#PsychedelicResearch

A new study from Imperial College London suggests psilocybin could keep emotional responses to music more intact in depressed patients, while the common antidepressant escitalopram tends to blunt those emotions. Both treatments produced similar improvements in core depressive symptoms, but psilocybin appeared to sustain a richer emotional engagement with music. The research, published in Molecular Psychiatry, and summarized by Medical Xpress, highlights how psychedelic-assisted therapy might influence emotional processing alongside symptom relief. The findings offer potential relevance for Thai audiences where music holds deep cultural and spiritual significance.

A groundbreaking new study from researchers at Imperial College London suggests that the psychedelic compound psilocybin may enhance or preserve depressed patients’ emotional reactions to music, while the commonly prescribed antidepressant escitalopram—an SSRI—can dull these emotions, even though both drugs produce similar clinical improvements in depressive symptoms. The findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry and highlighted by Medical Xpress, provide fresh evidence that psilocybin’s effects on emotional processing could have significant implications for the future of mental health treatment, especially in cultures—such as Thailand’s—where music is integral to social and spiritual life (medicalxpress.com).