Publications by authors named "Bryan Barksdale"

Objective: The authors critically examine the evidence base for psilocybin administered with psychological support/therapy (PST) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and offer practical recommendations to guide future research endeavors.

Methods: PubMed was searched for English-language articles from January 1998 to November 2023, using the search term "psilocybin." A total of 1,449 articles were identified and screened through titles and abstracts.

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In recent years, psychedelics have generated considerable excitement and interest as potential novel therapeutics for an array of conditions, with the most advanced evidence base in the treatment of certain severe and/or treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders. An array of clinical and pre-clinical evidence has informed our current understanding of how psychedelics produce profound alterations in consciousness. Mechanisms of psychedelic action include receptor binding and downstream cellular and transcriptional pathways, with long-term impacts on brain structure and function-from the level of single neurons to large-scale circuits.

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Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, a risk factor for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, affects mitochondrial respiration and memory consolidation. Therefore, drugs that improve mitochondrial function may be appropriate cognitive treatments for cerebral hypoperfusion. Methylene blue (MB) crosses the blood-brain barrier and at low doses serves as an electron cycler in the mitochondrial electron transport chain.

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This paper focuses on brain mitochondrial respiration as a therapeutic target for neuroprotection and cognitive enhancement. We propose that improving brain mitochondrial respiration is an important future direction in research and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other conditions associated with cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration. The central thesis is that supporting and improving brain mitochondrial respiration constitutes a promising neurotherapeutic principle, with potential applications in AD as well as in a wide variety of neuropsychological conditions.

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