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Psychedelics: an emerging treatment modality
Franklin King IV, MD
Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders
MGH
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Disclosures
Neither I nor my spouse has a relevant financial relationship with a commercial interest to
disclose.
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What are psychedelics?
• Psychedelic, 1956 = “mind-manifesting”
• Profound change in consciousness, relatedness, and sensory experience
• Often of spiritual importance and/or personal meaning
• Serotonergic psychedelics: mescaline, DMT (including ayahuasca), psilocybin, LSD, [MDMA]
• Other “psychedelics”: ketamine, ibogaine, THC
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“CLASSICAL” PSYCHEDELICS
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Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
• Highly potent, accidentally discovered in 1943
• Minimal recognizable dose 25µg, “optimal” dose 100-200µg
• Acute effects 6-10 hours (dose dependent)E-commons
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LSD
• Primary psychedelic effect via 5HT-2A agonism
– Blocked by ketanserin
• Partial agonist at 5HT-1A (postsynaptic, inhibitory)
• Effects on numerous other 5HT, D1, D2
• Tachyphylaxis after 2-3 doses
Preller, Elife 2018
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Psilocybin
• Present in Psilocybespecies of mushrooms on 6 continents
• Used as a sacrament in Mexico for 3000 years, suppressed by Spanish conquistadors
• “Discovered” by the West in 1957
E-Commons
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Psilocybin
• Active ingredient = dephosphorylated form (psilocin)
• Usual “dose” = 15-25mg
• Acute effects 4-6 hours
• Similar pharmacology to LSD
• Most frequently studied in current phase of research
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Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• Ultra short acting (5-15 minutes), not orally bioavailable
• Intense visual imagery and loss of sense of self
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Ayahuasca
• Amazonian brew used as medicine and sacrament
• Contains DMT from the Psychotria shrub
• Only orally bioavailabledue to MAOI action from Banisteriopsisvine
• Acute effects 4-6 hours
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Safety & physiologic effects
• Negative effects (dose dependent): • Headache, nausea, fatigue most common (<50%)
• Sympathetic changes: • ↑BP, ↑HR (mild), ↑temperature (rare)• Mydriasis, increased reflexes
• Toxicity: no LD50 established for humans, likely ingrams or kilograms
• No cases of HPPD or prolonged psychosis in modern studies• Personal or family history of bipolar or schizophrenia
contraindicated
• Addiction and cravings not observed
Passie CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics 2008; Mithoefer Lancet 2018
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Acute psychological effects in healthy subjects
• Altered States of Consciousness scale: 5 domains• Oceanic Boundlessness: pleasurable experiences of
depersonalization, derealization, changed sense of time, positive mood, mystical experiences
• Anxious Ego Dissolution: negatively experienced alterations in self-awareness, anxiety, fear of loss of thought control and body control
• Visual Restructuralization: enriched visual imagery, elementary hallucinations, synesthesia (usually recognized as unreal)
• Auditory Alterations (eg, AH): uncommon• Reduction of Vigilance: reduced altertness, cognitive
deficits — mild to moderateStuderus 2011
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Long term psychological effects
• Effects often long lasting: increased well being, enhanced appreciation, increased openness
• Majority of subjects in controlled settings report experience as enriching or meaningful, even if the session was marked by dysphoria
• 14-month follow-up: among 5 most personally meaningful (58%) and spiritually significant (67%) experiences in their lives
• No cases of HPPD or psychosis in any recent studyGriffiths et al J Psychopharmacol 2008Studerus et al J Psychopharmacol 2011
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USE IN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
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Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
• All recent studies have utilized psychological support during the treatment session
• Mostly based on models developed in 1960s (Stan Grof)
• Set and setting• Quiet room, calming décor, instrumental music,
eye shades, non-directive therapy• Therapist is available at all times, but patients
may be encouraged to “go inside” and explore their inner experience
Johnson et al J Psychopharmacol 2008
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Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy
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Treatment resistant depression
• To date, recent studies have examined psilocybin and ayahuasca for treatment resistant depression
• Psilocybin granted “breakthrough therapy” designation by FDA, 15 clinical sites in Europe and North America for Phase 2 trial ongoing
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Effects are robust, rapid, and sustained
❖ Carhart Harris Psychopharmacology 2018: open label, N=12 subjects with treatment-resistant depression❖ Psilocybin assisted psychotherapy, 10mg <- 7 days -> 25mg
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Robust and rapid response
❖ Palhano-Fontes Psychol Med 2018: randomized, double-blind, N=29 patients with treatment-resistant depression, ayahuasca vs placebo
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• Grob et al 2011/UCLA: 30% decrease in BDI, significant decrease in trait anxiety sustained at 6 months– N=12, dx=advanced stage cancer/acute stress, GAD, adjustment disorder, or anxiety
secondary to cancer– Psilocybin 14 mg/70 kg vs niacin placebo
• Gasser et al 2014/University of Bern: trend toward decreased state anxiety sustained at 12 months– N=12, dx=life threatening medical illness/anxiety associated with medical illness– Randomized, open-label crossover; 200 µg vs 20 µg LSD
• Griffiths et al 2016/Hopkins: 80% of subjects with significant decreases in anxiety and depression at 6 months– N=51, dx=life threatening cancer/depression or anxiety– Randomized crossover design; 22 mg/70 kg psilocybin vs 1 mg (placebo)
• Ross et al 2016/NYU: 60-80% response rate for anxiety and depression at 6 months– N=29, dx=cancer (2/3 with advanced cancer)/anxiety disorder (GAD 10%, adjustment
90%)– Randomized, crossover design; psilocybin 21 mg/70 kg vs niacin placebo
Sustained effect in end of life-related depression and anxiety
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Smoking
• Smoking cessation: Johnson 2014 (Hopkins)
• N=15
• 2-3 moderate-dose psilocybin sessions + CBT
• 80% abstinent at 6 months
• 67% abstinent at 12 months, 60% at 30 months
Johnson et al J Psychopharmacol 2014
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Alcohol Use Disorder
• LSD widely used in 1960s for alcoholism
• 2012 meta-analysis of 536 subjects found beneficial effect (OR 1.96) of single LSD session
• Pilot study (N=9), substantial reductions in heavy drinking days following 1-3 psilocybin sessions + therapy
• Phase 2 clinical trial underway (NYU)
Krebs J Psychopharmacol 2012
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Opioid Use Disorder
• 1973, N=78
• Single LSD session
• Followed for 12 months
• 25% abstinent after 1 year
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Effect of therapy correlated with quality of subjective experience
• Profundity of experience consistently found to mediate both neurophysiologic findings in healthy subjects, as well as clinical recovery in patient studies
• Altered states of consciousness scale (ASC): experience of unity, spiritual experience, blissful state, insightfulness, complex imagery
• Mystical Experience Questionnaire: ineffability, mysticality, transcendence of time and space
Roseman Front Pharmacol 2018; Griffiths J Psychopharmacol 2016, Palhano-Fontes 2018
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Microdosing
• Use of very small doses (≤0.05 typical dose) with minimal acute drug effects
• Schedule varies, usually taken only a few days each week
• LSD, psilocybin most commonly used
• Observational study: increased mood, attention, well being, creativity on dosing days but no residual effects
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MDMA
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MDMA - pharmacology
• Induces 5HT and NE efflux
• Binds monoamine transporters (SERT>>NET or DAT) and prevents reuptake
• Weaker affinity to 5HT-2A than classical psychedelics
• Little effect on 5HT-1A
• May also induce oxytocin release
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MDMA acute effects
• Enhanced feelings of empathy and bonding
• Elevated or euphoric mood
• Decreased fearfulness
• Mild heightened sensory experiences
• Mild increases in HR, BP, core temp
• Bruxism, reduced appetite
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MDMA – toxicity
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MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD
• 26 veterans and first responders with treatment resistant PTSD
• Mean CAPS = 86.5
• Randomly assigned 30mg, 75mg, or 125mg MDMA
• Therapy conducted over 8 hour sessions with 2 therapists per patient
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Durability of effects
❖At 12 month followup, reduction in PTSD scores sustained
❖71% patients in treatment arms no longer met PTSD criteria
❖ Treatment arms with reduction in neuroticism and increase in openness (NEO)
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POSSIBLE MECHANISMS
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Amygdala modulation
• Amygdala: area of rich 5HT2A receptors, connect amygdala widely across multiple areas of neocortex
• Modulation of amygdala – visual cortex connection
• Amygdala involved in determining emotional meaning of visual stimuli
• Hyperconnectivity between amygdala and visual cortex involved in increased threat processing and anxiety
• Psilocybin reduced top-down amygdala -> V1 connection
Kraehenmann Neuroimage: Clinical 2016, Vollenweider Nat Rev Neurosci 2010
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Increased connectivity of visual cortex
• LSD causes increased connectivity of visual cortex to multiple other cortical regions
• Increased connectivity positive correlated with increased visual imagery during experience
Carhart Harris PNAS 2016
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Modulation of default mode network (DMN)
• DMN involved in experience of sense of self/embodiment, retrieval of autobiographical memory, daydreaming
• Balance between internally and externally directed thought
• Decreased coupling within DMN hubs (PCC, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)) shown with psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca
• Magnitude of deactivation correlates with subjective effects
• Increased DMN activity in pathological rumination in depression
Carhart Harris 2011 PNAS, Palhano-Fontes 2014 PLOS ONE, Carhart Harris 2017 Sci Rep
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Opening the “thalamic filter”
• Thalamus acts as gateway for sensory information flowing to primary sensory cortex regions
• LSD shown to increase thalamic connectivity to the cortex– Dependant on 5HT2A receptors
• Common mechanisms? Similar effects observed with NMDA antagonists (eg, ketamine), as well as increased dopamine transmission
Preller PNAS 2019
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Future directions
• Numerous clinical trials ongoing
• 2 psychedelic research centers opened in 2019, more under development
• FDA closely involved in studies for psilocybin (depression) and MDMA (PTSD)
• Legal issues continue to stymie research
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Conclusion
• Compelling evidence suggests psychedelics offer potential for treatment of a variety of psychiatric conditions
• The effects are rapid, robust, and sustained
• Psychedelics are safe, and adverse events exceedingly rare in controlled settings
• Larger clinical trials are currently needed (and are underway)