Psilocybin with psychological support improves emotional face recognition in treatment-resistant depression
Psychopharmacology October 30, 2017 J. B. Stroud, T. P. Freeman, R. Leech et al. 102 citations
People with treatment-resistant depression were slower than controls at recognizing facial emotions. After two doses of psilocybin with psychological support, their speed of emotion recognition improved to a level no different from controls, and this improvement was linked to a reduction in anhedonia. The findings suggest psilocybin may help correct emotional processing biases in depression, but placebo-controlled trials are needed to confirm.