Ethics in the Psychedelic Space

University of Cincinnati postdoctoral researcher Neşe Devenot says the psychedelic field is fraught with ethical concerns and financial interests.

In a peer-reviewed essay published in the journal Anthropology of Consciousness, Devenot and her co-authors look forward to a culture that makes these medicines available in a safe and affordable way that respects the traditions behind them.

I could not agree more!

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Video: Psychedelics, Consciousness, and Creativity

Could psychedelics make you more creative? Shift your mind, connect you to others, and help you access a younger, more malleable version of yourself? Activist Rick Doblin, neuroscientist Gül Dölen, and musician Reggie Watts join Brian Greene for a mind-bending and multidisciplinary conversation about the promises and pitfalls of these "magic" molecules and their impact on creativity, connection, and consciousness.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

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More Psilocybin Research

Studies over the past several years have shown promise in using psilocybin-assisted therapy to treat psychiatric disorders like depression.

A recent follow-up study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found two doses of the hallucinogenic compound coupled with psychotherapy resulted in large decreases in major depressive disorder symptoms for most of the study’s participants.

New research is hinting at how the hallucinogenic compound may facilitate reduced depression symptoms.

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Researching Psychedelics- It's Complicated

Researchers from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and McGill University published a paper in the journal Science Advances proposing a unique method for better understanding the interaction between hallucinogenic drugs, people’s brains, and different types of psychedelic experiences.

They did this by using artificial intelligence to look at real-life accounts of psychedelic experiences and compare them to how human brain chemistry engages with drugs on a molecular level.

However, while the researchers’ methods and goals push the envelope forward on understanding how psychedelics can help or harm individuals, the data they use could be unreliable.

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