The Effects of Daytime Psilocybin Administration on Sleep: Implications for Antidepressant Action

Serotonergic agonist psilocybin is a psychedelic with antidepressant potential. Sleep may interact with psilocybin’s antidepressant properties like other antidepressant drugs via induction of neuroplasticity. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of psilocybin on sleep architecture on the night after psilocybin administration. Regarding the potential antidepressant properties, we hypothesized that psilocybin, similar to other classical antidepressants, would reduce rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and prolong REM sleep latency. Moreover, we also hypothesized that psilocybin would promote slow-wave activity (SWA) expression in the first sleep cycle, a marker of sleep-related neuroplasticity. Twenty healthy volunteers (10 women, age 28–53) underwent two drug administration sessions, psilocybin or placebo, in a randomized, double-blinded design. Changes in sleep macrostructure, SWA during the first sleep cycle, whole night EEG spectral power across frequencies in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep, and changes in subjective sleep measures were analyzed. The results revealed prolonged REM sleep latency after psilocybin administration and a trend toward a decrease in overall REM sleep duration. No changes in NREM sleep were observed. Psilocybin did not affect EEG power spectra in NREM or REM sleep when examined across the whole night. However, psilocybin suppressed SWA in the first sleep cycle. No evidence was found for sleep-related neuroplasticity, however, a different dosage, timing, effect on homeostatic regulation of sleep, or other mechanisms related to antidepressant effects may play a role. Overall, this study suggests that potential antidepressant properties of psilocybin might be related to changes in sleep

Objektivní a subjektivní charakteristiky spánku u chronické insomnie

Background: Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders, negatively impacting the quality of life and increasing the risk of other health problems. Many patients with insomnia underestimate their sleep quantity compared to objective sleep measures. This objective and subjective sleep discrepancy (sleep misperception) occurs in different insomnia subtypes as well as in insomnia with a comorbid psychiatric disorder. Although previous research suggests that the sleep discrepancy reflects specific objective sleep alterations, the results of studies are inconsistent. Moreover, its relation to psychiatric comorbidities is not clear, as well as its role in the insomnia treatment. Aims: The theoretical part of the present thesis aimed to provide an overview of the recent research on sleep discrepancy in insomnia. The experimental part consists of four studies with the following goals: (1) to explore sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of sleep discrepancy in insomnia patients (Study 1); (2) to assess the association between sleep discrepancy and psychopathology (Study 2); (3) to examine changes of sleep discrepancy during and after the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; Study 3); (4) to assess whether the additional chronotherapeutic tool can enhance the effect of CBT-I...SOUHRN Úvod: Insomnie je jednou z nejčastějších poruch spánku, která negativně ovlivňuje kvalitu života a zvyšuje riziko rozvoje dalších zdravotních potíží. Jedním z častých fenoménů, objevujících se u pacientů s insomnií, je podhodnocování délky spánku ve srovnání s objektivním měřením. Tato objektivní a subjektivní spánková diskrepance (spánková mispercepce) se může vyskytnout u různých podtypů insomnie, a u insomnie komorbidní s psychiatrickým onemocněním. Ačkoliv studie poukazují na to, že spánková diskrepance reflektuje specifické objektivní změny spánku, jejich výsledky nejsou konzistentní. Stejně tak není jasné, jakou roli hraje tento fenomén ve vztahu insomnie a komorbidní psychopatologie, a jak se mění během léčby. Cíle: Cílem teoretické části této dizertace bylo poskytnout literární přehled současných studií zaměřených na spánkovou diskrepanci u insomnie. Praktická část je tvořena čtyřmi studiemi, které měly za cíl: (1) nalézt spánkové elektroencefalografické (EEG) koreláty spánkové diskrepance (Studie 1); (2) zjistit, zda existuje vztah mezi spánkovou diskrepancí a psychopatologií (Studie 2); (3) zkoumat změny ve spánkové diskrepanci během a po kognitivně behaviorální terapii insomnie (KBT-I; Studie 3); (4) posoudit, zda chronoterapeutická intervence může zvýšit efekt KBT-I na spánkové parametry...Klinika psychiatrie a lékařské psychologie - klinika psychiatrieDepartment of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology - Department of PsychiatryThird Faculty of Medicine3. lékařská fakult

Objective and subjective characteristics of sleep in chronic insomnia

Background: Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders, negatively impacting the quality of life and increasing the risk of other health problems. Many patients with insomnia underestimate their sleep quantity compared to objective sleep measures. This objective and subjective sleep discrepancy (sleep misperception) occurs in different insomnia subtypes as well as in insomnia with a comorbid psychiatric disorder. Although previous research suggests that the sleep discrepancy reflects specific objective sleep alterations, the results of studies are inconsistent. Moreover, its relation to psychiatric comorbidities is not clear, as well as its role in the insomnia treatment. Aims: The theoretical part of the present thesis aimed to provide an overview of the recent research on sleep discrepancy in insomnia. The experimental part consists of four studies with the following goals: (1) to explore sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of sleep discrepancy in insomnia patients (Study 1); (2) to assess the association between sleep discrepancy and psychopathology (Study 2); (3) to examine changes of sleep discrepancy during and after the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; Study 3); (4) to assess whether the additional chronotherapeutic tool can enhance the effect of CBT-I..

Closed‐loop auditory stimulation of slow‐wave sleep in chronic insomnia: a pilot study

Insomnia is a prevalent and disabling condition whose treatment is not always effective. This pilot study explores the feasibility and effects of closed-loop auditory stimulation (CLAS) as a potential non-invasive intervention to improve sleep, its subjective quality, and memory consolidation in patients with insomnia. A total of 27 patients with chronic insomnia underwent a crossover, sham-controlled study with 2 nights of either CLAS or sham stimulation. Polysomnography was used to record sleep parameters, while questionnaires and a word-pair memory task were administered to assess subjective sleep quality and memory consolidation. The initial analyses included 17 patients who completed the study, met the inclusion criteria, and received CLAS. From those, 10 (58%) received only a small number of stimuli. In the remaining seven (41%) patients with sufficient CLAS, we evaluated the acute and whole-night effect on sleep. CLAS led to a significant immediate increase in slow oscillation (0.5–1 Hz) amplitude and activity, and reduced delta (1–4 Hz) and sigma/sleep spindle (12–15 Hz) activity during slow-wave sleep across the whole night. All these fundamental sleep rhythms are implicated in sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Yet, CLAS did not change sleep-dependent memory consolidation or sleep macrostructure characteristics, number of arousals, or subjective perception of sleep quality. Results showed CLAS to be feasible in patients with insomnia. However, a high variance in the efficacy of our automated stimulation approach suggests that further research is needed to optimise stimulation protocols to better unlock potential CLAS benefits for sleep structure and subjective sleep quality in such clinical settings

The Effects of Daytime Psilocybin Administration on Sleep: Implications for Antidepressant Action.

Serotonergic agonist psilocybin is a psychedelic with antidepressant potential. Sleep may interact with psilocybin's antidepressant properties like other antidepressant drugs via induction of neuroplasticity. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of psilocybin on sleep architecture on the night after psilocybin administration. Regarding the potential antidepressant properties, we hypothesized that psilocybin, similar to other classical antidepressants, would reduce rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and prolong REM sleep latency. Moreover, we also hypothesized that psilocybin would promote slow-wave activity (SWA) expression in the first sleep cycle, a marker of sleep-related neuroplasticity. Twenty healthy volunteers (10 women, age 28-53) underwent two drug administration sessions, psilocybin or placebo, in a randomized, double-blinded design. Changes in sleep macrostructure, SWA during the first sleep cycle, whole night EEG spectral power across frequencies in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep, and changes in subjective sleep measures were analyzed. The results revealed prolonged REM sleep latency after psilocybin administration and a trend toward a decrease in overall REM sleep duration. No changes in NREM sleep were observed. Psilocybin did not affect EEG power spectra in NREM or REM sleep when examined across the whole night. However, psilocybin suppressed SWA in the first sleep cycle. No evidence was found for sleep-related neuroplasticity, however, a different dosage, timing, effect on homeostatic regulation of sleep, or other mechanisms related to antidepressant effects may play a role. Overall, this study suggests that potential antidepressant properties of psilocybin might be related to changes in sleep

Validation of the collaborative outcomes study on health and functioning during infection times (COH-FIT) questionnaire for adults

Background. The Collaborative Outcome study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT; www.coh-fit.com) is an anonymous and global online survey measuring health and functioning during COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to test concurrently the validity of COH-FIT items and the internal validity of the co-primary outcome, a composite psychopathology “P-score”. Methods. The COH-FIT survey has been translated into 30 languages (two blind forward-translations, consensus, one independent English back-translation, final harmonization). To measure mental health, 1-4 items (“COH-FIT items”) were extracted from validated questionnaires (e.g. Patient Health Questionnaire 9). COH-FIT items measured anxiety, depressive, post-traumatic, obsessive-compulsive, bipolar and psychotic symptoms, as well as stress, sleep and concentration. COH-FIT Items which correlated r≥0.5 with validated companion questionnaires, were initially retained. A P-score factor structure was then identified from these items using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) on data split into training and validation sets. Consistency of results across languages, gender and age was assessed. Results. From >150,000 adult responses by May 6th, 2022, a subset of 22,456 completed both COH-FIT items and validated questionnaires. Concurrent validity was consistently demonstrated across different languages for COH-FIT items. CFA confirmed EFA results of five first-order factors (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic, psychotic, psychophysiologic symptoms) and revealed a single second-order factor P-score, with high internal reliability (ω=0.95). Factor structure was consistent across age and sex. Conclusions. COH-FIT is a valid instrument to globally measure mental health during infection times. The P-score is a valid measure of multidimensional mental health

Global and risk-group stratified well-being and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in adults: results from the international COH-FIT Study

International studies measuring wellbeing/multidimensional mental health before/ during the COVID-19 pandemic, including representative samples for >2 years, identifying risk groups and coping strategies are lacking. COH-FIT is an online, international, anonymous survey measuring changes in well-being (WHO-5) and a composite psychopathology P-score, and their associations with COVID-19 deaths/restrictions, 12 a-priori defined risk individual/cumulative factors, and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic (26/04/2020-26/06/2022) in 30 languages (representative, weighted non-representative, adults). T-test, χ2, penalized cubic splines, linear regression, correlation analyses were conducted. Analyzing 121,066/142,364 initiated surveys, WHO-5/P-score worsened intra-pandemic by 11.1±21.1/13.2±17.9 points (effect size d=0.50/0.60) (comparable results in representative/weighted non-probability samples). Persons with WHO-5 scores indicative of depression screening (2 years. The most subjectively effective coping strategies were exercise, internet use, social contacts. Identified risk groups, coping strategies and outcome trajectories can inform global public health strategies