Research Projects

Future Studies and Studies receiving Beckley's support

Amanda Feilding, Director of the Beckley Foundation, is currently discussing several further projects, with different, widely respected institutions in the UK and Europe, which will also investigate the action of psychoactive substances and other functional tasks in human subjects. One will investigate the mechanisms underlying neurogenesis following the ingestion of ketamine, and how this might inform the development of new treatments for depression. Another will be an international survey of drug-users exploring the perceived benefits and harms of different drugs to understand better why people choose to use these drugs.

•  Creativity, Shyzotypy and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

Although too small to be conclusive, case studies conducted in the 1960s indicated a promising connection between lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and enhanced creativity. To provide a more comprehensive test of this connection, the Beckley Foundation is developing a study with Prof. Gordon Claridge to further explore the links between schizotypy, creativity, and the possible potentiation of creativity by LSD or another psychedelic substance. The project will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the psychopharmacology underlying the effects of LSD, the spread of neural associations and connectivity, and also the hypothesis pioneered by the Beckley Foundation that changes in consciousness brought about by psychedelics are closely linked with an increased supply of blood to the brain. The neuroimaging results will be correlated with subjective reports of the participant's experiences and the results of questionnaires assessing schizotypy and creativity developed by Prof. Claridge. This study will therefore enable a detailed understanding of how creativity is linked to patterns of neural activity in the brain, and how this might be enhanced by a psychoactive substance.

The Beckley Foundation is also currently involved in various projects around the world in which approvals are being sought, or have already been obtained, for the scientific investigation of the efficacy of psychedelics as aids to psychotherapy.

• Swiss Pilot Study Investigating the use of LSD in the Palliative care of the Dying

 The first clinical study involving LSD in psychotherapy for many years has recently achieved full approvals from the Swiss authorities. This will investigate the safety and efficacy of LSD as part of a palliative treatment programme to ease pain and pre-death anxiety in those suffering from terminal illnesses. The Beckley Foundation is supporting the study as a co-sponsor with MAPS, as it is in line with our aim to explore techniques that produce altered states of consciousness which help promote well-being.

The trial will be conducted by Dr Peter Gasser, president of the Swiss Medical Association for Psycholytic Therapy. This is an association of private specialists in psychotherapy and psychiatry, which in the period 1988-93, were given permission to use LSD as a tool in psychotherapy. These findings suggested that LSD could safely be given to patients with a variety of mental health issues. Many patients reported improvements, and rated as important experiences of unity and spiritual experiences, while negative experiences were also important for some patients, no persistent difficulties were reported.

These and other findings from the years prior to the cessation of formal LSD research worldwide, have led to the development of a randomised, controlled trial of LSD for 12 patients with end-of-life anxiety, related to terminal illness. The trial is a phase II safety study, which will seek to evaluate whether LSD can be safely given to such patients. This type of study is required to be done before a full clinical trial, which would aim to investigate fully the clinical impact of the drug in a patient group.