On Tuesday, November 12th, students at the University of Wisconsin received an email from the Raison Lab asking if they were interested in a lab studying the effect of psilocybin. The study offered up to $600 to participants. So, what is the Raison Lab, and what are they studying?

Professor of Psychiatry and Human Ecology Dr. Charles Raison is the principal investigator for the lab. Raison said one of the key challenges of psychedelics is determining what in the drugs actually causes positive effects on mood. His lab is trying to determine whether the experience of using psychedelics is more important than the biological effects of psilocybin.

“One of the fascinating things about psychedelics that make them different from something like an SSRI antidepressant is that a lot of studies suggest that there is something about that psychedelic experience that may be causing people to get the benefits,” Raison said.

Raison helped start psychedelics research at UW in 2015. The university has continued to pursue research in the field, opening the Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances in 2021, and helping conduct clinical trials for MDMA use in people with PTSD which were ultimately rejected by the FDA earlier this year.

The lab is conducting one study that also asked for student participants and started last year. It is investigating whether the effects of psychedelics are more pronounced on the conscious mind than one that’s asleep, according to Raison. It is set to conclude early next year.

Raison said his lab will try to start two more studies in the coming months. The first seeks to determine the effects of psilocybin on neuroplasticity and memory formation. The second will look at the role of psilocybin in lasting behavioral changes and neuroplasticity.

Raison is directing a collaboration between the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center in Colorado and UW to investigate the effects of psilocybin on depression and anxiety. Colorado decriminalized psilocybin in 2022 and will begin to license the health center to use psilocybin in therapeutic roles next year.

“Thus far, the studies of psilocybin for depression are positive,” Raison said. “All things being equal, it is very likely that psilocybin may get FDA approval for depression.”