Neurosensory Research Foundation

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

Psychedelics are going mainstream. But are we ignoring the risks?

10/05/2026

Some people may be predisposed to HPPD due to a latent psychiatric condition. Others took 2 high a dose but to dismiss the severity of this condition is wrong as is discounting the need to research it regardless how it happened.

10/05/2026

Visual snow syndrome, affecting an estimated 2-3% of people, is a neurological perception disorder rather than an eye problem. Researchers believe it originates in the brain's visual cortex, which may be unusually hyperexcitable and generate its own visual static. The condition also involves differences in serotonin networks and impaired sensory filtering, leading to a "visual uncertainty" hypothesis where the brain struggles to separate real signals from internal noise. People with visual snow are also more prone to pareidolia, suggesting broader changes in how the brain interprets ambiguous information. There's no cure, but the condition is helping scientists understand how the brain constructs reality.

Do you see a world permanently overlaid with static?

10/05/2026

I was born with this neurological issue. I am 62 years old, and throughout my lifetime, I have told doctors that I see flickering dots of colored light. I wa...

09/29/2026

Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine have identified a naturally occurring peptide called catestatin (CST) that shows promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. In mouse models, CST reduced the accumulation of abnormal proteins (tau and amyloid), decreased brain inflammation, and improved both cognitive and motor function.‌

Key details:
• Multi-pathway action: Unlike many experimental treatments that target a single protein or pathway, CST appears to influence multiple biological processes involved in neuronal function, inflammation, and protein homeostasis—potentially valuable for complex disorders like Alzheimer's where several mechanisms interact.‌
• Origin: CST is derived from chromogranin A, a protein involved in cellular signaling and hormone/neurotransmitter storage. Previous research has linked CST to cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune regulation.‌
• Future direction: Researchers are also investigating whether CST can alter how the brain produces and uses energy, potentially making neurons more resilient to cellular stress during neurodegeneration.‌
Important caveat: The findings are preclinical. Additional studies are needed to establish CST's safety, optimal dosing, and effectiveness before it can be evaluated as a human treatment.‌

The study was led by Sushil K. Mahata, PhD, and published in the journal Molecular Therapy.‌

UC San Diego researchers find naturally occurring peptide catestatin reduces tau and amyloid buildup, eases brain inflammation and improves function in preclinical models of neurodegeneration. Findings suggest new paths to treating Alzheimer's and related diseases.

09/28/2026

Magic mushrooms temporarily change how different parts of your brai...

09/24/2026

Prevalence-focused revision

The study is the largest retrospective cohort to date on hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), using TriNetX electronic health records to compare 25,778 HPPD patients with population controls and psychedelic-using controls. Importantly, it does not provide a true general-population prevalence estimate for HPPD; the 25,778 figure is a clinical cohort count, not a population prevalence.

Prevalence of comorbid conditions before HPPD diagnosis:

· Depressive episodes: 29.2%
· Anxiety disorders: 26.2%
· Chronic pain: 15.9%
· Headache syndromes: 14.7%
· Post-viral fatigue: 12.3%
· Fibromyalgia: 6.7%
· ADHD: 6.6%

Anxiety and functional somatic syndromes were significantly more prevalent in HPPD patients than in psychedelic-using controls. Among psychedelic users, pre-existing anxiety (OR 1.5) and post-viral fatigue (OR 1.9) predicted later HPPD diagnosis.

After diagnosis, HPPD was associated with higher subsequent prevalence/risk of functional somatic syndromes (OR 2.0) and psychiatric disorders (OR 1.4) compared with psychedelic-using controls. Neurodegenerative disorders were recorded in 2.3% of HPPD patients vs. 1.2% of population controls.

Bottom line: In this clinical cohort, HPPD co-occurs with a high prevalence of anxiety, depression, pain, headache, fatigue, and functional somatic syndromes. However, because the study relies on EHR diagnoses and a selected clinical sample, the true prevalence of HPPD in the general population or among all psychedelic users remains unknown.

An that’s a problem…

Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is characterised by episodes of altered perception linked to past psychoactive drug use, accompanied by distress and functional impairment. To date, clinical characterisation has been limited in scale. Using TriNetX, a global federated health resear...

09/05/2026

UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change their behavior depending on how they process glucose and on physical contact with signals arriving from the thalamus. Those signals can alter which types of neurons are produced, including upper-layer neurons that are especially prominent in humans.

UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change their behavior depending on how they process glucose and on physical contact with signals arriving fr...

09/04/2026

A patient in their 60s with advanced macular degeneration complicated by bilateral geographic atrophy presented with new-onset visual disturbances shortly after initiation of bupropion for depression.