New study highlights the struggle of preventing the placebo effect in psychedelic research

Incorporating the psychedelic drug psilocybin into psychotherapy shows promise in the treatment of depression, according to new research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. But the study also highlights the difficulty of implementing effective blinding procedures to prevent expectancy effects when researching psychedelic substances. Despite using a rigorous methodology, researchers found that nearly all participants were able to distinguish between a placebo and the active substance. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in certain species of “magic” mushrooms. It is c...