Frederick S Barrett

Abstract Psychedelics can profoundly alter consciousness by reorganizing brain connectivity1,2, producing acute experiences that shape lasting psychological change3,4. Psychedelic dynamics are commonly described as desynchronized or entropically disordered5,6, yet the brain organization underlying self-dissolving and boundary-dissolving experiences that participants often report7, and how context shapes that organization8, remain unresolved.

Psychedelics show promise in treating unipolar depression, though patients with bipolar disorder have been excluded from recent psychedelic trials. There is limited information on the use of classic psychedelics (e. g., LSD or psilocybin) in individuals using mood stabilizers to treat bipolar disorder.

Introduction The past decade has seen growing interest in the therapeutic potential of classic psychedelic drugs, defined here as hallucinogenic substances with primary activity at the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR). Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic that is a prodrug of psilocin, to which it is rapidly converted in the body, and whose psychoactive effects are primarily mediated via 5-HT2AR agonist activity (Nichols, 2016).