Neural Mechanisms of Psychedelic Drug Action Speaker Series 2025

As part of the ongoing Student/Postdoc-Run Speaker Series (SPRSS), and on behalf of the Neural Mechanisms of Psychedelic Drug Action Group, Dr. Eduardo Schenberg from the University of Lisbon will give a talk titled "The Neural Mechanisms of What? Embracing Evidential Pluralism in Psychedelic Research."

Abstract:

In 2024 the US FDA did not approve, while a Royal Dutch Commission recommended, MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. This striking discrepancy exemplifies the challenges related to psychedelic evidence assessments.

In this talk I'll suggest that the reasons relate to common misunderstandings about causality, mechanisms and RCTs in Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). As argued in a recent invited review Schenberg, PRP 2025) and in an upcoming chapter in 'Psychedelic Medicine: Law and Policy" (Cambridge University Press, 2025), this prevalent model, strictly followed by the FDA, is inadequate to reliably assess the evidence of combination of psychoactive compounds with psychotherapy.

A solution will be proposed through evidential pluralism, an epistemological and methodological innovative work which will be explored by the recently created Independent Psychedelic Evidence Assessment Working Group (IPEAWG), hosted at the University of Lisbon and funded by Norrsken Mind.

For information on other talks organized by the 'Neural Mechanisms of Psychedelic Drug Action' Student/Postdoc-Run Group, view the program overview here.