How ‘magic mushrooms’ could help Parkinson’s disease patients

University of California - San Francisco

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A UCSF pilot study finds psilocybin therapy surprises, showing meaningful improvements in mood, cognition, and motor symptoms.  

Psilocybin, a natural compound found in certain mushrooms, has shown promise in treating depression and anxiety. 

UC San Francisco researchers wanted to know if it could be used to help Parkinson's patients who often experience debilitating mood dysfunction in addition to their motor symptoms and don’t respond well to antidepressants or other medications. 

The results were surprising. 

Not only did participants tolerate the drug without serious side effects or worsening symptoms, which is what the pilot study was designed to test, they also experienced clinically significant improvements in mood, cognition, and motor function that lasted for weeks after the drug was out of their systems. 

It is the first time a psychedelic has been tested on patients with any neurodegenerative disease.

“We are still in very early stages of this work, but this first study went well beyond what we expected,” said the paper’s first author, Ellen Bradley, MD, assistant professor and associate director of UCSF’s Translational Psychedelic Research Program (TrPR). 

“Many people don’t realize this, but mood symptoms in Parkinson’s are linked to a faster physical decline,” she said. “And they are actually a stronger predictor of patients’ quality of life with Parkinson's than their motor symptoms.” 

Researchers in the TrPR Program, within UCSF’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neurology, teamed up to lead this project, which was funded by an anonymous donor. The findings appeared online earlier this month in Neuropsychopharmacology, a Nature publication.

Psilocybin’s lasting mood and motor effects  
 
Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements due to abnormal brain activity, affects about 1 million Americans. While medications like levodopa can relieve symptoms, there are no approved therapies to slow the progression or reverse the disease itself.  

Common early physical symptoms include tremors and foot dragging, but Bradley said anxiety and depression in patients with no history of psychiatric problems often precede the onset of motor symptoms by several years. It’s unclear why standard medications often don’t work well for these patients, but mood changes could be part of the neurodegenerative disease process.  

To test the safety of psilocybin for these patients, the researchers gave seven men and five women with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease a 10 mg dose, followed two weeks later by a higher dose of 25 mg. The patients completed psychotherapy sessions before and after the psilocybin — eight sessions in total — and were evaluated for changes in mood, cognition, and motor functions. 

While nearly all participants experienced some adverse events while on the psilocybin, such as anxiety, nausea, and elevated blood pressure, these were not serious enough to require medical intervention.

The participants had meaningful improvements in their mood, cognition, and motor symptoms at both their one-week and one-month follow-up appointments. The team evaluated the participants’ mood again three months after their psilocybin sessions and found it was still significantly improved.

The researchers suggested a variety of explanations for the improvements. The beneficial impact of psilocybin on the patients’ mood could have led to better cognitive and motor functions. For example, people feel better, and that, in turn, helps them socialize and become more active – both key elements of Parkinson’s treatment. 

Another theory is that psilocybin could provide relief from multiple symptoms of the disease by reducing inflammation and promoting neuroplasticity — the growth and reconnection of brain cells involved in mood, cognition, and movement regulation. 

An expansion into unchartered territory 

The results of this pilot study were promising enough that the researchers are conducting a larger randomized controlled trial at UCSF, enrolling a larger and more diverse group of patients. The second study incorporates noninvasive brain stimulation, neuroimaging and other tools to understand how psilocybin impacts inflammation and neuroplasticity.  

It will include a second site at Yale University, with the aim of enrolling 100 participants. This work will be funded by the same anonymous donor that paid for the safety pilot as well as by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

“The vast majority of brain diseases still lack interventions that change the course of illness,” said the study’s senior author, Joshua Woolley, MD, PhD, associate professor at UCSF and director of the TrPR Program. “We can often treat the symptoms, but we don’t alter the trajectory or prevent decline. Now, that’s beginning to change. These results raise the exciting possibility that psilocybin may help the brain repair itself.” 

Authors: Additional co-authors include Kimberly Sakai, BA, Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold, MFT, Balázs Szigeti, PhD, Connie Ludwig, PhD, Jill L. Ostrem, MD, Caroline M. Tanner, MD, PhD, Meredith A. Block, MD, Katia Llerena, PhD, Patrick R. Finley, PharmD, Aoife O’Donovan, PhD, Jose Rafael P. Zuzuarregui, MD, Amber McKernan, BA, Andrew D. Penn, NP, Aliss C.C. Wang, MFT, and Raymond C. Rosen, PhD. 
 
Funding: The trial was funded by an anonymous donor.   

 

About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF School of Medicine also has a regional campus in Fresno. Learn more at ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.

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Journal

Neuropsychopharmacology

 

Too few ward nurses linked to longer hospital stay, readmission, and risk of death

Redressing balance saves around £5000 for each year of healthy life gained But not if temporary agency staff are used

BMJ Group

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Employing too few permanent nurses on hospital wards is linked to longer inpatient stays, readmissions, patient deaths, and ultimately costs more in lives and money, finds a long term study published online in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety.

Redressing the balance is cost-effective, saving an estimated £4728 for each year of healthy life gained per patient, but not if  temporary agency staff are used to plug the gaps, the findings indicate. 

Inadvertent understaffing–through unfilled vacancies–or deliberate–through cost cutting measures–of ward nurses risks harming hospital patients, and is a key contributor to nursing recruitment and retention issues, say the researchers.

Much of the existing research on the impact of the nursing staff:patient ratio is cross- sectional and so of limited use in determining causal factors, they add.

To find out if investing in higher nurse staffing levels to offset understaffing would be cost-effective, they set out to estimate the associations between registered nurse and healthcare assistant staffing levels and risk of patient deaths, readmissions, and length of stay in acute adult inpatient wards.

They drew on data provided by four NHS hospital trusts with diverse nurse staffing levels, sizes, teaching status, serving diverse local populations in England. Three of the trusts provided acute inpatient services predominantly from single hospital sites, and the fourth provided inpatient services across four sites within one city.

The data were derived from electronic healthcare records and staffing rosters and spanned the period April 2015 to March 2020 for a total of 626,313 patients in 185 different acute care wards.

Two main nursing team roles were included in the study: registered nurses (RNs) who have completed university degree level training and are registered with the profession’s regulator; and nursing support staff (such as healthcare assistants) who don’t have this level of training and who are largely unregulated.

The incremental cost effectiveness of eliminating the understaffing of these two roles was estimated from the costs and consequences of moving from the observed staffing shortfall averaged over the study period to the planned staffing level. 

Patients spent an average of 8 days on the ward. Over the first 5 days of their inpatient stay, patients were provided with a daily average of just over 5 hours of care from RNs and just under 3 hours of care from nursing support staff.

The calculations showed that patients on wards understaffed by RNs were more likely to die (5% vs 4% for those with adequate RN staffing levels), to be readmitted (15% vs 14%), and to stay in hospital longer (8 days vs 5 days), with similar figures for inadequate numbers of nursing support staff. 

Patients who experienced understaffing received an average care shortfall of 1 hour 9 minutes/day in the first 5 days, while those who didn’t experience understaffing, received an average of 3 hours 22 minutes of care above the ward average. 

During the study period, 31,885 patients died. Each day a patient experienced RN understaffing (staffing below the ward average) during the first 5 days of their stay, the risks of death and readmission within 30 days increased by 8% and 1%, respectively. When all 5 days after admission were understaffed, length of stay increased by 69%. 

Days of nursing support understaffing were also associated with similar increases in the risks of death and length of stay within 30 days: 7% and 61%, respectively. But the risk of readmission within 30 days fell by 0.6%.

The estimated total cost of providing care for the 626,313 adults included in the study amounted to  £2,613,385,125, or £4173 per admission.

The researchers calculated that eliminating understaffing of both nursing roles would cost an additional £197 per patient admission, avoiding 6527 of the 31,885 deaths during the study period and gaining 44,483 years of life in good health. 

This equates to an additional staff cost of £2778 per healthy year of life, and £2685 if reduced sick leave and averted readmissions are taken into account. But accounting for reduced length of stay amounts to savings of £4728 per additional year of healthy life gained—an overall cost saving from increasing staffing levels.

If agency staff are used to eliminate understaffing instead, staff costs for each additional healthy year of life gained were higher, ranging from £7320 to £14,639.

“The findings give no indication that it makes rational economic sense to target efforts to rectify low staffing only on the most acute patients. Not only is this logistically difficult for patients whose acuity is emergent (occurring while on a general ward), it also gives much less benefit at a considerably higher cost per unit improvement in outcome,” explain the researchers. 

“Steps to address low staffing for the general (lower acuity) population are likely to benefit high-acuity patients as well, in so far as they are in the same units, whereas the opposite is unlikely to occur if interventions are targeted on high-acuity patients in high-acuity units,” they add.

This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. And the researchers acknowledge that the data came exclusively from hospitals in the English NHS, so may not be more widely applicable. Understaffing was also judged relative to ward norms rather than a validated assessment of staffing need.

But the researchers conclude: “When considering alternative policy strategies, this study indicates the importance of prioritising investment in RNs employed on wards over support staff, as well as showing there are no shortcuts to employing enough RNs, as using temporary staff is more costly and less effective.”

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Journal

BMJ Quality & Safety

DOI

10.1136//bmjqs-2024-018138 

Method of Research

Observational study

Article Title

Cost-effectiveness of eliminating hospital understaffing by nursing staff: a retrospective longitudinal study and economic evaluation

Article Publication Date

29-Apr-2025

DRUIDIC SCIENCE

Forest in sync: Spruce trees communicate during a solar eclipse

A ground breaking international study has revealed spruce trees not only respond to a solar eclipse but actively anticipate it by synchronising their bioelectrical signals hours in advance into a cohesive, forest-wide phenomenon.

Southern Cross University

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Study location in the Dolomite mountains in Italy

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Credit: Monica Gagliano/Southern Cross University

A ground breaking international study has revealed spruce trees not only respond to a solar eclipse but actively anticipate it by synchronising their bioelectrical signals hours in advance into a cohesive, forest-wide phenomenon.

The discovery, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, shows older trees exhibit a more pronounced early response, suggesting these ancient sentinels retain decades of environmental memory and may use it to inform younger trees of impending events.

This study adds to the emerging evidence that plants are active, communicative participants in their ecosystems, capable of complex, coordinated behaviours akin to those seen in animal groups.

The lead authors are Professor Alessandro Chiolerio of the Italian Institute of Technology and University of the West of England, and Professor Monica Gagliano from Southern Cross University, Australia.

“This study illustrates the anticipatory and synchronized responses we observed are key to understanding how forests communicate and adapt, revealing a new layer of complexity in plant behaviour,” said Professor Gagliano.

“Basically, we are watching the famous ‘wood wide web’ in action!”

Using custom-built, ruggedised low-power sensors deployed across a forest in the Dolomites (Italy), the interdisciplinary team—comprising experts from Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia—recorded simultaneous bioelectrical responses from multiple trees.

Their analysis demonstrates that individual trees’ electrical activity became significantly more synchronised before and during the eclipse, indicating that trees function as a unified living system that coordinates its response to external events.

“By applying advanced analytical methods—including complexity measures and quantum field theory—we have uncovered a deeper, previously unrecognised dynamic synchronisation not based on matter exchanges among trees,” said Professor Chiolerio.

“We now see the forest not as a mere collection of individuals, but as an orchestra of phase correlated plants.”

Professor Gagliano said the findings support calls for the preservation of wise old trees.

“The fact that older trees respond first — potentially guiding the collective response of the forest — speaks volumes about their role as memory banks of past environmental events.

“This discovery underscores the critical importance of protecting older forests, which serve as pillars of ecosystem resilience by preserving and transmitting invaluable ecological knowledge,” said Professor Gagliano.

Adding to its global impact, this pioneering research is set to be featured in an upcoming feature-length documentary, Il Codice del Bosco (The Forest Code), set to release in May 2025 in Italy. For a glimpse into this fascinating study, watch the official trailer:  https://vimeo.com/1065299976  

A spruce tree with recording unit attached. In the Dolomite mountains in Italy.

A spruce tree with wires attached. In the Dolomite mountains in Italy.

Credit

Monica Gagliano/Southern Cross University

Journal

Royal Society Open Science

DOI

10.1098/rsos.241786 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Bioelectrical synchronisation of Picea abies trees during a Solar Eclipse

Article Publication Date

30-Apr-2025

 

Giant croclike carnivore fossils found in the Caribbean

Florida Museum of Natural History

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Imagine a crocodile built like a greyhound — that’s a sebecid. Standing tall, with some species reaching 20 feet in length, sebecids were top predators until they went extinct during the Miocene.

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Credit: Illustration by Jorge Machuky

Imagine a crocodile built like a greyhound — that’s a sebecid. Standing tall, with some species reaching 20 feet in length, they dominated South American landscapes after the extinction of dinosaurs until about 11 million years ago. Or at least, that’s what paleontologists thought, until they began finding strange, fossilized teeth in the Caribbean.

“The first question that we had when these teeth were found in the Dominican Republic and on other islands in the Caribbean was: What are they?” said Jonathan Bloch, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

This initial confusion was warranted. Three decades ago, researchers uncovered two roughly 18 million-year-old teeth in Cuba. With a tapered shape and small, sharp serrations specialized for tearing into meat, it unmistakenly belonged to a predator at the top of the food chain. But for the longest time, scientists didn’t think such large, land-based predators ever existed in the Caribbean. The mystery deepened when another tooth turned up in Puerto Rico, this one 29 million years old. The teeth alone weren't enough to identify a specific animal, and the matter went unresolved.

That changed in early 2023, when a research team unearthed another fossilized tooth in the Dominican Republic — but this time, it was accompanied by two vertebrae. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was enough. The fossils belonged to a sebecid, and the Caribbean, far from never having large, terrestrial predators, was a refuge for the last sebecid populations at least 5 million years after they went extinct everywhere else.

A research team described the implications of their finding in a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The study’s lead author, Lazaro Viñola Lopez, conducted the research as a graduate student at the University of Florida. He knew his team members had come upon something exceptional when they unearthed the fossils. “That emotion of finding the fossil and realizing what it is, it’s indescribable,” he said.

Sebecids were the last surviving members of the Notosuchia, a large and diverse group of extinct crocodilians with a fossil record that extends back into the age of dinosaurs. They represented a wide range in size, diet and habitat and were notably different from their crocodile relatives, as most of them lived entirely on land.

The sebecids acted like carnivorous dinosaurs, sprinting after prey on their four long, agile limbs and tearing through flesh with their notorious teeth. Some species could reach 20 feet in length and had protective armor made of bony plates embedded in their skin. The mass extinction event 66 million years ago that wiped out nonavian dinosaurs nearly destroyed notosuchians as well. In South America, only the sebecids endured, and with the dinosaurs gone, they quickly rose to be the apex predator.

The open sea separating the Caribbean islands and mainland South America would have posed a serious challenge for a terrestrial sebecid to swim across. In finding the fossils, the research team revealed possible evidence in support of the GAARlandia hypothesis. This theory suggests a pathway of temporary land bridges or a chain of islands once allowed land animals to travel from South America to the Caribbean.

If, as scientists hypothesize, the serrated teeth discovered on other Caribbean islands also belonged to a sebecid, the history of these giant reptiles extends beyond the Dominican Republic. They would have occupied and shaped the region’s ecosystems for millions of years. Yet today you’d be hard-pressed to find evidence of the large terrestrial predators. In their absence, smaller endemic predators like birds, snakes and crocodiles have evolved to fill the gap in the food chain.

“You wouldn’t have been able to predict this looking at the modern ecosystem,” Bloch said. “The presence of a large predator is really different than we imagined before, and it’s exciting to think about what might be discovered next in the Caribbean fossil record as we explore back further in time.”

This revelation aligns with similar observations ecologists have described worldwide. Islands are known to act as “museums of biodiversity,” providing a haven that allows plants and animals to survive even after their related species have gone extinct on the mainland.

Although the tropics are among the most biodiverse places on Earth, much of their natural history remains a mystery. That’s why, according to Bloch, they’re the most important — albeit challenging — regions for paleontologists to study.

Historically, many paleontologists in the Caribbean have excavated fossils from caves and blue holes, where large accumulations of remains are often found. Caves can serve as shelter against harsh conditions for animals, and predatory birds like owls and hawks frequently bring their prey inside to eat, leaving behind pellets or discarded bones. Blue holes preserve fossils exceptionally well, as they lack the oxygen that fuels decay.

But these locations only provide a narrow snapshot of past biodiversity because most of the fossils are relatively young. While these sites provide valuable insight into recent history, they have their limitations when it comes to older, less well-known fossils.

Today, Caribbean paleontologists are taking a new approach. Finding deep-time fossils often requires more effort and fortunate circumstances, but they’re willing to face the obstacles. “This is like a renaissance,” said Viñola-Lopez, describing the renewed interest and excitement in the region.

Local scientists have the advantage of being able to react quickly when a potential fossil bed is discovered. The dry, rocky landscapes that contain fossils are hard to come by in the Caribbean, where wind and rain erode outcrops and today’s forests cover fossil beds.

“Outcrops don't last too long, so you go there when you can. When they're cutting the road or a few months after that, you find the fossils. If you're looking in a few years, it will be gone,” Viñola-Lopez said.

Finding sebecid fossils in the Dominican Republic site was possible because local work crews happened to be cutting a road directly through it. Elson Core, a graduate student from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez at the time, came across the fossil beds while conducting stratigraphy research and alerted his colleagues. Viñola-Lopez learned about the site through fellow paleontologists and was eager to plan a visit for fieldwork.

This study represents one of many incredible discoveries that have recently come out of the Caribbean. Lazaro and his colleagues uncovered the Caribbean’s first record of mosasaurs, enormous reptiles that once dominated the seas. Meanwhile, the discovery of the oldest ground sloth fossils in Hispaniola has helped fill a gap in the region’s paleontological record.

Even more recent mysteries are coming into focus as well, with research suggesting the arrival of humans may be to blame for the extinction of the island’s native rodents. This flow of information and discovery emerging from the region is far from over. As Viñola-Lopez said, “The sebecid is only the tip of the iceberg.”

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Journal

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2024.2891 

Article Title

A South American sebecid from the Miocene of Hispaniola documents the presence of apex predators in early West Indies ecosystems

Article Publication Date

30-Apr-2025