This research study will use computerized tasks, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at how the drug psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound contained in hundreds of species of psychoactive mushrooms, changes thoughts and brain activity.
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject, full cross-over study in healthy volunteers, computerized, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures will be assessed to test the acute effects of a moderate dose of psilocybin (10 mg/70 kg) on creativity, the contents and dynamics of thought, memory, and shared vs individual brain response while viewing naturalistic stimuli. Understanding the acute psychological and neural effects of psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin may allow for future optimization of psychedelic medicine, as well as a deeper and more refined understanding of consciousness itself.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
30
The psilocybin used in this study is synthetically manufactured and formulated under current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). The active drug is encapsulated using a size 0 blue gelatin capsule and contains 10 mg of psilocybin.
The placebo used in this study is microcrystalline cellulose, an inert substance, encapsulated using a size 0 blue gelatin capsule.
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
RECRUITINGDifference between drug conditions in the frequency of word use during free association tasks
Volunteers are instructed to either describe their interpretation of visual stimuli, verbalize a set of freely associated words, or reflect upon and describe out loud the thoughts that are occurring after presentation of short excerpts of popular music. Audio recordings of verbal responses from volunteers will be recorded, transcribed, and then submitted to automated text analysis and natural language processing analysis to compare the semantic content of responses between those that were provided during placebo and those that were provided during psilocybin conditions. The frequency of words that fall into a series of semantic categories (e.g. pronouns, adjectives, positive vs negative valence words) will be compared between drug conditions.
Time frame: 8 weeks
Sensitivity in distinguishing old versus newly presented visual stimuli
During drug administration sessions, volunteers will view a series of visual stimuli (words and images) and will be asked to read and remember each visual stimulus. The next day, volunteers will be presented with stimuli that were as well as stimuli that were not presented the previous day, and they will be asked to indicate the confidence with which they remember seeing the given stimulus before ("old") or not ("new"). Sensitivity in distinguishing between old and new words (d') will be calculated from receiver operator characteristic curve analysis of confidence ratings of "new" vs "old" judgements, and compared between drug conditions.
Time frame: 8 weeks
Accuracy in the remote associates task as assessed by total correct number of trials
Participants will be presented with three words that are only remotely related to each other (e.g., falling, actor, dust) and ask them to generate a fourth word (e.g., star) that relates to all three words. Total correct number of trials will be compared between drug conditions.
Time frame: 8-week study period
Accuracy in the alternative uses task
The Alternative Uses Task assesses the extent one can generate novel uses for presented stimuli (e.g. a brick, or a paper clip). The total number of responses and the number of uniquely novel uses that were generated will be compared between drug conditions.
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Time frame: 8-week study period
Alpha band power in EEG record
Continuous EEG recordings will be analyzed using spectral decomposition, and the time course of average power in the alpha frequency band will be compared between drug conditions.
Time frame: 8-week study period
Reliability of whole-brain response while watching videos
Volunteers will be presented with videos during scanning in the second two drug administration sessions. These will be otherwise unremarkable 6-15 minute videos of natural scenes, human interactions, or narrative stories. We will calculate correlations in measured brain response across subjects, moment-by-moment, which yields a measure of reliability of response to these videos across the brain. This reliability map will be compared between drug conditions.
Time frame: 8-week study period