Pitch study: does psilocybin reopen sensitive periods in adult humans?
Sensitive periods are windows of enhanced learning, usually seen exclusively in childhood (e.g. language acquisition). Animal research suggests that psychedelics reopen sensitive periods for a window of time after the psychedelic wears off.
Participants will try to learn ‘perfect pitch’ (a skill typically developed in early life), in the week after being given psilocybin. We will use a combination of behavioural tasks and EEG to understand cognitive and neural changes after psilocybin.
Understanding whether the post-psychedelic period is characterised by a state of enhanced learning may have important translational relevance for the design and implementation of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
If you are interested in participating, please fill out our recruitment questionnaire.
Principal Investigators
Director, Centre for Innovative Therapeutics
Consultant Psychiatrist & Senior Clinical Lecturer
Investigator
PhD student and ST4 Psychiatrist