About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether certain methods of detecting awareness in vegetative or minimally conscious patients (using neuroimaging) are sensitive to the effects of psilocybin (a psychedelic drug). One of these methods includes scanning peoples\' brains while they watch a film. When different individuals watch a film, their brains become synchronized with each other as they watch the plot unfold. Most importantly, if a seemingly unconscious patient also shows the same brain-synchronization, it means they might actually be conscious and aware.
To approach this goal, the investigators will be carrying out this trial in healthy volunteers. This will help better understand whether psilocybin may be a potential treatment for restoring awareness in these patients. The main questions it aims to answer are:
* Does psilocybin enhance or diminish brain synchrony during a film? * Do changes in brain synchrony reflect differences in each individual\'s conscious experience?
Participants will be asked to:
* Attend two brain scanning sessions and watch a series of film clips, perform a brief mental imagery task, and listen to music - once under a placebo, and once under psilocybin. * Play a series of games that assess their cognition (memory, reasoning, planning, etc.). * Perform a series of visual illusions tasks.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Have access to an internet connection
Be in good general health
Be 19 years of age, or older
Be willing to follow the study protocol
Disqualifiers
Are unable to read English
Have high blood pressure
Are pregnant (determined by a urine pregnancy test at in-person screening)
Are not using effective methods of contraception with their partner(s) (e.g. oral contraceptive pill, injection, implant, patch, vaginal ring, intrauterine coil, intrauterine device, tubal ligation, or barrier method)
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Psilocybin
- Placebo