A living systematic review, meta-analysis and open-data resource of randomized controlled trials of psilocybin treatment for symptoms of depression – Nature Mental Health

a-living-systematic-review,-meta-analysis-and-open-data-resource-of-randomized-controlled-trials-of-psilocybin-treatment-for-symptoms-of-depression-–-nature-mental-health

Data availability

The living database used for this analysis can be accessed via Metapsy (docs.metapsy.org/databases/depression-psiloctr/) or via Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15714852)70.

Code availability

Code for all analyses can be accessed on our website (sypres.io), or on our GitHub repository (https://github.com/PennLINC/sypres-docs) (release 26.0.0).

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Acknowledgements

This effort is supported by the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks and Pediatric Anesthesia Safety Initiative (ACTTION/PASI) public–private partnership with the US FDA. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors, and no endorsement by the FDA should be inferred. R.H.D. is director and chair of the ACTTION management committee, and T.D.S. obtained funding for this study via ACTTION. We thank J. Lege-Matsuura and K. McShea for their assistance with generating database search terms. We thank N. Sepeda, R. von Rotz, J. Rosenblat, N. Rieser, R. Carhart-Harris, B. Szigeti, D. Erritzoe, A. Luquiens, A. Inamdar and S. Kulikova for providing data or other clarifications on studies included in this review.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: S. Parker Singleton, Brooke L. Sevchik.

  2. These authors jointly supervised this work: J. Cobb Scott, Theodore D. Satterthwaite.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    S. Parker Singleton, Brooke L. Sevchik, Analiese Lahey & Theodore D. Satterthwaite

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    S. Parker Singleton, Brooke L. Sevchik, Analiese Lahey & Theodore D. Satterthwaite

  3. Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Pim Cuijpers & Mathias Harrer

  4. Babeș-Bolyai University, Ciuj-Napoca, Romania

    Pim Cuijpers

  5. Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Mathias Harrer

  6. Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Megan T. Jones & Simon N. Vandekar

  7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Sandeep M. Nayak & Eric C. Strain

  8. Departments of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Neurology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA

    Robert H. Dworkin

  9. Department of Psychiatry, Brain Behavior Laboratory, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    J. Cobb Scott

  10. VISN4 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    J. Cobb Scott

  11. Penn-CHOP Lifespan Brain Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Theodore D. Satterthwaite

Authors

  1. S. Parker Singleton
  2. Brooke L. Sevchik
  3. Analiese Lahey
  4. Pim Cuijpers
  5. Mathias Harrer
  6. Megan T. Jones
  7. Sandeep M. Nayak
  8. Eric C. Strain
  9. Simon N. Vandekar
  10. Robert H. Dworkin
  11. J. Cobb Scott
  12. Theodore D. Satterthwaite

Contributions

S.P.S., B.L.S., S.M.N., E.C.S., S.N.V., R.H.D., J.C.S. and T.D.S. conceptualized and pre-registered the study. S.P.S., B.L.S. and A.L. performed literature screening and data extraction. S.P.S. and B.L.S. performed the analysis. S.N.V., M.T.J. and M.H. provided statistical support. M.H. and P.C. provided administrative support for the living database and meta-analytic dashboard via Metapsy. S.P.S., B.L.S., J.C.S. and T.D.S. drafted the original manuscript. T.D.S. obtained funding. T.D.S. and J.C.S. provided supervision. All authors reviewed the manuscript, provided feedback and approved the final version.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to S. Parker Singleton or Theodore D. Satterthwaite.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

Over the past 3 years, E.C.S. has had grant funding to his institution from NIH; editing payments from Wolters–Kluwer; consulting fees from Eli Lilly and Company; medical devices supplied to his institution for his research by Masimo; and he has conducted medical–legal consultations. He also has served on the board of directors (unpaid) for a treatment program, Ashley Addiction Treatment. S.M.N. is a co-investigator on a Usona Institute sponsored trial of psilocybin for major depressive disorder. R.H.D. is the director and chair of the ACTTION management committee that funded this study and, since 1 January 2021, has received research grants and contracts from the US FDA and the US NIH, and compensation for serving on advisory boards or consulting on clinical trial methods from Acadia, Akigai, Allay, AM-Pharma, Analgesic Solutions, Beckley, Biogen, Biosplice, Bsense, Cardialen, Chiesi, Clexio, Collegium, CombiGene, Confo, Contineum, Eccogene, Editas, Eli Lilly, Emmes, Endo, Epizon, Ethismos (equity), Exicure, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark, Gloriana, JucaBio, Kriya, Mainstay, Merck, Mind Medicine (also equity), NeuroBo, Noema, OliPass, Orion, Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies, Pfizer, Q-State, Regenacy (also equity), Rho, Salvia, Sangamo, Semnur, SIMR Biotech, Sinfonia, SK Biopharmaceuticals, Sparian, SPM Therapeutics, SPRIM Health, Tiefenbacher, Validae, Vertex, Viscera and WCG. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Mental Health thanks Joshua Black, Yan Liu and Richard J. Zeifman for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.

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Singleton, S.P., Sevchik, B.L., Lahey, A. et al. A living systematic review, meta-analysis and open-data resource of randomized controlled trials of psilocybin treatment for symptoms of depression. Nat. Mental Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-026-00630-8

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