scientific research and pioneering research on lsd

Since 1998, the Beckley Foundation has collaborated with leading international institutions to produce evidence-based research around LSD and neurological activity. As a personal friend of Albert Hoffman (the inventor of LSD), Beckley Foundation Director Amanda Feilding has always had a passion for scientific discovery involving LSD and has published numerous reports on the drug.

In 2013, the Beckley Foundation, in collaboration with Imperial College London, will become the first organisation ever to use modern brain-imaging technology (fMRI and MEG) during an LSD experience. Alongside the neuro-imaging, we shall measure the effects of the drug on perception and on the functions of self-reflection and auto-biographical memory recollection. We expect that this research will elucidate the mechanisms that underlie changing state of consciousness, highlighting new avenues for potential medical and therapeutic treatment.

Can LSD cure depression?

September 26, 2012 Beckley in the Media

Mind-expanding: the Woodstock Festival Photo: GETTY Controversial research suggests that LSD and other psychedelic drugs could have vital medical uses. Click here for original article  Until recently, prescribing Ecstasy, mescaline or magic mushrooms has been a guaranteed way for a psychiatrist to lose his research funding, his job or even his liberty. But now, scientists are [...]

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Psilocybin’s effects on the brain and Aldous Huxley’s ‘reducing valve’ of consciousness: blog reaction to Beckley-Imperial Psilocybin research

January 27, 2012 LSD

In the popular science blog io9, Robert T. Gonzales ties up findings from this week’s Beckley Foundation-Imperial College Psilocybin paper in the PNAS with Aldous Huxley’s ‘reducing valve’ hypothesis, initially presented in his 1954 book The Doors of Perception (http://mescaline.com/huxley.htm); also, to more recent theorising by Karl Friston of University College London (http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/), who postulates, in [...]

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Horizons | Perspectives on Psychedelics

October 3, 2011 LSD

Horizons, October 14th-16th, is a conference about psychedelics that is held annually in New York City.  Its goal is to open a fresh dialogue on their role in medicine, culture, history, spirituality, and creativity. The fifth year of the conference will feature speakers such as Stephan V. Beyer, James Fadiman, Roy S. Haber, Beatriz (Bia) [...]

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Psilocybin May Improve Personality Long-term

September 30, 2011 LSD

In new research that will almost certainly create controversy, scientists working with the hallucinogen psilocybin — the active ingredient found in “magic mushrooms” — have found that a single dose of the drug prompted an enduring but positive personality change in almost 60 percent of patients. Specifically, tests involving a small group of patients in [...]

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The Psychedelic Solution

May 17, 2011 LSD

Drug taboos may block a potential treatment for cluster headaches, one of the most painful conditions known. “I had a gun sitting on top of the computer monitor,” says Bill McConnell. “And I typed ‘suicide’ plus ‘headache’ into the search bar to leave an explanation for what I was about to do.” McConnell, who is [...]

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History of Psychedelic Research in the United Kingdom

February 1, 2011 Featured Video

This presentation by Dr. Ben Sessa is on the History of Psychedelic Research in the UK, with particular reference to the work of Dr Ronald Sandison and LSD treatment explored by the maverick psychiatrist Panel: Psychedelic Psychotherapy. This video is from the Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century, a conference in San Jose, California, April [...]

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LSD Precious Key of Neuroscience

November 23, 2010 featured-podcast

Amanda talks about the potential medical and scientific benefits of LSD at a Symposium for Albert Hofmann’s 100th Birthday in 2006. Introduction: Albert Hofmann’s discovery changed the world for the better by opening a door to a deeper consciousness. The molecule he discovered triggers a cascade of change which in some as yet unknown way [...]

LSD [ 35:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup
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LSD Warrants Further Research

November 23, 2010 LSD

LSD bears the stigma of controversy. Associated primarily with the ‘60s counterculture and the psychedelic music it spawned, the drug is widely considered to be of no value. LSD is generally thought to be dangerous and to imitate temporary insanity, where users hallucinate wildly and babble incoherent nonsense. While these assertions are not completely false, [...]

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Susan Blackmore on Drugs and Inspiration

October 21, 2010 Cannabis

Every year, like a social drinker who wants to prove to herself that she’s not an alcoholic, I give up cannabis for a month. It can be a tough and dreary time – and much as I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, alcohol cannot take its place. Some people may smoke dope just [...]

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LSD on the NHS?

October 21, 2010 LSD

This recent article from The Financial Times reports on the scientific progress the Beckley Foundation has been making in the last few years. A British charity is stepping up efforts to rehabilitate LSD, one of the world’s best-known “recreational” drugs, for medicinal use. The Beckley Foundation, which numbers Professor Colin Blakemore, former head of the [...]

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