depression and anxiety ...

Science

Study reveals how psychedelic psilocybin improves long-term creative thinking

Rich Haridy March 7, 2019

Research has revealed a dose of psilocybin can result in improvements to a person's creative thinking abilities, lasting up to 7 days past the initial use. The study suggests a possible "window of opportunity" in the days following a dose could be effectively used for therapeutic interventions.

The psychedelic caused longer term improvements to both divergent thinking and convergent thinking

Science Audio available

FDA approves controversial ketamine-inspired nasal spray for depression

Rich Haridy March 5, 2019

The FDA has just approved esketamine for adults with treatment-resistant depression, in a landmark announcement marking the first new major depression treatment introduced for clinical use in over 30 years. The nasal spray is a close chemical relative to the controversial anesthetic ketamine.

Spravato is the official name of the nasal spray containing esketamine

Science

Psychedelic research on microdosing rats with DMT reveals unusual results

Rich Haridy March 4, 2019

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from UC Davis have examined the effects of psychedelic microdosing on animal behavior. The results yielded a variety of unexpected effects including some surprising negative changes affirming the need for more research into this growing trend.

DMT (imaged in crystal form above) was the psychedelic used in one of the first animal ...

Medical Audio available

Ketamine-inspired nasal spray for depression on cusp of landmark FDA approval

Rich Haridy February 12, 2019

A new nasal spray for depression, utilizing a drug called esketamine, has passed the last step on its way to final FDA approval. An advisory panel to the FDA voted in favor of the new drug’s risk/benefit profile meaning the ketamine-inspired treatment may be approved for use within the next month.

After an overwhelmingly positive vote from an advisory committee the FDA may approve the new drug ...

Medical Audio available

New study suggests mild, long-term MDMA use doesn't damage normal social functioning

Rich Haridy February 10, 2019

As MDMA sits on the precipice of being legally approved as clinical treatment for PTSD in the United States, a team of researchers from the University of Exeter set out to try to better understand what long-term effects the drug has on a person’s ability to emotionally empathize with others.

A new study adds to a body of evidence suggesting mild, long-term MDMA usage is not ...

Health & Wellbeing Audio available

Psychedelic microdosing effects fail to match expectations in new study

Rich Haridy February 6, 2019

New research observing the effects of microdosing on 100 subjects revealed some unexpected results. The study found a difference between reported effects of microdosing and common expectations. So, microdosing may not be doing what we think it is doing, but it certainly seems to be doing something.

Is microdosing LSD the psychedelic equivalent of homeopathy?