USC Launches Groundbreaking Study on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with Mindfulness

The University of Southern California has launched its first study on psychedelic-assisted therapy. Backed by the federal ARPA-H agency under the EVIDENT program, the research explores how psilocybin and mindfulness may work together to improve mental health. It marks a significant step in understanding rapid-acting behavioural interventions. The trial will involve around 72 healthy adults from Los Angeles. None of the participants have prior experience with psychedelics or formal meditation. They will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: supervised psilocybin-assisted therapy alone or psilocybin combined with a structured mindfulness programme.

Researchers will use a wide range of assessments to track biological and cognitive changes. These include blood, saliva, stool samples, EEG scans, and fMRI neuroimaging. The study aims to map how the combined therapy affects the brain’s default mode network and areas linked to self-narrative processing.

The team also seeks to identify the biological pathways influencing self-processing, inflammation, and cognitive plasticity. Follow-up evaluations will occur at three months, six months, and one year after treatment to measure lasting effects. The findings could pave the way for personalised, fast-acting mental health treatments. By tracking long-term outcomes, the study may reveal how mindfulness sustains the benefits of psilocybin therapy. This could inform future approaches to behavioural health interventions.