Critique: Yale Interventional Psychiatry Grand Rounds: Ketamine and Esketamine – Is There a Meaningful Clinical Difference?
Psychiatrist Samuel Wilkinson weighs in
Psychedelic Therapy Research
News
ketamine
Spotlight: The Effectiveness of Combining Ketamine and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Treating Major Depressive Disorder (2025)
" This study seeks to investigate the combined effectiveness of ketamine and CBT in the treatment of MDD, with the hypothesis that integrated treatment will outperform either modality administered alone."
ketamine
Spotlight: Real-world clinical data on the long-term effectiveness and safety of generic racemic ketamine treatment (Massaneda-Tuneu, et al, 2025)
"...the real-world clinical data presented here suggest a sustained effectiveness and safety profile of longer-term ketamine treatment for up to 6 months for patients with TRD. "
ketamine
Spotlight: "Intravenous Ketamine for Late-Life Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Pilot Study of Tolerability, Safety, Clinical Benefits, and Effect on Cognition (Oughli, et al, 2023)
"This pilot study suggests that repeated IV ketamine infusions are well-tolerated and are associated with improvement in depression and EF in older adults with TRD."
mdma
Psychedelics as pharmacotherapeutics for substance use disorders: A scoping review on clinical trials and perspectives on underlying neurobiology (Wittenkeller, et al, 2025)
"enhancing baseline dopamine while minimising excessive drug-induced dopamine surges may help normalise motivational circuits and reduce relapse risk."
psychedelic research
Spotlight: Toward Consensus in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: The Critical Role of Psychotherapeutic Support (Modesto-Lowe, et al, 2025)
"...psychotherapy is essential for the safety and efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy... Insight from naturalistic settings emphasizes the importance of group dynamics and context."
mdma
Spotlight: MDMA + Psychotherapy as a treatment for major depressive disorder: proof of principle study (Kvam, et al, 2025)
"There were no adverse events of special interest, and no unexpected or serious adverse events. The study met the primary objectives of safety and feasibility, and provided indications of efficacy for MDMA-AT for MDD. Further studies with a randomised design are required to confirm these findings."
ketamine
Spotlight: From Anesthetic to Neuroprotector: Multi-Omics Reveals Ketamine's Previously Unexplored Neuroprotective Role in Alzheimer's Disease (Gong, et al, 2025)
"This integrative study identifies robust diagnostic biomarkers and nominates ketamine for repurposing in AD. Experimental validation of ketamine's neuroprotective effects and FIBP's role is warranted."
lsd
Spotlight: Single Treatment With MM120 (Lysergide) in Generalized Anxiety DisorderA Randomized Clinical Trial (Robinson, et al, 2025)
In this phase 2b, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 4 dose levels of MM120 (a form of LSD) that included 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder 4 was statistically significant.
ketamine repeated doses
Spotlight: Comparing the Cognitive Effects of Repeated Intravenous Ketamine and Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Secondary Analysis of the ELEKT-D Trial
"Patients treated with ketamine demonstrated superior cognitive functioning compared with ECT following a 3-week treatment, no differences between treatments observed. Findings support short-term superiority of ketamine on cognitive functioning and the long-term cognitive safety of both treatments."
mortality
Spotlight: Reflections on mortality can help you live well now
Reflections on mortality can help you live well now – here’s how | Psyche GuidesFor me and many others, contemplating death
uruguay
Terapias asistidas con psicodélicos en Uruguay
una organización dedicada a la investigación, la educación y la promoción del uso de terapias asistidas con psicodélicos como ketamina
mdma
Spotlight: Harriet de Wit: What can we learn about behavior and brain processes by studying psychoactive drugs in humans?
"her laboratory demonstrated that MDMA enhances feelings of social connectedness during interpersonal interactions, findings that have profound implications for PTSD treatment and psychotherapy."
ketamine
Spotlight: Psychedelics and mental health: reimagining care through science, insight, and compassion (Mikellides, et al, 2025)
"These substances are not stand-alone medications; rather, they function as adjuncts to intensive psychotherapeutic processes. Training therapists and establishing ethical, evidence-based protocols is essential."
research
Spotlight: Investigating the safety and tolerability of single-dose psilocybin for post-traumatic stress disorder: A nonrandomized open-label clinical trial (McGowan, et al, 2025)
"In this trial, COMP360 psilocybin administered in a single session with psychological support was found to be generally well-tolerated and without serious risk to safety... treatment associated with rapid, sustained reduction in PTSD symptoms, improved functioning and quality of life to 12 weeks"
ketamine
Spotlight: Brain changes associated with depression treatment: a meta-analysis
Meta-analysis of data from 302 depressed subjects yielding 87 foci across 18 experiments examining various depression treatments including pharmacology, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, psilocybin, and ketamine with brain activity measures in response to emotion tasks in the scanner.
ketamine
Spotlight: NMDA receptor-modulating treatments for cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder: A narrative review (Badrfam, et al, 2025)
"Ketamine infusions have improved processing speed and verbal learning in bipolar disorder patients. Evidence suggests that NMDA receptor-modulating agents play a significant role in improving cognitive function in patients with bipolar disorder. "
ketamine
Spotlight: Nonresponse to Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression (Kachlick, et al, 2025)
Ketamine demonstrates a favorable safety and tolerability profile for short time use in TRBD regardless of isolated baseline characteristics, although a more severe comorbidity burden and benzodiazepine use appear to be associated with nonresponse.