Psychae Institute

03/07/2024

https://www.linkedin.com/events/advancingpsychedelic-assistedth7211623423460933632/about/
Learn about the pioneering advances in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy from Switzerland, where legal access pathways have been in place since 2014!

Join us for a webinar with Dr. Helena Aicher, clinician and researcher at the University of Zurich, who will provide insights into the use of L*D, M**A and psilocybin in Swiss clinical and research settings.

16/04/2023

A recent naturalistic, longitudinal study involving Psychae researchers found that ayahuasca consumption in naïve participants is associated with improvements in mental health, relationships, personality structure, and alcohol use with most of these persisting at follow up 1 month later.

Significant increases were identified across a range of variables including positive mood, self-efficacy, agreeableness, open-mindedness, spirituality, and satisfaction with relationships.

Read the full article here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.884703/full

Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies suggest ayahuasca, a potent psychedelic beverage originating from Indigenous Amazonian tradition, may improve mental health, alter personality structure, and reduce alcohol and drug intake. To better understand ayahuasca’s therapeutic potenti...

19/03/2023

Overactivity in the default mode network (DMN) is a hallmark of depression. A systematic review conducted by researchers at Psychae examined the modulatory impact of psychedelics such as ayahuasca on the grouping of interconnected brain regions comprising the DMN.

The findings indicate that classic psychedelics acutely decrease activity in the DMN, while concurrently increasing global connectivity in the brain. This is a potential causal mechanism of the role psychedelics play in ameliorating depression.

Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ga_kCJnb

Psychedelics are a unique class of drug which commonly produce vivid hallucinations as well as profound psychological and mystical experiences. A grouping of interconnected brain regions characterised by increased temporal coherence at rest have been termed the 'Default Mode Network' (DMN). The DMN....

09/02/2023

In a new article, Psychae researchers propose a novel model of psychotherapeutic and neurobiological processes associated with the consumption of ayahuasca.

The model proposes five processes as central to ayahuasca’s therapeutic benefits, including somatic effects; introspection and emotional processing; increased Self-connection; increased spiritual connection, and the gaining of insights and new perspectives. Read the full article here:

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive Amazonian plant brew. It is usually made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (Spruce ex Griseb. Morton, Malpighiaceae), which contains three primary harmala alkaloids, along with the leaves of Psychotria viridis (Ruiz et Pavon, Rubiaceae) in which the potent psychedelic di...

05/02/2023

Psychae Institute welcomes the Australian TGA's decision to reschedule psilocybin and M**A for limited medical use, which we believe will help to reduce the stigma around these substances and advance mental health care. This decision and the proposed approach enabling psychiatrists to prescribe via the Authorised Prescriber scheme strikes a pragmatic balance between potential benefits and risks by enabling limited access for patients with PTSD and depression who have exhausted all other treatment options, while still providing strong oversight via both TGA and human research ethics committee approval. As the evidence of efficacy and optimal therapeutic treatment models progresses, we expect this level of regulatory oversight will not be required. We also note contrary to some media reporting, Australia is not the first country in the world to enable limited patient access. This has been occurring successfully in Switzerland since 2014 where treating physicians can request a permit from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) for the clinical use of M**A, L*D, and psilocybin, and unlike Australia this does not require ethics committee approval. Approvals have been increasing and in the first 6-months of 2022 there were 101 patient licenses issued by the FOPH.

21/12/2022

🎄Merry Christmas from the Psychae Team!🎄

Part of the team Tessa Cowley-Court, Daniel Perkins, Jerome Sarris and Diana McHerron celebrated the year’s efforts with a delicious Brazilian lunch at Bossa Nova Café.

We look forward to continuing our work in 2023, but first - rest! On behalf of the Psychae team, we wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and New Year 😊

13/12/2022

New study involving Psychae researchers reports ayahuasca to lead to rapid and large improvements in mental health among naive drinkers.

Broader wellbeing benefits identified included increased self-efficacy and personal spirituality, modulation of Big Five Inventory personality traits, and reductions in body disassociation and the frequency of substance use.

You can read the full article here:

Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies suggest ayahuasca, a potent psychedelic beverage originating from Indigenous Amazonian tradition, may improve mental health, alter personality structure, and reduce alcohol and drug intake. To better understand ayahuasca’s therapeutic potenti...

29/11/2022

New study involving Psychae researchers reports ayahuasca mental health side effects to be common (55.9%) but generally transient and not severe, and for most an inherent part of ayahuasca’s potent psychotherapeutic experience. You can read the article here: https://tdy.es/sYUGF

For more details regarding the study: https://tdy.es/VfreB

A new study by researchers at the University of Melbourne has analyzed adverse effects reported by users of the hallucinogenic tea, ayahuasca.

25/11/2022

Psychae is excited to be working with the CSIRO Botanical Extracts Lab (BEL) via the CSIRO Kick-Start Program.

This work will utilise CSIRO’s research and commercialisation expertise and state-of-the-art facilities to assist Psychae in developing novel psychedelic medicines for mental health disorders.

04/11/2022

Psychae researchers, together with collaborators around the world, provide a comprehensive overview of the present research into how classical psychedelics modulate the Default Mode Network in this newly published paper.

Abstract. Psychedelics are a unique class of drug which commonly produce vivid hallucinations as well as profound psychological and mystical experiences. A grou

23/09/2022

Psychae Institute’s Dr Simon Ruffell recently presented his research project “Amazonian Ayahuasca and Mental Health Outcomes” with the Yale Psychedelic Science Group.

Simon’s work, together with IcaroScience (https://icaro.science/), focused on a six-month naturalistic study of ceremonial Ayahuasca use within an indigenous framework based in the Shipibo traditions of the Peruvian Amazon and considers its potential effects on measures of depression, anxiety and mental well-being.

Measures of autobiographical memory and childhood trauma were investigated as potential mediating effects and potential epigenetic mechanisms were also considered.

Simon’s experiences also highlight potential ethical concerns with Ayahuasca Tourism and issues of cultural sensitivity and safety. Psychae continues to advocate for the acknowledgment of and respect for traditional users of psychedelic substances.

Watch his presentation here - https://youtu.be/W8-X4wpPSic - or access the underlying research at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.687615.

Ayahuasca is a natural psychoactive brew, used in traditional ceremonies in the Amazon basin. Recent research has indicated that ayahuasca is pharmacologically safe and its use may be positively associated with improvements in psychiatric symptoms. The mechanistic effects of ayahuasca are yet to be....

22/07/2022

We are excited to announce that Psychae Institute co-founders Jerome Sarris and Daniel Perkins will be presenting at this years Garden States 2022 event run by Entheogenesis Australis! The event will run in-person in Melbourne and online from 2nd-4th December with a fantastic line-up of speakers with a focus on Cultivating Ethnobotanical Plants, Research, Knowledge and Community. We hope to see you there!
You can learn more about the event at https://gardenstates.org/

Garden States 2022 is a Three Day Forum for Cultivating Ethnobotanical Plants, Research, Knowledge and Community