Jacob S. Aday

Preliminary effects of ayahuasca on mental and physical health: A systematic review of prospective studies Ayahuasca is a psychedelic plant brew that has been used in Central and South America for centuries. Recently, there has been an increase in “drug tou…

Preliminary effects of ayahuasca on mental and physical health: A systematic review of prospective studies
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Blunted Psychedelic Drug Effects in Older Adults

Open access article link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Of course, age is just one of dozens of factors (e.g., set, setting, dose, etc.) that moderate responses to psychedelics, so the magnitude of age effects is typically small albeit highly consistent across studies.

and negative (e.g., dread, impaired control and cognition) experiences, suggesting a general blunting response. We hypothesize that this attenuation is linked to a loss of 5-HT2A receptors across the lifespan.

Here, we call attention to an under-appreciated but consistent finding across the psychedelic literature—blunted psychedelic effects with increased age. Importantly this includes both highly positive (e.g., mystical-type experiences)...

"Blunted Psychedelic Drug Effects in Older Adults", coauthored with @robincarhartharris.bsky.social and Kevin Boehnke, is out now in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Blunted Psychedelic Drug Effects in Older Adults

Of course, age is just one of dozens of factors (e.g., set, setting, dose, etc.) that moderate responses to psychedelics, so the magnitude of age effects is typically small albeit highly consistent across studies.
Open access article link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

and negative (e.g., dread, impaired control and cognition) experiences, suggesting a general blunting response. We hypothesize that this attenuation is linked to a loss of 5-HT2A receptors across the lifespan.

Here, we call attention to an under-appreciated but consistent finding across the psychedelic literature—blunted psychedelic effects with increased age. Importantly this includes both highly positive (e.g., mystical-type experiences)...

It’s an earworm 😂

“D-M-T” but to the tune of “TNT” by AC/DC

New paper from the Michigan Psychedelic Center (M-PsyC) and collaborators! "Best practices for first psychedelic experiences: Harm reduction advice from the psychedelic community"

Best practices for first psychedelic experiences: harm reduction advice from the psychedelic community - Harm Reduction Journal Background The use of psychedelics is currently increasing in the United States. Awareness of clinical trials investigating the therapeutic applications of psychedelics may result in a record number o...

Best practices for first psychedelic experiences: harm reduction advice from the psychedelic community
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Looks like a case of treatment-nonspecific effects non specificin’

🚨Publication alert! 🚨

Why does stress drive psychopathology & transdiagnostic disease?

We present the Allostatic Triage Model of Psychopathology (ATP Model), which explains stress-induced transdiagnostic disease pathogenesis through a bioenergetic lens.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Single-dose psychedelic enhances cognitive flexibility and reversal learning in mice weeks after administration Psychedelic compounds have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic potential for treating neuropsychiatric disorders by promoting sustained neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Cognitive flexib...

Our latest manuscript (from www.omarlab.org) is now published and available online --
Long lasting enhancement in reversal learning after a single psychedelic dose

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Drug Science, Policy and Law Screenshot of title page and abstract

Reframing Psychedelic Regulation: Tools, not Treatments

In this new article, we propose to regulate psychedelics as psychotherapeutic treatment tools rather than as treatments in their own right.

The use of anesthetics as treatment tools in surgery is a useful analogy.

Last year, @jacobsaday.bsky.social and @trpr-ucsf.bsky.social asked: "Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy: where is the psychotherapy research?"

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

How soon can we say "here it comes"?

Opinion | How the American Right Learned to Love Psychedelics (Gift Article) A once left-wing psychedelic movement has become tightly entwined with the Trump administration.

Psychedelics could play a leading role in mental health care. But if approval is rushed without necessary guardrails in place, there will be a backlash, and these drugs will be relegated to the fringes of alternative health. That would be a tragic missed opportunity. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...

Absolutely! It seems like an active placebo that does that could help elucidate mechanisms of action with psychedelics (i.e., whether the subjective effects are necessary/sufficient for therapeutic benefits)

🚨 Postdoc Opportunity in Psychedelic Science

Join a leading psychedelic research team at Johns Hopkins @jhpsychedelics.bsky.social. Design and lead experimental studies & clinical trials.

Work with David Yaden, PhD & Sandeep Nayak, MD & others

-Salary: Middling
-Apply: dyaden1@jh.edu
-Pls share!

It might turn out that it’s not possible to blind psychedelic studies, but certainly there are stronger, good faith efforts (including ancillary strategies to active placebos) to be explored before we can conclude that.

Here, we outline the ideal characteristics of active placebos for psychedelic studies and review substances that may putatively fit these criteria for micro, low, and high dose studies.

Addressing blinding in classic psychedelic studies with innovative active placebos AbstractRationale. Classic psychedelics show promise as a treatment for various neuropsychiatric disorders. However, weak blinding integrity in trials has

“Addressing blinding in classic psychedelic studies with innovative active placebos” is out now in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Co-first authored with Otto Simonsson, alongside Cyril D’Souza and Emmanuelle Schindler
academic.oup.com/ijnp/advance...

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the 2025 Psychedelic Community Survey, a research project for the psychedelic community. Participation is completely anonymous. Please share the survey invitation and link with anyone you think might be interested in participating.

New pre-print out 🌍✨🌌
'Learning from Boundlessness: Psychedelic induced awe and epistemic shifts towards a holistic worldview'

doi.org/10.21203/rs....
We explored how awe during psychedelic experiences relates to lasting shifts in sense of self, other, and reality

Frontiers | Preliminary safety and effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy in adults with fibromyalgia: an open-label pilot clinical trial

Our pilot clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for fibromyalgia was published today in Frontiers in Pain Research 🙂🍄
www.frontiersin.org/journals/pai...

My lab has a position for a programmer--if you have programming skills and have recently left the NIH please contact me.

Tripping into Treatment: Comparing Initial and Current Motivations for Psychedelic Use Psychedelic drugs are currently being explored for their therapeutic potential for a variety of health conditions. The recent increased public interest in psychedelics necessitates empirical invest...

Newest paper: #PsychedelicScience #Psychedelics

Tripping into Treatment: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Psychedelics and chronic pain: www.researchgate.net/publication/...