Course catalogue doctoral education - VT24

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  • Ansökan kan ske mellan 2023-10-16 och 2023-11-15
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Title Psychedelic Science - Past, Present, Future
Course number 5635
Programme Neurovetenskap
Language English
Credits 1.5
Date 2023-04-24 -- 2023-04-28
Responsible KI department Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap
Specific entry requirements
Purpose of the course The purpose of the course is to provide a broad overview of psychedelic science.
Intended learning outcomes After successfully completing this course you as a student are expected to be able to:
1) understand and describe the history of psychedelic use and research, including cultural and legal aspects,
2) explain the evidence to date on the effectiveness of psychedelics and its use in the treatment of mental illness,
3) in a general way, explain strengths and weaknesses in the main theories about mechanisms of action and treatment models in psychedelic research,
4) identify and explain the safety concerns associated with psychedelic use, including specific risk factors,
5) discuss the potential future avenues in psychedelic research and clinical applications, including the study designs, research methods, technical tools and platforms that are required to further develop psychedelic science.
Contents of the course The course will examine the past, present, and future of psychedelic use and research. The lectures will cover the history of psychedelic use in various cultural contexts, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychedelics, the potential therapeutic effects of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and the methodological, ethical, and safety issues associated with clinical research on psychedelics. Future avenues in psychedelic research will be discussed in interactive discussions with the students.
Teaching and learning activities The course will run daytime for one week full-time with a mix of lectures by invited internationally leading scientists, group assignments as well as individual studies.
Compulsory elements The group assignments, the oral presentations by the students and the following general discussion between all participants are compulsory. Students that are absent from these parts will have to individually submit a written presentation of the subject.
Examination The examination part includes group assignments, short formative examination questions at the end of some of the days during the course week, oral presentations by the students and general discussion between all participants. All students are individually assessed.
Literature and other teaching material Recommended course literature:

Aday, J. S., Heifets, B. D., Pratscher, S. D., Bradley, E., Rosen, R., & Woolley, J. D. (2022). Great Expectations: Recommendations for improving the methodological rigor of psychedelic clinical trials. Psychopharmacology, 1-22.

Anderson, B. T., Danforth, A., & Grob, C. (2020). Psychedelic medicine: safety and ethical concerns. Lancet Psychiatry, 7(10).

Mitchell, J. M., Bogenschutz, M., Lilienstein, A., Harrison, C., Kleiman, S., Parker-Guilbert, K., ... & Doblin, R. (2021). MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Nature Medicine, 27(6), 1025-1033.

Nichols, D. E. (2016). Psychedelics. Pharmacological reviews, 68(2), 264-355.
Nutt, D., & Carhart-Harris, R. (2021). The current status of psychedelics in psychiatry. JAMA psychiatry, 78(2), 121-122.

Swanson, L. R. (2018). Unifying theories of psychedelic drug effects. Frontiers in pharmacology, 172.
Zanos, P., Moaddel, R., Morris, P. J., Riggs, L. M., Highland, J. N., Georgiou, P., ... & Gould, T. D. (2018). Ketamine and ketamine metabolite pharmacology: insights into therapeutic mechanisms. Pharmacological reviews, 70(3), 621-660.


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Other literature:

Anderson, B. T., Danforth, A., Daroff, R., Stauffer, C., Ekman, E., Agin-Liebes, G., ... & Woolley, J. (2020). Psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralized older long-term AIDS survivor men: An open-label safety and feasibility pilot study. EClinicalMedicine, 27, 100538.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Friston, K. (2019). REBUS and the anarchic brain: toward a unified model of the brain action of psychedelics. Pharmacological reviews, 71(3), 316-344.

Carhart-Harris, R., Giribaldi, B., Watts, R., Baker-Jones, M., Murphy-Beiner, A., Murphy, R., ... & Nutt, D. J. (2021). Trial of psilocybin versus escitalopram for depression. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(15), 1402-1411.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., & Goodwin, G. M. (2017). The therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs: past, present, and future. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(11), 2105-2113.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., Roseman, L., Haijen, E., Erritzoe, D., Watts, R., Branchi, I., & Kaelen, M. (2018). Psychedelics and the essential importance of context. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 32(7), 725-731.

Davis, A. K., Barrett, F. S., May, D. G., Cosimano, M. P., Sepeda, N. D., Johnson, M. W., ... & Griffiths, R. R. (2021). Effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on major depressive disorder: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA psychiatry, 78(5), 481-489.

Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A., & Griffiths, R. R. (2008). Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety. Journal of psychopharmacology, 22(6), 603-620.

Payne, J. E., Chambers, R., & Liknaitzky, P. (2021). Combining psychedelic and mindfulness interventions: Synergies to inform clinical practice. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, 4(2), 416-423.

Simonsson, O., Osika, W., Carhart-Harris, R., & Hendricks, P. S. (2021). Associations between lifetime classic psychedelic use and cardiometabolic diseases. Scientific reports, 11(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93787-4

Smigielski, L., Kometer, M., Scheidegger, M., Krähenmann, R., Huber, T., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2019). Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-13.

Vollenweider, F. X., & Preller, K. H. (2020). Psychedelic drugs: neurobiology and potential for treatment of psychiatric disorders. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 21(11), 611-624.
Number of students 10 - 15
Selection of students Selection will be based on 1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation), 2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)
More information
Additional course leader Otto Simonsson is course leader, together with Walter Osika
Latest course evaluation Not available
Course responsible Otto Simonsson
Institutionen för neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle

otto.simonsson@ki.se
Contact person -