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RecruitingEarly Phase 1

Psilocybin for Depression in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Alzheimer's Disease

NCT04123314 · Johns Hopkins University

Recruiting
Status
Accepting participants
Early Phase 1
Phase
20
Target enrolment
1
Study sites
1 US states

What it is testing

Summary

This open-label pilot study examines whether the hallucinogenic drug, psilocybin, given under supportive conditions, is safe and effective for depression in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This study will also assess whether psilocybin may improve quality of life in those individuals.

Summary as written by the trial’s own sponsor and published on ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. It is the sponsor’s description, reproduced unedited, not an assessment by this site.

What counts as success

Primary outcome measures

  • Change in Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) score

    Measured over Baseline and 1 week after second psilocybin session

A trial succeeds or fails on its primary outcome, declared in advance. Everything else it reports is secondary by definition.

Who can take part

Eligibility, as published

18 Years to 85 Years
Ages
All
Sex
Not accepted
Healthy volunteers
Inclusion Criteria: * Must meet either A) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5) criteria for Mild Neurocognitive Disorder due to AD or Major Neurocognitive Disorder due to AD with Mild severity (including probable), or B) meet criteria for MCI including a subjective memory complaint relative to previous functioning and confirmed by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Memory score at screening of \>0.5 * Have Mini-Mental State Examination scores \>18 * Have a Montreal Cognitive Assessment score \<26. * Have Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) patient score \>/= 6, or Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form score ≥ 5, indicating at minimum a mild to moderate degree of distress. * Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are allowed so long as the dose has been stable for \> 6 weeks. * Concurrent pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), and/or bupropion is allowed if the type and frequency of the therapy has been stable for at least two months prior to screening. Allowable bupropion doses for participants will be ≤300mg/day. * Have a close friend or family member willing and able to serve the role of community observer / informant for data collection procedures Exclusion Criteria: * Individuals 86 years of age or older will be excluded. * Currently taking antipsychotics, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, or antidepressant medications other than SSRIs, SNRIs, or bupropion. Allowable bupropion doses for participants will be ≤300mg/day. * Long-acting opioid pain medications (e.g. oxycodone sustained release, morphine sustained release - which are usually taken at 12 hour intervals) will be allowed if the last dose occurred at least 2 hours before psilocybin administration and the next dose was not scheduled until at least 8 hours after psilocybin administration. * Participants must agree not to take sildenafil, tadalafil, or similar medications within 72 hours of each psilocybin administration, as these medications may potentiate hypotensive reactions to psilocybin * Cardiovascular conditions: angina, a clinically significant ECG abnormality (e.g. atrial fibrillation or heart-rate corrected QT interval (QTc) \>450msec), Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) in the last 6 months, stroke, artificial heart valves, or uncontrolled hypertension with resting blood pressure systolic \>150 or diastolic \>95 * Minimum acceptable heartrate at screening is 50 bpm unless the individual is cleared for participation by a cardiologist, in accord with the American College of Cardiology's 2018 guidelines for bradycardia * Seizure disorder * Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus * Renal disease (creatinine clearance \< 40 ml/min using the Cockcroft and Gault equation) * Baseline liver enzyme elevation \>2x the upper limit of normal * Current or past history of meeting DSM-5 criteria for Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorder (unless substance-induced or due to a medical condition), or Bipolar I Disorder * Family (i.e., 1st degree relative) history of Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorder (unless substance-induced or due to a medical condition), or Bipolar I Disorder * Past-year hallucinogen use.

Where

1 study site

FacilityCityRegionCountry
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness ResearchBaltimoreMarylandUnited States

On the registry

Contact the trial directly

This site does not enrol anyone and is not involved in this trial. To ask about taking part, use the sponsor’s own contact details on the official registry record, which is also where the most current version of everything above lives.

Before you do, the preparation checklist lists what a site will ask you on a first call and what is worth asking them. It is free and collects nothing.

NCT04123314 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Last updated in the registry 2026-03-16. Registry records change; this page reflects the data build of 2026-08-25.

Related

Where this trial sits