Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive drugs that act primarily through an agonist action on neurotransmitter receptors and cause psychological, visual and auditory changes, as well as an altered state of consciousness. Now known for being Schedule I under the UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Prior to psychedelics being classified as Schedule I, clinical research was widespread, with more than 40,000 patients participating in clinical studies and case reports. The accumulated evidence suggested that many psychedelic drugs may have psychopharmacological effects on the brain, including increasing the number, density and connections of neurons.

One of the most notable scientists in this period was Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist who discovered the psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and later synthesised Psilocybin. This body of evidence and discoveries made in this era continues to drive a resurgence of interest in the evaluation of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic use. As discussed they are being used to treat a multitude of mental health conditions.  Now we see two major academic centers, Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University, having established dedicated psychedelic research laboratories with many other institutions following suit.

Psilocybin is considered a serotonergic hallucinogen, it is an active ingredient in some species of mushrooms and was first isolated from psilocybe mushrooms by Albert Hofmann and synthesized in the late 1950s. While classified as a Schedule I drug, the FDA and DEA began permitting the use of psilocybin in clinical studies for the treatment of a range of psychiatric conditions in the 1990s.