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Analysis of institutional authors

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July 2, 2024
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Do classic psychedelics increase the risk of seizures? A scoping review.

Publicated to:European Neuropsychopharmacology. 85 35-42 - 2024-06-24 85(), DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.05.002

Authors: Soto-Angona Ó; Fortea A; Fortea L; Martínez-Ramírez M; Santamarina E; López FJG; Knudsen GM; Ona G

Affiliations

Epilepsy Unit. Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. - Author
Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institute of Neuroscience, Barcelona, Spain. - Author
Neurobiology Research Unit, Rigshospitalet and Dept. Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. - Author
Neurology chief department, Hospital Universitari Sagrat Cor, Barcelona, Spain. - Author
Sociedad Española de Medicina Psicodélica (SEMPsi), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Institu - Author
Sociedad Española de Medicina Psicodélica (SEMPsi), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica-Institut d'Investigacions - Author
Sociedad Española de Medicina Psicodélica (SEMPsi), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. - Author
Sociedad Española de Medicina Psicodélica (SEMPsi), Barcelona, Spain; Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Medical Anthropology Research Center (MARC), Department of Anthropology, - Author
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Abstract

Seizures are a concerning adverse event frequently associated with the use of psychedelics, and hence, studies involving these substances tend to exclude patients with past history of epilepsy. This is especially relevant because epileptic seizures are markedly increased in the population suffering from mental disorders, and psychedelic assisted therapy is being researched as a promising treatment for several of them. To determine the extent of the current literature on the relationship between classic psychedelics and seizures, a scoping review was performed using the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). The search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Google scholar, LILACS and Scielo, and both animal and human models were included. A total of 16 publications on humans, and 11 on animals, were found. The results are heterogeneous, but globally suggest that psychedelics may not increase the risk of seizures in healthy individuals or animals in the absence of other drugs. However, concomitant use of other substances or drugs, such as kambo or lithium, could increase the risk of seizures. Additionally, these conclusions are drawn from data lacking sufficient external validity, so they should be interpreted with caution. Future paths for research and a summary on possible neurobiological underpinnings that might clarify the relationship between classical psychedelics and seizures are also provided.

Keywords

Adverse eventsDrug-related adverse reactionsEpilepsyHallucinogensPsychedelicsSeizures

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 32/310, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Neurosciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-07-12:

  • Scopus: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 8.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 11 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.6.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 4 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 1 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Denmark.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Oña Esteve, Genís).