Changing synaptic strength: Psychedelics and their role in neuroplasticity
Prof. Dr. Linda Simmler
Prof. Dr. Linda Simmler will speak about psychedelics and their role in neuroplasticity. The lecture is in English, with 45 minutes for the talk and 15 minutes for questions. Free tickets are available on Eventfrog.
01.12.26PD Dr. med. Milan ScheideggerFrom Molecules to Medicines: Inside Psychedelic Drug Development
About the talk
How does a promising psychedelic compound become a treatment patients can benefit from? This lecture offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on psychedelic drug development, exploring the scientific questions and practical decisions that connect laboratory discoveries with clinical care. Drawing on his translational research with DMT-based formulations, Milan Scheidegger discusses the interplay between pharmacology and therapeutic context, alongside key clinical and regulatory challenges. At the intersection of neuroscience, psychiatry and biotechnology, the talk examines the opportunities and open questions on the path towards approved psychedelic treatments.
Time and venue
18:30 · Universität Zürich · HAH-E-03, Häldeliweg 2, 8044 Zürich
Daniel Villiger asks whether the unusual features of psychedelic-assisted therapy justify exceptional ethical treatment. He examines informed consent, therapists’ personal psychedelic experience, clinical trial design, and patient vulnerability. The talk argues that several claims of psychedelic exceptionalism are insufficiently justified, while heightened vulnerability during psychedelic sessions may call for distinctive safeguards.
About the speaker
PD Dr. Dr. Daniel Villiger is a philosopher and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich. His research spans decision theory, rationality, bioethics, and cognitive science; his habilitation examined philosophical issues in psychedelic-assisted therapy.
How can psychedelic science build more reciprocal relationships with the Indigenous communities whose knowledge has helped shape the field? Through the concept of Cosmic Diplomacy, Adana Omágua-Kambeba explores dialogue between Indigenous and Western sciences grounded in respect and intercultural collaboration. The talk considers partnerships among Indigenous communities, universities, health professionals, and the pharmaceutical industry. Confluence invites different knowledge traditions to meet while retaining their distinct perspectives, with shared responsibility for people, territories, and the future of health.
About the speaker
Dr. Adana Omágua-Kambeba is a physician and knowledge keeper of the Omágua-Kambeba people of the Brazilian Amazon. She studied medicine at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Her work connects Indigenous medicine, Western science, and intercultural dialogue, approaching health through relationships with community, territory, plants, and ancestors.
Dila Suay explores the relationship between psychedelics and creativity, from their history in creative expression to controlled laboratory research. Drawing on studies with an ayahuasca-inspired DMT/harmine formulation, she considers divergent and convergent thinking, artistic expression and the lived experience of creating. The talk connects experimental neuroscience with questions about imagination and perception.
About the speaker
Dila Suay is a translational neuroscientist with a background in molecular biology, genetics and bioengineering. She completed her PhD at IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in collaboration with the University of Zurich, using EEG and behavioural methods to study psychedelic effects on creativity, perception and self-related processing.
Death and Sacred KnowledgeWilliam Richards · 1 h 30 min
Bill Richards reflects on altered states of consciousness, the history of psychedelic research and care at the end of life. Drawing on decades of clinical work and personal recollections, he considers how these experiences may relate to meaning, spiritual life and psychological distress in palliative care.
About the speaker
William “Bill” Richards is a clinical psychologist and a longstanding researcher in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. His work includes early studies in Maryland and the revival of psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins. He is the author of Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences.
Transdiagnostic Effects and Mechanisms of PAT: Clinical Insights from Our Patient CohortSusanne Prinz · 1 h 5 min
Susanne Prinz asks how psychedelic-assisted therapy may change the ways people relate to themselves, their emotions and others across diagnostic categories. She discusses connectedness, emotional access, meaning-making and psychological flexibility. Preliminary observations from clinical practice and brief case examples illustrate possible processes of change beyond symptom reduction.
About the speaker
Susanne Prinz is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and senior physician at the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich. Her clinical and research work includes psychedelic-assisted therapy and its implementation in psychiatric care.
Difficulties following naturalistic psychedelic use and associations with adverse childhood experiencesMichelle Olofsson · 1 h 3 min
What difficulties can follow psychedelic use outside clinical trials, and who may be more vulnerable? Michelle Olofsson presents survey research on the types, frequency and duration of reported difficulties. She then examines adverse childhood experiences as a possible risk factor and considers implications for harm reduction and research safety.
About the speaker
Michelle Olofsson is a doctoral researcher in the NIH–Karolinska Institutet Graduate Partnership Program. Her work examines psychedelic effects, risks and therapeutic potential in populations with histories of trauma and early-life stress.
Clinical Pharmacology of Classical PsychedelicsFriederike Holze · 59 min
How do classic psychedelics and entactogens differ, and why do those differences matter for clinical research? Friederike Holze compares substances including LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and MDMA. The talk examines dosing, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions and acute effects, while considering the implications for individualized treatment.
About the speaker
Friederike Holze leads clinical research in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at University Hospital Basel. Her controlled studies investigate the pharmacokinetics and acute effects of psychedelics and entactogens, including LSD, psilocybin and MDMA.
Therapeutic Relevance of Psychedelic ExperiencesNathan Strebel · 1 h 1 min
How much does the psychedelic experience itself matter in therapy? Nathan Strebel examines the debate between neurobiological explanations and the possible therapeutic importance of subjective experience. He presents a patient survey asking which aspects of psychedelic-assisted therapy participants considered valuable, bringing their perspectives into a discussion often led by researchers and clinicians.
About the speaker
Nathan Strebel is a psychologist and psychotherapist in training whose research examines patients’ perspectives on the therapeutic value of psychedelic experiences.
Klemens Egger introduces the pharmacology of DMT and harmine, the compounds used in ayahuasca-inspired formulations sometimes called pharmahuasca. The talk considers how these substances act in the brain and why their interactions are being investigated in psychedelic research.
About the speaker
Klemens Egger is a neuroscientist whose work at the University of Zurich investigates DMT and harmine, from their pharmacological interactions to their effects on human brain activity. His background spans chemistry and biomedical neuroscience.
What does psychotherapy contribute to psychedelic treatment? Gregor Hasler discusses guided sessions, emotional processing and the role of a safe therapeutic setting. The lecture introduces the Helioscope Effect alongside neuroplasticity and the REBUS framework, while considering questions about dose, safety and longer-term outcomes.
About the speaker
Gregor Hasler is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and neuroscientist at the University of Fribourg. His research uses brain imaging to investigate stress-related psychiatric disorders, including depression, and approaches to their treatment.
Andrea Siclari offers a patient’s perspective on LSD-assisted therapy while living with a life-threatening illness. He describes changes in his relationship to illness, family and his own life, including experiences of connection and emotional insight. His account concerns living with illness and finding meaning; it is a personal testimony, not evidence that psychedelics treat cancer.
About the speaker
Andrea Siclari participated in a Swiss study of LSD-assisted therapy for people with life-threatening illnesses. He shares his experience publicly to bring patients’ perspectives into conversations about psychedelic care.
The Role of Psychotherapy in Psychedelic Research and TreatmentJohannes Jungwirth · 56 min
Is psychotherapy an essential part of psychedelic treatment, or can psychological support be enough? Johannes Jungwirth examines how these approaches differ, what the research can tell us, and which questions remain unresolved. The talk focuses on the role of therapeutic work in both clinical studies and treatment.
About the speaker
Johannes Jungwirth is a senior physician in adult psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich. His clinical and research work includes psilocybin-assisted treatment for depression.
Stephan Fundinger explores how Gestalt therapy can inform psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and integration. He connects its emphasis on present-moment awareness, embodied experience and relationships with work during and after psychedelic sessions. A clinical example involving MDMA illustrates how these principles can shape the therapeutic process.
About the speaker
Stephan Fundinger is a psychologist who works with Gestalt therapy and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. In this lecture, he brings a clinical perspective to the relationship between therapeutic practice and psychedelic integration.
Psychedelics and NeuroplasticityMorten Lietz · 1 h 2 min
Morten Lietz examines the different meanings and scales of neuroplasticity, and how researchers can measure changes associated with psychedelics. The talk weighs their possible therapeutic relevance and introduces research investigating whether neuroplasticity-enhancing substances can support cognitive training.
About the speaker
Morten Lietz is a doctoral researcher in medical science at the University of Fribourg. He studies LSD and neuroplasticity across the lifespan, combining measures of cognition, brain physiology, subjective experience and safety.
Robin von Rotz discusses a randomized clinical trial of psilocybin for depression and the challenges of developing psychedelic treatments. Topics include set and setting, blinding, nocebo effects and the ethical questions these raise. The lecture also considers what the study may suggest for group therapy and more individualized approaches to care.
About the speaker
Robin von Rotz is a psychologist working in psychopharmacology at the University of Zurich. His research combines clinical and neuroimaging approaches to investigate psilocybin, emotion regulation and self-related processes in depression.
Paul Cumming introduces the neurochemistry of DMT and the beta-carboline compounds found in ayahuasca, including harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The lecture places these substances in the context of neurotransmitter research and the study of psychedelic effects in the brain.
About the speaker
Paul Cumming is a neuroscientist whose work uses molecular imaging, including positron emission tomography, to study neurotransmitter systems. His research spans psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders as well as psychedelics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors.
Psychedelic Ego-DissolutionJason K. Day · 1 h 5 min
What does “ego-dissolution” actually describe? Drawing on a qualitative analysis of more than 1,500 experience reports, Jason K. Day distinguishes several forms of altered self-awareness. The talk questions whether these experiences support the stronger claim that consciousness can occur without any self-awareness at all.
About the speaker
Jason K. Day is a philosopher at the University of Fribourg specializing in psychedelics, phenomenology and aesthetics. Their work examines attention and the structure of psychedelic experience.
Victoria Joris presents research on DMT use in a naturalistic setting at Boom Festival, conducted with Christopher Timmermann and colleagues. Combining preliminary EEG and questionnaire data, the talk considers how brain recordings and reports of lived experience can inform each other in the study of consciousness.
About the speaker
Victoria Joris has worked with Christopher Timmermann’s research team on DMT and brain activity in naturalistic settings. The work presented here combines EEG recordings with participants’ accounts of their experiences.
Neuroplasticity and Psychedelics: From Molecular Mechanisms to Applied InterventionsMorten Lietz · 45 min
How can changes in neuroplasticity be connected to useful interventions? Morten Lietz surveys the effects of psychedelics across different levels of brain organization and the methods used to assess them. He then discusses research exploring whether psychoplastogens can enhance the effects of cognitive training.
About the speaker
Morten Lietz is a doctoral researcher in medical science at the University of Fribourg. He studies LSD and neuroplasticity across the lifespan, combining measures of cognition, brain physiology, subjective experience and safety.
Gabrielle Michon presents a preclinical study examining how different doses of LSD affect behaviour and neural activity in mice. The work addresses inconsistent dosing across animal studies and seeks to map dose-dependent responses more systematically. These are animal findings, providing a basis for further research rather than direct conclusions about treatment in humans.
About the speaker
Gabrielle Michon presented this work at the ALPS Student Forum in Zurich. Her presentation focuses on preclinical research linking LSD dose, behaviour and neural activity in mice.
Could Microdosing Cause Fibrosis?Antonin Rouaud · 45 min
Could repeated psychedelic microdosing carry risks for heart tissue? Antonin Rouaud examines concerns about stimulation of the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor and its association with fibrosis, drawing comparisons with known cardiotoxic substances. The talk identifies a safety question requiring further research rather than establishing the risk of a particular microdosing regimen.
About the speaker
Antonin Rouaud co-authored research reviewing microdosing, cardiac fibrosis and valvular disease with Abigail Calder and Gregor Hasler. He presented this topic at the 2024 ALPS Student Forum hosted with PROZ.
Megan Geyer considers whether psychedelic-induced mystical states can be understood through metacognitive feelings: the feelings through which we evaluate our own thinking and knowing. Presenting her master’s research, she connects questions about altered consciousness with the study of metacognition.
About the speaker
Megan Geyer presented this research as a master’s student in psychology at the ALPS Student Conference in Zurich. Her thesis explored metacognitive feelings in relation to psychedelic experience.
The Subjective and Pharmacological Effects of 1P-LSDVolker Auwärter · 1 h 2 min
Volker Auwärter discusses the subjective and pharmacological effects of 1P-LSD, drawing on a self-administration study. The lecture approaches this LSD-related substance through toxicology and the investigation of new psychoactive compounds.
About the speaker
Volker Auwärter is a toxicologist who studies new psychoactive substances. His work includes identifying synthetic cannabinoids and investigating the pharmacology of compounds such as 1P-LSD.
Kurt Stocker explores psychedelic experience as a way of examining consciousness. The lecture brings together questions about subjective experience and psychopharmacology under the theme of the psychedelic spectrum.
About the speaker
Kurt Stocker researches consciousness and psychopharmacology. PROZ’s introduction to this recording describes his work on consciousness studies at ETH Zurich and his research association with University Hospital Basel.
Psychedelics and Cluster HeadachesCyril Petignat and patient speaker · 42 min
This two-part talk begins with the UNIDELIC survey of psychedelic use among Swiss university students, including motivations for use and associations with mindfulness and cognitive flexibility. It then considers research interest in psychedelics for cluster headaches and includes a patient’s personal account of self-treatment. The testimony is presented as lived experience, separate from evidence of clinical efficacy.
About the speaker
Cyril Petignat trained in psychology and neuroscience and combines interests in clinical practice, altered states and research. In this recording, he is joined by a patient speaker sharing a personal experience of cluster headaches.
What is brain entropy, and do different measures describe the same phenomenon? Drummond McCulloch examines research on acute psilocybin effects in brain imaging, where studies have often used distinct metrics. He explains the challenge of comparing those measures and the case for testing and integrating them across independent datasets.
About the speaker
Drummond McCulloch trained in pharmacology and neuroscience at the University of Glasgow and pursued doctoral research at the University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on understanding psychedelic effects and improving treatment approaches.
Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: Not from Drugs Alone?Abigail Calder · 1 h 2 min
Animal research suggests that psychedelics can enhance neuroplasticity, but how well does this translate to people? Abigail Calder examines the influence of experience, environment and behaviour on plasticity. The talk asks what may be missed when therapeutic change is explained as a drug effect alone.
About the speaker
Abigail Calder researches the effects of psychedelics on measures of neuroplasticity in humans. Her doctoral work at the University of Fribourg examined this question within medical science.
Helena Aicher introduces ayahuasca research at the University of Zurich and work with ayahuasca-inspired formulations. The talk connects the study of subjective experience with questions about relationships, psychotherapy and the contexts in which psychedelic experiences take place.
About the speaker
Helena Aicher is an analytical psychotherapist and researcher studying serotonergic psychoactive compounds, particularly ayahuasca. Her work considers subjective experience, relationships and the contribution of psychotherapy and context to psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Beyond the High: Investigating the Long-Term Effects of MDMANicole Friedli · 55 min
Nicole Friedli discusses the question of MDMA’s longer-term effects on the brain through research conducted for her master’s thesis. Using diffusion tensor imaging, the work examines brain structure in relation to MDMA use and contributes to the debate about possible neurotoxicity.
About the speaker
Nicole Friedli studied psychology and biology at the University of Zurich and completed a master’s degree. Her research investigated psychoactive substances, including MDMA; she subsequently joined SRF’s science editorial team.
We are a student association exploring psychedelics through science and philosophy. Together, we make space for informed, open discussion of their potential, risks, and place in society.
Next talk · Changing synaptic strength: Psychedelics and their role in neuroplasticity
Are the Ethical Challenges of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Exceptional?PD Dr. Dr. Daniel Villiger · 1h 06m
From Renaissance to ConfluenceDr. Adana Omágua-Kambeba · 1 h 5 min
Psychedelics and CreativityDila Suay · 42 min
Death and Sacred KnowledgeWilliam Richards · 1 h 30 min
Transdiagnostic Effects and Mechanisms of PAT: Clinical Insights from Our Patient CohortSusanne Prinz · 1 h 5 min
Difficulties following naturalistic psychedelic use and associations with adverse childhood experiencesMichelle Olofsson · 1 h 3 min
Clinical Pharmacology of Classical PsychedelicsFriederike Holze · 59 min
Therapeutic Relevance of Psychedelic ExperiencesNathan Strebel · 1 h 1 min
Neurobehavioral and Molecular Pharmacology of DMT and HarmineKlemens Egger · 59 min
Psychedelics and PsychotherapyGregor Hasler · 1 h
Psychedelics and Terminal Illness: A Patient’s PerspectiveAndrea Siclari · 1 h 6 min
The Role of Psychotherapy in Psychedelic Research and TreatmentJohannes Jungwirth · 56 min
Gestalt Therapy in Psychedelic-Assisted PsychotherapyStephan Fundinger · 1 h 6 min
Psychedelics and NeuroplasticityMorten Lietz · 1 h 2 min
Psilocybin and Depression: Insights from a Randomized Clinical TrialRobin von Rotz · 1 h 3 min
The Neurochemistry of DMTPaul Cumming · 1 h 6 min
Psychedelic Ego-DissolutionJason K. Day · 1 h 5 min
DMT and Brain Activity in Naturalistic and Clinical SettingsVictoria Joris · 41 min
Neuroplasticity and Psychedelics: From Molecular Mechanisms to Applied InterventionsMorten Lietz · 45 min
Behaviour and Neural Activity Across Doses of LSD in MiceGabrielle Michon · 45 min
Could Microdosing Cause Fibrosis?Antonin Rouaud · 45 min
Are Psychedelic-Induced Mystical States Metacognitive Feelings?Megan Geyer · 38 min
The Subjective and Pharmacological Effects of 1P-LSDVolker Auwärter · 1 h 2 min
The Psychedelic SpectrumKurt Stocker · 1 h 3 min
Psychedelics and Cluster HeadachesCyril Petignat and patient speaker · 42 min
The Effects of Psilocybin on Brain EntropyDrummond McCulloch · 50 min
Psychedelics and Neuroplasticity: Not from Drugs Alone?Abigail Calder · 1 h 2 min
Ayahuasca and Ayahuasca-Inspired FormulationsHelena Aicher · 1 h 12 min
Beyond the High: Investigating the Long-Term Effects of MDMANicole Friedli · 55 min
