The Therapeutic Effects of Classic Psychedelics in Alcohol Use Disorder

This article utilizes a pre-existing framework in the field of addiction to comprehensively capture the effects of classic psychedelics (psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, dimethyltryptamine, and mescaline) for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Basic science, preclinical, and clinical studies support the influence of psychedelics on all 3 core domains of addiction, comprising negative emotionality (including depression and anxiety), incentive salience (including craving and compulsive use) and executive functioning (including impulsivity and cognitive flexibility). However, systematic investigation using objective measures to evaluate these domains in AUD is needed.

We close by discussing limitations and challenges in the field of psychedelic science, and propose future research directions to advance our understanding of the psychological and neurobiological basis of clinical improvement. Conceptualizing future research under this 3-domain framework may assist the refinement of psychedelic-assisted treatments and the development of personalized medicine approaches for AUD.