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Boris D Heifets Profile
Boris D Heifets

@TheBorisLab

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Anesthesiologist, neuroscientist, amateur psychiatrist. I know where the most powerful psychotropic drugs in the hospital are.

Stanford, CA
Joined November 2018
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
SPIKED: Stanford Placebo vs Intraop Ketamine Evaluated for Depression. We masked ketamine with surgical anesthesia in depressed patients. Full details now published, peer review pending. Huge antidepressant response in both groups. @TheresaLii 1st auth
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
10 months
Congrats @NewYorker for blowing my mind this beautiful Sunday morning. Had no idea psilocybin microdosing was effective, safe and legal to advertise as a therapy. Nov 27 2023 issue, right next to “How pizza became New Havens calling card”🫠The FDA is imperfect, but holy sh!t.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
#PS2023 ketamine is psychedelic, fight me
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
How important is psychedelic "setting" really? Can we measure psychedelic synergy? We reduced this Q to the basics: does environment alter psilocybin effects, measured as activation of cells across the entire brain? co-led by @DanRyskamp @aminoacidhead
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Peer-reviewed and published today in @NatMentHealth Thank you co-authors, and particularly @SNACCNeuro for seed funding.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
SPIKED: Stanford Placebo vs Intraop Ketamine Evaluated for Depression. We masked ketamine with surgical anesthesia in depressed patients. Full details now published, peer review pending. Huge antidepressant response in both groups. @TheresaLii 1st auth
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Fortunate to have @RCarhartHarris talk on mechanisms of classic psychedelics for our Intro to Psychedelic Medicine course @Stanford ! Registration capped within a few hours- can’t imagine a course like this when I was an undergrad. Looking fwd to more Bay Area collabs!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
We are now recruiting for a study of #psilocybin for chronic low back pain! screen here: Please RT ........................................... Close collab w @TrPR_Program @thebandlab Michael Silver @UCBerkeleyNeuro #ChronicPain
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
In 2018, we (w @NolanRyWilliams ) found that an opioid antagonist, naltrexone, blocks #ketamine 's antidepressant effect. Is ketamine an opioid? What else does naltrexone do? We took these Qs into mice to get some answers, with @mCherryGarcia and many more
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
I’m usually first to see confounds in our own data— but the massive placebo effect is hard to miss. And I don’t think it’s because sevoflurane and propofol are potent antidepressants at the doses we used- more detail to come as we finish analysis
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@samuelkohtala
Samuel Kohtala
2 years
@MichaelHaichin @TheBorisLab Important implications for psychedelic studies
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 months
Massively disappointing move by the FDA. Plenty of options for a conditional approval, they've done it before. Hard to ignore that a new way of approaching mental health is at stake, a + signal from the FDA would go along way to support innovation.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
7 months
Two patients in our care stopped having nightmares about their deceased children after a prolonged dream state induced by anesthesia. @APAPubJournals , with @drpuppychow @PilleriinSikka et al.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 years
Our study on neural mechanisms behind #MDMA 's prosocial vs reward effects is out in @ScienceTM ! #MDMA may be a sea-change for tx of PTSD, but should be a starting point for therapeutic development, not an end point. Details: 1/4
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Placebo is a therapeutic physiological process, not an artifact of clinical trials, and it's not trivial. If ketamine, or a psychedelic, or a vacation, or a near death experience can catalyze that process, I hope we learn enough about it to put it to use in the clinic everyday.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
maybe it is?? What does that say about the importance of receptors mechanism vs the value of positive expectation, a big central event (our pts had the scars to prove it, even if unconscious), and trusting your safety to a team whose sole job is to watch over you? More to come!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
A cpl weeks ago we wrapped our 3rd year of PSYC 215 Intro to Psychedelic Medicine, led by Patricia Suppes, Gianni Glick & me - great student response, thoughtful discussion and some fantastic guest lectures! Sharing some of the lectures for those interested:
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
19 days
In psychedelic science, some see “its placebo” as an attack. I embrace placebo (well done placebo!) as a mechanism of action - a process which psychedelics tx can powerfully engage. This study on *open label placebo* from an outstanding group speaks volumes to that idea. 👏👏👏
@YoniAshar
Yoni Ashar
20 days
Delighted to share our latest: the effects of an *open-label* placebo injection on clinical outcomes & brain function in chronic back pain we gave participants a placebo (saline) subcutaneous injection -- and we told them it was a placebo 1/n
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
Pretty wild case report, non-psychedelic psilocybin dose is still effective for depression ... N=1 ofc. I'd talk smack but we cured PTSD in N=1 with just a little propofol and a dream. Non-drug factors likely key here...
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@rogersmcintyre
Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC
2 years
Very interesting case lead by Dr Josh Rosenblat from our team that the use of a 5HTA antagonist with psilocybin did not attenuate antidepressant effect in TRD raises interesting conceptual questions on mechanisms of psilocybin effects .
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
We're developing a questionnaire to learn more about people’s exposure to media related to psychedelics. No need for direct psychedelic experience. 5-10 min. If you would like to participate in this study, please follow this link:  1/2
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Sasha’s spirit lives on at the Alexander Shulgin Research Institute!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
anyone know?? have a opinion piece due soon
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
This is important. MDMA has enormous potential… but any potent therapy by definition carries risk. Allegations of trial misconduct are serious and the FDA should, at the least, allow a public hearing. We can’t manage risks we don’t understand.
@NeseLSD
Neşe Devenot, PhD 🍉 (@NeseLSD.bsky.social)
6 months
Informed by new evidence of systematic data fraud at MAPS PBC, we wrote a petition calling for the FDA to schedule an open advisory committee meeting on Lykos’ application for MDMA-assisted therapy that prioritizes contributions from all stakeholders: /1
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Several limitations. Is ketamine all expectancy? Probably not. We weren't expecting this result. I wish we'd have measured expectancy before treatment! Did anesthesia block an effect of ketamine? Maybe, but..
@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
@Ryan_ETyler could be, but possibly “blocking” in this trial gives the same effect size as most ketamine trials in awake patients - have to conclude that an “unblocked” ketamine effect would be significantly >~60% response rate. I was more surprised by the placebo effect size!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 month
Know someone with back pain? We're recruiting for a study of #psilocybin for chronic low back pain! screen: Please RT ........................................... Close collab w @TrPR_Program @thebandlab Michael Silver @UCBerkeleyNeuro #ChronicPain
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 month
I think it’s the other way around- mouse models of ketamine have made many testable predictions in humans, virtually all of which have failed. So do we bend our understanding of humans to fit mouse data, or find a new mouse model? 🧵
@JRBneuropsiq
Jesus Ramirez-Bermudez
1 month
@TheBorisLab @PloederlM Clearly there are still many questions, but the results of the experiment in mice should be accounted for in the analysis, right?
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
My dept @stanfordanes is recruiting faculty! We are particularly looking for neuroscientists (!!)- anesthesia is a big academic space with huge room to grow. Stanford has world class neuroscience, and I would love to see our dept grow in that direction.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Is general anesthesia an antidepressant? We avoided N2O , tho 3/40 did get it. We used propofol and volatile anesthetic at much lower doses (EEGmonitored) than used in antidepressant studies of those compounds, e.g. ....and....
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 months
Congrats @dr_brein @MoeNeuro et al. Glad to have contributed! MDMA enhances social transfer of affective states - something we intuit in humans, and we now have a candidate mechanism for in mice— more to come!
@dr_brein
Ben Rein, PhD
5 months
Thrilled to share that my postdoc work from the Malenka lab is out today! Of course, this work will not be complete until it’s communicated. Short video summary coming soon
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Wonderful visit from the godmother of #ketamine (among many other contributions to neuroscience!). thanks @LeiliMortazavi @StanfordBrain for making it all happen @knutson_brain @bita137 @CRodriguezMDPhD
@bita137
Bita Moghaddam بيتا مقدم
1 year
And thank you to @CRodriguezMDPhD and @TheBorisLab for enlightening discussions about ketamine among other timely topics 😊
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
Our review on Hallucinogens in Mental Health, covering preclinical & clinical #LSD , #psilocybin , #MDMA & #ketamine research out now #JNeurosci @SfNJournals ! Big thx to Danilo de Gregorio & Gabriella Gobbi, & coauthors including @ArgelAV @KatrinPreller
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 months
Many examples of psychedelic-like experiences induced by a range of drugs and non-drug techniques. Surprising overlaps in physiology, phenomenology and lasting therapeutic effects - IMO creating and shaping an experience deserves far more focus than receptor biology
@Josh__Hardman
Josh Hardman
3 months
Is a Drug Even Needed to Induce a Psychedelic Experience? @TheBorisLab interviewed in SciAm.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
7 months
Our take on #psychedelics & expectancy with the brilliant @psybalazs . Great expectations & hope are as powerful as a drug - so why not treat them that way in trials? Expectancy has a mechanism, and may have more in common with psychedelics that we think!
@psybalazs
Balázs Szigeti
7 months
#Psychedelics are interesting. Expectancy effects are cool. So why not write a review of "Expectancy effects in psychedelics" with @TheBorisLab ?!? 👉
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Antidepressant response rates similar, >50% in both groups. Remission rates 35-50%. Comparable to high quality previous studies
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Patients received ket or normal saline at standard EEG-defined depth of anesthesia. At the end of the trial we asked what treatment arm they thought they were in:
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 months
Moving to something less controversial than MDMA for a minute - *consciousness*! Join us in Tuscany, Italy Jan 26-31, 2025 for a Gordon Research Conference on Consciousness, Anesthesia & Evolutionary Biology. Incredible speaker lineup.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Loved writing this with @DEOlsonLab - we have some differing views on psychedelics! Thx @npp_journal for giving us the space to explore Qs like how to model the complexity of psychedelic therapy in lab species- more to come!
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@npp_journal
Neuropsychopharmacology
1 year
New review now online - part of @npp_journal reviews 2024 issue #NPPR2024 from Boris Heifets @TheBorisLab and David Olson @DEOlsonLab , "Therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics and entactogens"
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
What happens after you walk into a ketamine clinic? We analyzed outcomes of ketamine therapy for depression from 178 clinics in 40 states, , using @OsmindHQ e-health record software - great collab including Alison McInnes, @JimmyJQian et al. 🧵 1/
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 months
Depression & mental health issues can worsen after major trauma, including surgery. We screened 3000 people coming for surgery @StanfordMed for #depression to understand the extent of the problem. Just out in @BJAJournals , 1st auth @TuuliHietamies
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 month
I have a lot of respect for the authors, but I agree w @PloederlM - glutamate is the most widespread excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, present… everywhere. Of course it’s involved in everything. “Targeting” it doesn’t seem to work well- their own figure sums it up!
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@PloederlM
Martin Plöderl
2 months
Are you in need of a new chemical imbalance theory if depression? Here you go:
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 months
We should expect risk for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy….it’s a major intervention proportional to the severity and mortality of severe PTSD. And like in any other field of medicine, we can’t mitigate risk if we haven’t measured and reported it.
@joarhalvorsen
Joar Øveraas Halvorsen
5 months
"I would really like to understand the risk profile of this drug before it's approved, not after." - @TheBorisLab
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
7 months
Very grateful to our two patients who were willing to share their profound experiences of reunion while dreaming during anesthetic emergence. Thank you @drpuppychow et al for editing -
@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
7 months
Two patients in our care stopped having nightmares about their deceased children after a prolonged dream state induced by anesthesia. @APAPubJournals , with @drpuppychow @PilleriinSikka et al.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Faculty hiring! Please RT - my dept @stanfordanes is recruiting a basic/translational neuroscientist, open rank. Looking forward to deepening the link between anesthesia & neuroscience at Stanford
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
#MDMA or a 5HT-1b agonist improves social deficits in 4 different mouse autism models. Love being part of this team - congrats @LabWalsh @DoctorDanPhD @dcardozopinto , Rob Malenka, et al. One of these days we'll figure out how to model mouse psychotherapy too.
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@LabWalsh
WalshLab
3 years
Excited to share this story and for what the future holds! @UNC_PHCO @DoctorDanPhD @UNC_CBP @StanfordBrain @TheBorisLab
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
Here’s another prediction: data will show you don’t even the psychedelic drug to benefit from psychedelics. Actually scratch that, data is already here. Quality psychoherapy is incredibly powerful and undervalued.
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@therealbrom
brom
2 years
Prediction: over the next few years, data will show that (in most cases) you don't actually need therapy to benefit from psychedelics
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
9 months
Hey we made a list of superlatives!!! I’d like to thank the Stanford IRB for falling asleep at the wheel and approving our study, and our many colleagues, journal reviewers and funding agencies for politely nodding and smiling while we carried on 🤩
@ferenstein
Greg Ferenstein
9 months
@DKThomp @TheBorisLab ahoy @DKThomp . i’m a fan, but this was one of the worst studies i’ve ever seen in psychedelic sciences. No worthwhile practitioner claims psychedelics work without therapy or mindfulness. This conclusion doesn’t represent how psychedelics work in the field
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Love the opportunity to update #SNACC21 on our work woth depressed patients coming through the Stanford ORs! Huge thx to @SNACCNeuro for the award- inspiring to get a “yes” in a sea of “no”s as a new(ish) PI
@AlanaFlex
Dr. Alana Flexman
3 years
Congratulations Dr. Boris Heifetz on the 2019 William L. Young Research Award @stanfordanes Ketamine Therapy for Reducing Perioperative Risk in Depressed Patients #SNACC2021 ! Make sure you #SNACCpledge to this research fund to support future #neuroanesthesia research like this👍
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Boris D Heifets
6 months
Thank you Nina Bai @StanfordMed for this beautiful writeup detailing the story of our patient who, after an experience under anesthesia, found peace after the loss of her son. Nice perspectives from the team as well @drpuppychow @PilleriinSikka
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Great teamwork on this deep look at human circuits! Thx to lead author @DanBarbosa39 and senior @CaseyHalpern5 . More to come!
@DanBarbosa39
Dan Barbosa
1 year
FINALLY published in @Nature ! Amazing team effort allowed pushing human brain circuit-based investigations to the next level! @gattas_sandra @jms_salgado @allanrw_ @YuhaoHuangMD @dora_hermes @Kai_J_Miller @TheBorisLab @CaraBohon @jennifer_mcnab @halpernc
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
In 1965, Domino wrote about "Taming the ketamine tiger". Maybe more like an octopus? Tentacles in every corner of medicine! Thanks to @_Anesthesiology for letting me make this analogy in print . Comment on
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
10 months
Join us for our #ACNP2023 panel on #MDMA ! Ybor ballroom 5
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 years
Our preprint is out! MDMA ('ecstasy') + psychotherapy has major promise for treating severe PTSD -in phase 3 trials. It also has abuse/misuse potential that may complicate treating millions of patients. Can we separate these facets for safer therapy? 1/8
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Thank to @VineVentures for sponsoring this forum at #SXSW ! Great chat w @RCarhartHarris and @z1awrence , speculating broadly on the future of the psychedelic industry
@VineVentures
Vine Ventures
3 years
. @TheBorisLab "Grouping of psychedelics as one broad category is more a sociological convention than one based on a scientific approach. What separates this class of compounds is that we can trigger changes that remain long after the psychedelic effects have worn off" #SXSW
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Boris D Heifets
3 years
Very well considered comments on the strengths and limitations of today’s psilocybin vs SSRI trial in NEJM from @RCarhartHarris et al. The inconclusive outcome may say more about a generation of psychiatric scales designed for SSRIs then it does about psychedelic potential
@drjrucker
James Rucker
3 years
expert reaction to phase 2 trial comparing psilocybin and escitalopram for depression | Science Media Centre
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 months
Over the years I’ve heard some amazing stories from patients about transformational experiences linked to standard anesthetics— seems clear the potential is there and worth exploring. Thank you @shayla__love for a beautiful piece.
@shayla__love
Shayla Love
4 months
I wrote about people who had dream-like experiences when coming out of anesthesia, and said these dreams reduced their trauma symptoms. Intriguing case studies from @TheBorisLab , @drpuppychow , @PilleriinSikka , and more at Stanford.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
Group therapy + psilocybin . Pioneering work led by Brian Anderson & Josh Woolley @thebandlab . First published study I know of - love the idea of pods of patients bound by this experience, maintaining therapeutic bonds as a community. Done v well here.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 months
Great fun talking last week with one of the most science literate and curious hosts @trikomes . Got me thinking more about the boundaries between sleep and anesthesia, and some of the subtle diffs in what conscious experience is like in these disconnected states 💭💭💭
@trikomes
Nick Jikomes
3 months
New podcast episode: "Anesthesia, Placebo Effects, Consciousness, Subjectivity, MDMA, Ketamine, Opioids, Psychedelics" With anesthesiologist Dr. Boris Heifets ( @TheBorisLab ). Link in bio.
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Boris D Heifets
5 years
R-ketamine in humans, open label. Big effect, "dissociation was nearly absent". More evidence separating the subjective experience of ketamine from its persistent antidepressant effect.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
@therealbrom Yes, eventually the market (and data produced in its service) will devalue human connection for the sake of a scalable commodity. Prediction: it will suck
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
$CMPS released topline results from their phase 2b psilocybin for depression trial- well powered, largest of its kind, and (formally) the first positive placebo controlled randomized trial of psilocybin for tx resistant depression
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
10 months
Come for the science, stay for the drama!
@CRodriguezMDPhD
Carolyn Rodríguez, MD, PhD
10 months
Starting now #NPPR2024 panel on Rapid and Novel Treatments in Psychiatry @ACNPorg w amazing line up @LisaMonteggia @jmaglab @AlikWidge @TheBorisLab ⭐️ #ACNP2023 w co-chair Chuck Zorumski (attending virtually) @npp_journal 👇👇👇
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Boris D Heifets
1 year
@LeorRoseman @REMAPTherapy @TheresaLii some might take away that we could dispense with the drug altogether and keep the therapy...but having a focal event may be important... like every ritual ever!
@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
@JeeshanJourney @TheresaLii These data can't say. IMO, suggests that the structure of the intervention - prep, trust, "big event" (even if a memory hole), after-care - these are so important, possibly moreso than the specific drug used. Our pts did have an experience - just not one usu assoc w psychedelics
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Boris D Heifets
1 year
Not in the preprint: we re-analyzed data based on patients' guesses on Day 14. If they felt better, they tended to guess they got ketamine. This is strong encouragement for us to measure and control for expectancy in future studies
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Boris D Heifets
4 months
I am mystified that this is coming up now after 1) spravato and 2) the FDA signed off on the trial design?? Wasn’t that the point of breakthrough therapy status?
@eturnermd1
Erick Turner @eturnermd1.bsky.social
4 months
Would like to see that followed that up with: "If these trials are, for all intents and purposes, open-label, considering the fact that FDA is legally bound to require efficacy trials that are 'adequate and well-controlled', should we even be holding this meeting?"
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Boris D Heifets
2 years
Seen by Dr Hack & now Dr Makoto Kawai ( @Stanford_Neuro , sleep specialist). Near total resolution of acute stress disorder & nightmares...from postop day 1 through 6 months out. we think we know what to look for now...case series in progress
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Your daily reminder that powerful life altering experiences aren’t always therapeutic. The “plasticity” doesn’t necessarily know it’s supposed to be helping you
@jordanbpeterson
Dr Jordan B Peterson
1 year
A promising field But a cautionary tale Hot Take: Psilocybin was the Biggest Mistake of My Life
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Boris D Heifets
2 months
aaaand MDMA stays on schedule 1... research continues to be slow, painful and a regulatory pain in the 🫏
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 months
Ultimately yes, the FDA was justified in rejecting MDMA based on Lykos data - this is an important take below. Yet, almost certainly could have found some middle ground, as in the past. Drug assisted psychotherapy is likely to be an important and impactful approach, but ?now DOA
@revjoewelker
Joe Welker
2 months
The FDA decision on Lykos' MDMA application is bittersweet at best, especially for those who do need treatment for treatment resistant PTSD. The decision is also entirely justified and I believe the right one. Rick Doblin and MAPS openly treated the FDA process with so much
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
Pre-pub data from our group at #sfn2022 - brain wide imaging of #ketamine , #psilocybin and #mdma in mice, pinning down mechanism for a range of behavioral effects. Tues AM, 483.01-07, QQ and RR and Mon AM minisymposium
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
a privilege to have pain experts like @TawfikLab and @Vafisalmasi on board with this trial! I’ve been working closely with @thebandlab and Michael Silver at UC Berkeley for > 1year developing the protocol to study psilocybin for chronic pain. Looking forward to a 2021 start!
@StanfordPain
Stanford Pain Medicine
3 years
Stanford researchers Vivianne Tawfik ( @TawfikLab ) and Boris Heifets ( @TheBorisLab ) are exploring the use of psychedelic drugs in pain management.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
Finally, a word about placebos. This study does not show that ketamine is "just a placebo". I'm quoting a paper from *1957* (Gliedman et al Am J Psych) who say better than I can:
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 months
RIP Steve Albini, amazing musician, engineer, analog zealot and contributing author to the soundtrack of my youth
@electricalWSOP
regular steve albini
3 years
I certainly have some 'splainin to do, and am not shy about any of it. A lot of things I said and did from an ignorant position of comfort and privilege are clearly awful and I regret them. It's nobody's obligation to overlook that, and I do feel an obligation to redeem myself...
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Nitrous as an antidepressant! Great to see this successful phase 2, @nagelep1 @BenPalanca et al. #Anesthesiology truly developing as a field of applied clinical #neuroscience , and blurring traditional disciplinary bounds 1/
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
2 years
My wild take: good tx on psilocybin is the sum of good tx + whatever psilo does. You can access that magic in a therapy suite, in nature, at a rave - setting plays the same role as in the rest of life. Thx coauths, on&off twitter! @TuuliHietamies @mCherryGarcia @CaseyHalpern5
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
This study of beliefs shaped by psychedelic came from an awesome collaborative team - Huge thanks to @audreygevers Chris Kelly @shayla__love @TehseenNoorani for developing it, and many others for valuable input. Please share the survey below, looking fwd to posting results
@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
We're developing a questionnaire to learn more about people’s exposure to media related to psychedelics. No need for direct psychedelic experience. 5-10 min. If you would like to participate in this study, please follow this link:  1/2
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Great working with you all on this! Tip of the iceberg re DA and 5HT interactions in the NAc. My fave, ofc, is #MDMA vs methamphetamine - MDMA seems to "tune out" mPFC, METH seems to "tune in" to PVT. Stay... tuned
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@DoctorDanPhD
Dan Christoffel
3 years
Excited to share our latest work, with @LabWalsh , @TheBorisLab , Paul Hoerbelt from the Malenka lab @StanfordBrain @StanfordPSY ! … my 2nd of 2021!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Thanks to @Stanford_PMHW for hosting- it’s been huge, fascinating fun scanning people on ketamine and MDMA! Moving ever closer to aligning mouse and human brain dynamics 💪🤩
@Stanford_PMHW
Stanford PMHW 🧠
3 years
🎧Check out PMHW's newly released 'Chat with the Experts' Ep.1 with Drs. Boris Heifets ( @TheBorisLab ) and Laura Hack - 'Science at the border of anesthesia and psychiatry' - Use of psychedelics in the treatment of mental health disorders. Visit:
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 months
Public workshop today on the changing landscape of ketamine use - put on by the FDA and @reaganudall - including a panel on online promotion of ketamine for [checks notes] everything. Increased access to care 👍, but care is more than providing a drug
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
Migraine suppressed for 2 weeks after a single dose of psilocybin. Treatment effect uncorrelated to psychedelic effect... neurovascular effect of 5HT2a agonists different from cortical? wouldn't be a shock. looking forward to seeing more from Emanuelle Schindler et al!
@MichaelHaichin
Michael Haichin
4 years
New #psychedelic trial: Small, well designed proof-of-concept study out of @NeurologyYale demonstrating a single administration of low-dose #psilocybin decreases the number of weekly migraine days over a 2-week period compared to placebo.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
@npp_journal Thank you @npp_journal and reviewers for one of the easiest publishing experiences I’ve ever had! Review substantially improved the study. Thx co 1st auths, @DanRijsketic @aminoacidhead , and coauthor @LMWilliams_PhD @warmxue @TuuliHietamies et al et al
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
6 months
What does it mean? naltrexone is not a silent manipulation that's inert until ketamine shows up. We think the endogenous opioid system, with a hub in the central amygdala, is controlling other brain areas where ketamine acts more directly, perhaps via NMDARs. Testable in humans!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 years
Our analysis of ketamine vs ket + naltrexone in suicidality - ket’s effect on suicidality and depression may differ, but both opioid receptor dependent. Thx to my co-1st @NolanRyWilliams for roping me in a few years ago!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
@JeeshanJourney @TheresaLii These data can't say. IMO, suggests that the structure of the intervention - prep, trust, "big event" (even if a memory hole), after-care - these are so important, possibly moreso than the specific drug used. Our pts did have an experience - just not one usu assoc w psychedelics
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
1 year
@richardludlow @TheresaLii There is some data... pts recruited for a delirium trial , mood outcome collected as well. Pts w pre-existing depression got worse. caveats abound, but in general we did not expect to see the observed degree of improvement. Supports an expectancy effect IMO
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 years
Thank you @SNACCNeuro for the William Young L Young Neuroscience Research Award! Great meeting in Phoenix, looking forward to next year in Montreal
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
We're not ready to abandon the RCT gold standard quite yet for psychedelics! Loved brainstorming and writing w @JacobSAday @thebandlab et al - we review the most innovative ideas in psychedelics' trial design and offer a few of our own. Free:
@JacobSAday
Jacob S. Aday, Ph.D.
3 years
Our review article on the challenges of conducting psychedelic clinical trials and how to improve methodology is now available online: 🧵👇
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Nice summary of the massively hyped $CMPS phase 2b study psilocybin for TRD - thanks @Josh__Hardman and @PsilocybinAlpha for including my comments!
@Psyched_Alpha
Psychedelic Alpha
3 years
🔖 Special Issue: 2b, or not to be? Preparing for COMPASS Pathways’ Data Readout In this special issue we explore the significance of these forthcoming $CMPS results and aim to provide a primer on their interpretation.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
Many miles to go before we abandon hope of placebo controlled RCTs for psychedelics, still the gold standard for informing medical treatment. A pleasure writing this with you @JacobSAday , @thebandlab et al! As ever building on the work of giants who pioneered the field.
@JacobSAday
Jacob S. Aday, Ph.D.
3 years
@TrPR_Program is excited to share a new preprint article titled "Great Expectations: Recommendations for improving the methodological rigor of psychedelic clinical trials" 🧵👇
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
11 months
If there are compelling arguments to be made… this is probably the place to hear them
@JulesEvans11
Jules Evans
11 months
Do psychedelic medical treatments always require psychotherapy? A debate / discussion with Compass Pathways' Professor Guy Goodwin (who thinks not) and Open Foundation's Dr Max Wolff (who thinks so). December 11, 6pm GMT, online, free.
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 years
Ketamine loss and return of consciousness - beautiful ephys in nonhuman primates... nb the evolving high frequency oscillations. "It is possible that these animals...were continuously conscious internally after loss of responsiveness"
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
3 years
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
Non-hallucinogenic derivative of the #psychedelic ibogaine with therapeutic potential - congrats to the Olson lab & collaborators. My (safe) bet: removing the "psychedelic"-ness will diminish but not eliminate efficacy. Looking fwd to seeing this tested in humans!
@DEOlsonLab
Olson Lab
4 years
Check out our paper in @nature describing TBG, a non-hallucinogenic, non-cardiotoxic #psychedelic analog with therapeutic potential. Great collaboration with @MileHighLab , @ron_dorit , @lein_lab_ucd , @WCMC_UCDavis , and others!
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
5 months
@SterlingCooley Dude you posted “as good as cured”
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
4 years
@stanfordmed residents are high risk frontline workers, I hope you take action to fix this NOW! Personally I can wait on the vax, I’m in the OR a day a week. Our residents are the ones getting exposed every day
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@TheBorisLab
Boris D Heifets
9 months
Such a maddeningly empty press release for such an interesting question… @atai_life
@Psyched_Alpha
Psychedelic Alpha
9 months
atai Life Sciences Announces Positive Topline Results from Single Ascending Dose Ph 1 Study with EMP-01 (R-MDMA) "We found differences in the subjective experience R-MDMA in comparison to published reports involving racemic MDMA." - Florian Brand, CEO
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