Clinical Research Directory

The ENHANCE Study: taVNS and Psilocybin

This study will examine whether combining a single dose of psilocybin with non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), a potential inducer of neuroplasticity and enhanced memory formation, will enhance the long-term beneficial behavioral effects of psilocybin when compared to sham taVNS or no VNS by allowing memory for insights gained during the psychedelic experience to remain vivid after they will have faded in subjects who receive psilocybin followed by sham taVNS or no VNS.

Antidepressant Response of DMT Masked With Propofol

The aim of this study is to elucidate if the anti-depressive effect of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is based on a biological mechanisms including neuroplasticity and anti-inflammatory effect or due to the subjective psychedelic experience.

Consciousness and Psilocybin Effects on Well-Being: The CoPEWell Study

This study is exploring how psilocybin (a psychedelic drug) may improve mood and wellbeing. Many people report feeling better after taking psilocybin, but it is not clear why. The CoPEWell study will test whether these improvements come from the psychedelic experience itself (the "trip") or from direct effects on the brain. To study this, up to 120 participants will be enrolled to receive psilocybin either while awake or asleep and can expect to be on study for up to 4 months.

Safety for Home Administration of Microdose Psilocybin Use

The goal of this laboratory study is to establish whether and which microdoses of psilocybin are safe to administer at home to healthy participants. Eligible participants will be given ascending doses of psilocybin trihydrate and a single, interspersed, randomized placebo on separate days in double-blind fashion. The participants will be asked to complete questionnaires and undergo safety assessments.

Neural and Physiological Correlates of Psychedelic Sub-states

The main purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the distinct mental states and physical reactions that can arise during a psychedelic experience. By repeatedly assessing the same participants in an MRI while under the effects of psilocybin, the investigators want to identify reliable brain and body reactions arising during these psychedelic experiences. It is hoped that this will provide an insight to inspire future research on psilocybin and related psychedelics as well as inform on their therapeutic action. This study will involve up to 12 healthy volunteers with previous psychedelic experience. Participants in this study will be given four doses of psilocybin, with breaks of at least seven days in between dosing visits. The first dosing visit will feature a 10 mg dose of psilocybin, which can be considerate a low to moderate dose, whereas the remaining three dosing visits will feature 25 mg psilocybin, a high dose that is consistent with the dosage chosen for several modern clinical trials with psilocybin. From the initial in-person screening visit to the final follow-up, participants will be in this study for approximately 6-12 weeks and visit the research site 5 times. The first visit will be an in-person screening visit, during which the investigators will assess participants' eligibility to be enrolled. There will be 4 subsequent visits to the scan center for dosing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning, and there will be a final remote follow up. Each of the four dosing visits will include four periods of lying within the MRI scanner for scanning, each of these 'in-scanner' sessions will last for \~ 45 minutes. Actual scans, which are also called 'runs' last for \~ 12 mins. During these 'runs', the investigators will ask participants two brief questions about how positive or negative their current experience is every 100 seconds. They will be able to record their answers using a button box which they will be operating with their hand. One day after each dosing visit, the investigators will schedule a phone call with the participant to check how they are doing and perform an informal interview focused on their experience while under the effects of psilocybin.

The Effects of Psilocybin on Shared Experience in Film Processing

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether certain methods of detecting awareness in vegetative or minimally conscious patients (using neuroimaging) are sensitive to the effects of psilocybin (a psychedelic drug). One of these methods includes scanning peoples\' brains while they watch a film. When different individuals watch a film, their brains become synchronized with each other as they watch the plot unfold. Most importantly, if a seemingly unconscious patient also shows the same brain-synchronization, it means they might actually be conscious and aware. To approach this goal, the investigators will be carrying out this trial in healthy volunteers. This will help better understand whether psilocybin may be a potential treatment for restoring awareness in these patients. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does psilocybin enhance or diminish brain synchrony during a film? * Do changes in brain synchrony reflect differences in each individual\'s conscious experience? Participants will be asked to: * Attend two brain scanning sessions and watch a series of film clips, perform a brief mental imagery task, and listen to music - once under a placebo, and once under psilocybin. * Play a series of games that assess their cognition (memory, reasoning, planning, etc.). * Perform a series of visual illusions tasks.