University of Michigan researchers have opened the latest study into the use of psychedelics for different treatments in what is a growing field of research.
The study is looking into the safety and efficacy of psilocybin for treating fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes chronic pain and tenderness throughout the body.
It's the newest study of the university's Michigan Psychedelic Center, also called M-PsyC, which is run by Dr. George Mashour, the chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. The center launched in 2022.
The university is the latest to open a center studying the use of psychedelics. There are currently four cities in Michigan that have decriminalized psychedelic plants, including magic mushrooms. They are Detroit, Ferndale, Ann Arbor and Hazel Park.
According to the university, the study at U-M is a phase 2a, open-label pilot study of a drug called TRP-8802. The drug will be used along with psychotherapy "to learn about its safety and its effect as a possible treatment for fibromyalgia."
To be a volunteer, you have to be between the ages of 25-54, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, White or Caucasian, currently have fibromyalgia, willing to change your medications, take experimental drugs and be fluent in English.
As part of the study, there will be a total of 15 visits, including four full-day visits, over the course of several months. There will be two doses of psilocybin in a controlled setting with therapists, and 14+ hours of therapy before and after the sessions.
“We are in the midst of a renaissance related to psychedelic neuroscience and therapy,” Mashour said in 2022. “Psychedelics are powerful tools to understand consciousness and also have potential to treat psychiatric disease. Our aim with the Michigan Psychedelic Center is to advance scientific understanding and clinical care through a responsible and rigorous approach.”
When speaking to Mashour earlier this year, he wanted people to know that the work the center is doing, and centers across the country, is incredibly serious work.
"We are serious, responsible, rigorous investigators. That's so important to me," he said. "Everything we do goes through the exact same safeguards as any other research study or any study involving a drug."
Dr. Kevin Boehnke, the principal investigator of the study, spoke to Michigan Medicine in August about the study.
He said in the article it's important that patients build rapport with therapists because “these are people with whom they’ll have a pretty intense experience," he said.
According to Michigan Medicine, Boehnke's hypothesis is that talk therapy, along with psilocybin, could help people reframe their pain and negative associations with it.
“Psychedelics have the potential to really help people who are stuck in these sorts of loops and behavior patterns,” Boehnke said to Michigan Medicine. "They can give hope to people who feel they have no treatment options. “And the sorts of insights that could show up during a psychedelic experience may help people get perspective and a different view on their life and behaviors.”
M-PsyC's Psychedelic Renaissance Event
Later in October, the Michigan Psychedelic Center is hosting a free public event called The Psychedelic Renaissance. According to the university, it will be an event to learn more about the growing field of psychedelic science from Mashour.
It's taking place on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
