Relevant Issues in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Research

Preliminary results in the field of cognitive science, consciousness research, neuropsychology and psychopharmacology, have reignited interest in psychedelics after a 3-decade long hiatus. This class of substances - which include compounds such as psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca and DMT - have shown interesting effects in several areas of functioning classically investigated by the sciences of the mind. Psychedelic research, in fact, holds a unique position at the intersection between classical cognitive science, neuroscience and clinical research. The present work aims at summarising the state of knowledge and at highlighting relevant areas that are instrumental to the understanding and advancement of research in the field. After an introduction aimed at explaining what psychedelics are and how they work, we will discuss their suggested mechanism of action, the importance of the blinding problem in modern age RCTs.