@article{Girn:2026:10.1038/s41591-026-04287-9,
author = {Girn, M and Doss, MK and Roseman, L and Preller, KH and Palhano-Fontes, F and Pasquini, L and Barrett, FS and Mallaroni, P and Mason, NL and Timmermann, C and McCulloch, DE and Fisher, PM and Winston, BS and Moujaes, F and Muller, F and Liechti, ME and Vollenweider, FX and Ramaekers, JG and Kuypers, K and Araujo, DB and Sporns, O and Siegel, J and Dosenbach, N and Nutt, DJ and Carhart-Harris, RL and Stamatakis, EA and Bzdok, D},
doi = {10.1038/s41591-026-04287-9},
journal = {Nat Med},
title = {An international mega-analysis of psychedelic drug effects on brain circuit function.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04287-9},
year = {2026}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Psychedelic drugs are re-emerging as promising scientific and clinical tools. However, despite a rapidly expanding literature on their therapeutic value, the neural mechanisms underlying psychedelic effects remain unclear. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of acute psychedelic effects, conducted independently by several research groups, have so far yielded fragmented and sometimes inconsistent findings. Here, to help facilitate greater convergence, we conducted a 'mega-analysis' integrating 11 independent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets across five psychedelic drugs (psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, mescaline, N,N-dimethyltryptamine and ayahuasca) from research groups spanning three continents and five countries. By applying a uniform preprocessing pipeline and a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework, we discovered several common features in the induced alterations to brain function across drugs and sites. Most prominently, we identified a core signature of increased functional connectivity between transmodal (default, frontoparietal and limbic) and unimodal networks (visual and somatomotor), with subnetwork specificity. Furthermore, key subcortical regions (thalamus, caudate and putamen) and the cerebellum exhibited altered coupling with sensorimotor networks. In contrast to several single-site reports, Bayesian modeling revealed weak-to-moderate and selective reductions in within-network functional connectivity, with substantial variability across drugs and networks. Together, these findings extend past work by demonstrating that psychedelics reconfigure large-scale cortical organization while selectively engaging subcortical circuitry. This study provides the most comprehensive synthesis of psychedelic brain action to date, helping resolve inconsistencies and offering a probabilistic map of how psychedelics alter large-scale brain organization. We hereby provide a cornerstone to benchmark and shephe
AU  - Girn,M
AU  - Doss,MK
AU  - Roseman,L
AU  - Preller,KH
AU  - Palhano-Fontes,F
AU  - Pasquini,L
AU  - Barrett,FS
AU  - Mallaroni,P
AU  - Mason,NL
AU  - Timmermann,C
AU  - McCulloch,DE
AU  - Fisher,PM
AU  - Winston,BS
AU  - Moujaes,F
AU  - Muller,F
AU  - Liechti,ME
AU  - Vollenweider,FX
AU  - Ramaekers,JG
AU  - Kuypers,K
AU  - Araujo,DB
AU  - Sporns,O
AU  - Siegel,J
AU  - Dosenbach,N
AU  - Nutt,DJ
AU  - Carhart-Harris,RL
AU  - Stamatakis,EA
AU  - Bzdok,D
DO  - 10.1038/s41591-026-04287-9
PY  - 2026///
TI  - An international mega-analysis of psychedelic drug effects on brain circuit function.
T2  - Nat Med
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-026-04287-9
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41942645
ER  - 

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