🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

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Here’s what we got this week.

• Psilocybin physically changes the brain 🧠

• An obscure psychedelic stock ran up 3,000% 🚀

• Lykos heard back from the FDA 👀

• We microdosed ayahuasca 💧

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MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

The royal treatment: Imperial is leading the UK’s first publicly funded clinical trial of psilocybin therapy for opioid addiction.
Quality over quantity: The depth of the psychedelic experience matters more than frequency of use, when it comes to psychological flexibility and wellbeing.
We feel you: Classical psychedelics enhance emotional empathy, but cognitive empathy? Not so much.
Brain shield: Preclinical research shows psilocybin may protect against stroke.
Rx for love: Couples morally reject the idea of a “love drug.” But MDMA-assisted couples therapy is more acceptable.

🏛️ Policy

Co-signed: Elizabeth Warren and the author of The Body Keeps the Score are among the backers of Massachusetts’ psychedelics legalization ballot initiative.
Shocker: On the other hand, psychedelic pharma execs have their reservations about the state-regulated model.
Show me the money: Ballot campaigns are expensive. Who’s paying for Question 4?
Don’t sweat it: Medicaid will cover traditional healing practices for Native Americans in 4 states.
Silence isn’t golden: Remember when the DEA tried to muzzle their critics, so they could put two more psychedelics on Schedule I? It didn’t work.

📈 Business

New world order: What bitcoin and psychedelics have in common.
Trip advisors: The peer support line, Fireside Project, launched a psychedelic coaching program.
Under the radar: More and more e-commerce sites are selling psilocybin products.
GPT, meet DMT: 6 ways AI is disrupting psychedelic medicine.

🫠 Just for fun

Kingdom smarts: Fungi have memories, learn shapes, make decisions, and solve problems.
Sound advice: 5 scientifically-approved playlists for psychedelic therapy.
Barking up the wrong tree: Blame the drug-sniffing dogs for MDMA overdoses at festivals.
Meme of the week: When you journey with an animal in your space…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

It only takes once

“You’ve changed,” they said. Aren’t we supposed to?

Well, the mushrooms clearly think so.

We just got our hands on a new preprint from Robin Carhart-Harris’s team, and this one’s a banger. It suggests that, even for first-timers, a single high dose of psilocybin creates lasting physical changes in the brain.

Sure, everyone knows psychedelics shake things up while you’re on them. But this study is the first to suggest your brain doesn't just reset to factory settings when you come down… or even a month later.

Scientists used advanced imaging techniques to track the changes in 28 psychedelic virgins’ brains, before and after their first psilocybin journey. Here's what they saw.

• 🔌 Rewired connections: One month post-trip, participants showed decreased "axial diffusivity" in prefrontal-subcortical tracts. (Their brains were still finding new pathways to communicate.)

• 🧩 Flexible thinking: Brain network "modularity" also decreased. (Their brains became more integrated and flexible.)

• 🎆 More signal: During the trip, participants experienced increased "brain entropy.” (Their neurons were firing signals they normally wouldn’t.)

• 😌 No fear: At one month, participants showed reduced amygdala activation to fearful faces. (Their brains’ fear centers chilled out.)

• 🙌 Tangible benefits: Participants also had increased cognitive flexibility, psychological insight, and wellbeing at the one-month mark. (The changes led to meaningful improvements in their lives.)

All these changes happened after just one 25 mg dose of psilocybin. The 1 mg placebo dose? Crickets.

Now, there’s a lot to unpack from this study. It’s probably raised more new questions than answers. But there’s one thing we’re still wrapping our heads around.

All but one of the participants rated this as the most unusual conscious state of their entire lives.

That one holdout must've had quite a life. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

$DRUG go brrrrr

Bright Minds Biosciences just gave Wall Street the trip of a lifetime. Last week, the small psychedelic drug developer saw its stock skyrocket over 3,000% in a matter of days. In fact, the $DRUG surge was so potent it lifted the entire AdvisorShares Psychedelics ETF by 70%. How’s that for a contact high?

Bright Minds must have just dropped some immaculate trial data, huh? Nope. The pump began when pharma giant Lundbeck announced it would acquire Longboard Pharmaceuticals for $2.6 billion. See, Bright Minds and Longboard are both cooking up 5-HT2C receptor drugs for epilepsy, so the deal put a spotlight on Bright Minds' potential. Never mind that they're a step behind in trials… When has a little thing like "evidence" ever stopped a good speculative stock frenzy?

Bright Minds, for its part, initially issued a statement claiming no material changes to explain the madness. But they sure know how to ride a wave. Since then, they’ve announced a $35 million private placement and an AI partnership. Just remember, what goes up must come down, and the landing isn't always soft. So, Cyclists, try not to YOLO your life savings into the market, no matter what r/shroomstocks says.

Lykos’s marching orders

Oh, to be a fly on the FDA’s wall… Lykos Therapeutics just had a "productive" chat with the agency about their rejected MDMA for PTSD application. The good news? There's a "path forward." The bad news? It involves another Phase 3 trial and a potential third-party review of their old data.

But here's the million-dollar question (or more likely, the hundred-million-dollar question): Where's the cash for another clinical trial coming from? Lykos has already gone full Marie Kondo, laying off 75% of its staff. Are we looking at a fundraising tour de force or a "for sale" sign on Lykos's lawn? Either way, it seems the road to FDA approval just got a lot longer and more expensive.

For now, Lykos promises to keep us posted "as appropriate," which probably means when they have actual good news to share. So, Cyclists, don't hold your breath for MDMA hitting your local clinic anytime soon. Now here’s the plot twist: Lykos's statement conspicuously left out any mention of "assisted therapy." Is this a hint at a new strategy, or just an oversight? Only time (and more FDA meetings) will tell.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

UNTIL NEXT TIME

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.