Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Interview with Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris

Highlights

• Psilocybin, a psychedelic, is a 5-HT2A agonist
• Stimulation of the 5-HT2A receptor promotes neural plasticity
• A potential mechanism of action of psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression involves "brain resetting"
• Psilocybin has a good safety profile
  • However, patients may experience challenging psychological experiences that may turn out to be frightening for some people
• Administration of psychedelics needs to be done in a controlled environment with psychological support

Transcript

Hello everyone, welcome to the Psychopharmacology Institute podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Wegdan Rashad. Today we are starting our series covering the 2018 American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology Annual Meeting.

One of the presentations that got significant attention was by Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, Head of the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London.