Section

Research

Coverage of academic research, clinical trials, and methodological developments across mental health.

RESEARCH · ANALYSIS

Low-dose psilocybin moved autistic and non-autistic brain networks in opposite directions. Late-stage psilocybin trial records are silent on autism.

In a King's College London preprint of 67 adults, 5 mg psilocybin shifted two between-network connectivity measures in opposite directions in autistic and non-autistic participants, with no baseline difference and similar subjective effects. It measured no clinical outcome. None of 168 Phase 2 or 3 psilocybin trials on ClinicalTrials.gov mentions autism in its listed eligibility criteria.

By Editorial Desk · Sep 29, 2026 · 8 min read
RESEARCH · ANALYSIS

A trial can be complete years before its results become public

CNS and psychiatric trials keep appearing as completed in registry records while their results remain publicly unavailable. That gap has a name, a legal deadline attached in some cases and none in others, and a compliance record that varies widely by sponsor type. None of it means a trial failed. Almost none of it means nothing.

By Editorial Desk · Aug 8, 2026 · 7 min
RESEARCH · EXPLAINER

The deuterium switch, explained: how one heavier atom retunes a drug.

Deuteration replaces a hydrogen atom with its heavier isotope to slow a specific step of metabolism. It is a precision pharmacokinetic tool, not a new mechanism, and it has become a favored way to re-engineer known psychiatric molecules. Here is what it does, what it has already done, and what it cannot do.

By Editorial Desk · Jun 12, 2026 · 7 min
RESEARCH

How the FDA's posture on psychedelic trial design has evolved, 2017 to 2026

A decade of breakthroughs, advisory committee meetings, draft guidance documents, and one rejection. The agency's position has been consistent in ways the field has been slow to acknowledge, and the current voucher moment makes more sense read against the full record than against any individual moment.

By Editorial Desk · Jun 7, 2026 · 10 min
Research · Methods

How to read a psychedelic Phase 3 trial: a methods primer

An evergreen reference on what actually matters in a psychedelic-assisted therapy trial readout: blinding analyses, expectancy controls, dose-response designs, and the questions to ask before you trust the headline number.

By Editorial Desk · May 28, 2026 · 12 min