Bridging worlds - behavioral, molecular and clinical perspectives on psychedelics

Speaker:  Dr David Erritzoe 

IMPERIAL COLLEGE - Centre for Psychedelic Research & CIPPRes Clinic, Division of Psychiatry, Dpt of Brain Sciences 

Biography of the speaker: 

Dr David Erritzoe is a clinical associate professor in psychopharmacology and psychiatry and Director of Imperial College’s Centre Psychedelic Research and the associated NHS-based CIPPRes Clinic. Here, he leads psychopharmacological and clinical research into the neurobiological underpinnings – e.g. using PET, fMRI and/or EEG brain imaging – of mental health conditions such as depression and addictions. Much of his work focuses on the therapeutic effects and associated neuromechanisms of psychedelic compounds. David has published 150+ scientific papers and is among the most cited scientists globally (top 0.1% in 2025, Clarivate), and in 2025 received Imperial’s President Award for Excellence in Research. 

Description of the general focus of the symposium: 

Psychedelic science is undergoing a renaissance—one driven not only by striking clinical outcomes, but also by rapid advances in molecular neuroscience, computational methods, and behavioral analytics. This symposium brings together perspectives spanning clinical research, preclinical behavioral profiling, and molecular and circuit-level mapping of psychedelic drug action. Together, these viewpoints outline how different layers of the brain’s organization contribute to understanding why psychedelics work, how they reshape neural dynamics, and what this means for future psychiatric care.  

At the clinical front, we will consider emerging evidence for psychedelic-assisted treatments across mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders, with particular emphasis on the practical realities of translating such interventions into established healthcare systems. Psychedelics appear to act as catalysts of psychological and neurobiological flexibility, yet the path from controlled studies to scalable, ethically grounded therapies remains complex. Examples drawn from national healthcare initiatives highlight how clinical infrastructures might adapt to responsibly accommodate these treatments.  

Complementing this translational outlook, the symposium will examine how preclinical research is reshaping our ability to quantify and interpret psychedelic effects. Machine-learning–based behavioral analysis and high-resolution tracking are revealing multidimensional, dose-dependent signatures of drug action, while spatial transcriptomics provides unprecedented insight into how psychedelics alter gene-expression landscapes across subcortical regions involved in emotion, stress, and reward. Integrating these datasets opens new possibilities for developing predictive frameworks for psychedelic pharmacology.  

Building on these mechanistic perspectives, we will also explore how psychedelics engage specific neural circuits underlying behavioral flexibility. Striatal microcircuit studies using in vivo calcium imaging and targeted pharmacological approaches reveal how serotonergic modulation influences activity patterns within decision-making pathways. These findings offer a circuit-level view of how psychedelics might alter adaptive behavior, linking molecular action to changes in action selection.  

Finally, affective neuroscience adds an essential layer to this multidimensional picture. By investigating how psychedelics modulate emotional processing in socially relevant contexts—such as ultrasonic vocalization–based assessments of positive affect—we gain insight into how these compounds shape reward sensitivity, social motivation, and individual variability in behavioral responses.  

Taken together, the symposium will provide a cross-disciplinary platform for discussing how insights from molecules, circuits, behavior, and clinical practice can converge to shape the next generation of psychedelic science and its responsible translation into medicine. 

PSYCHEDELIC THERAPY - PROMISE, NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS AND POSSIBLE ROADMAP TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Brief description of the talk: 

As evidence grows for psychedelic therapy across conditions such as depression, addiction, and eating disorders, a new question emerges: how do we responsibly integrate these treatments into existing healthcare frameworks? In this talk, Dr David Erritzoe will begin with an overview of the field - from the psychological and neurobiological role of psychedelics as catalysts of flexibility in “stuck” brain networks, to key findings from recent clinical trials. He will then turn to the practical realities of implementation, exploring what healthcare systems can do now to prepare for the coming wave of psychedelic therapies. Drawing on the example of new ketamine service pilots in the UK NHS system, David will illustrate how collaboration between public health systems and emerging treatments could offer a balanced and scalable route forward - expanding access while building the evidence base within existing care structures.