Robin Carhart-Harris's research while affiliated with University of California and other places

... For example, increased functional connectivity lowers the resting entropy in the parietal cingulate cortex and amygdala (Rowe and Fitness, 2018). Reduced Nucleus accumbens default mode network connectivity improves contentment (Shukuroglou et al., 2022), supporting the relationship between information erasure and resting synaptic flexibility. ...

... Lastly, a multi-centric trial investigating efficacy of 25 mg, 10 mg, and 1 mg of psilocybin in patients with treatment-resistant depression reported significant symptom reduction for the 25 mg treatment condition 3 weeks after baseline. 9 However, no placebo-controlled trial has been published to date, therefore limiting our understanding of the contribution of different pharmacological and nonpharmacological aspects of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Furthermore, all cited clinical trials used dosage regimens that are considered low (≤10 mg) or included a high dose (>20 mg), while omitting the moderate dose range. ...

... Here we analyze the data collected in a randomized controlled trial (see Carhart-Harris et al., 2021, Nayak et al., 2022 with the aim of assessing the superiority of a new therapy with psilocybin (P) versus that with escitalopram (E), in treating major depressive disorder. The dataset contains the scores obtained by n = 57 patients on a questionnaire, before and after a 6-week period of therapy. ...

... It builds on a paradigm initially proposed by Deco and colleagues to investigate the brain regions more prone to drive transition between awake and asleep states [12]. The same paradigm was recently extended to the clinical context for treatment-resistant depression, to find the brain regions that work in promoting a transition to a target healthy state in responders but not non-responders to treatment with the psychoactive compound psilocybin [13]. The approach revealed a map of brain regions that significantly overlaps with the density map of specific serotonin receptors (5HT 2A and 5HT 1A ) to which psilocybin is known to bind preferentially [14], corroborating the hypothesis that the therapeutic effects of psilocybin are linked to a modulation of the serotonergic system. ...

... In addition to ceremonial and recreational use, DMT has recently gained increased interest as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of mental disorders and drug dependence [6][7][8][9][10]. Currently, different and mostly intravenous DMT dosage regimens are under investigation in several clinical studies [11]. Acute high doses of DMT may produce a delirium in users, for which reasons intravenous perfusions may be preferred to gradually move individuals into states of altered consciousness [10]. ...

... The majority of studies examining rs-fMRI in healthy controls have focused on the acute effects of psilocybin in healthy populations, with a smaller number also exploring the acute effects of LSD and ayahuasca (23). To date 17 rs-fMRI studies have been reported (19,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39). Study characteristics and the various functional connectivity analytic techniques used are summarized in ref 23 (23). ...

... The centrality of increased connectedness surrounding psychedelic experiences provides a compelling match with a core component of attachment theory, namely people's proclivity to develop strong interpersonal bonds (attachments). Arguably, increased connectedness in conjunction with psychedelic-assisted therapy can be experienced in relation to a wider and less well-specified set of targets (e.g., the universe, all of humanity, nature, see Watts et al., 2022) than those typically considered within attachment theory. It should be noted, however, that a sense of connectedness is a prerequisite to what may, and in other cases may not, develop into full-fledged attachment relationships. ...

... One possibility to assess whether IWMs are revised during or following psychedelic sessions, which would support our framing of IWMs as priors, is to observe attachment behaviors before, during, and after a psychedelic experience (e.g., emotional avoidance, engaging the therapist; Talia et al., 2017). Zeifman et al. (2022) have demonstrated preliminary evidence that psychedelics foster acute relaxation and post-acute revision of confidence in beliefs (about themselves and others) which are relevant to mental health and facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes. ...

... This is a fascinating hypothesis, with intriguing evidence in its favour [43], however, in light of flickering emergence, we are forced to ask: does the sense of self "flicker?" The sense of self can clearly be experienced as more or less intensely real (and, in some cases appears to vanish entirely) [44,45], although it generally seems stable during normal consciousness. If there is a link between temporal mutual information and the sense of self (an observable phenomena), then we are forced to wrangle with the question of temporal locality. ...

... 28,30,36,37,47 Moreover, networks of synchronized brain activity involve subcortical and cortical areas 156,157 that change during the psychedelic state. 35,41,158,159 Such changes in cortical network activity can, of course, also be analyzed with fNIRS neuroimaging. 87,160,161 The principal disadvantage that only cortical areas can be measured with fNIRS is put into perspective by the fact that the cortex is also always influenced by psychedelics and brain activity also changes there. ...