Feilding's new research will map the neuroscience of the ‘mystical experience’, as well as the effects of microdosing LSD on Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Her contribution to science will be honored this week with the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Pioneer Award at the United Nations in New York.

The Beckley Foundation, founded and led by Amanda Feilding, who has been at the forefront of scientific research into psychoactive substances and global drug policy reform for the past 50 years, has announced her new program of research, which includes a pioneering study with Kings College London and UCL investigating the effects of full dose LSD, as well as a breakthrough study with Basel University investigating microdosing LSD for Alzheimer’s.

The Beckley/Kings College study will investigate the brain changes that occur during the so-called ‘mystical’ experience – a profound sense of connection, or unity, which can occur following ingestion of high doses of psychedelic compounds. Crucially, this experience has been shown to be positively associated with the therapeutic benefits brought about by psychedelic-assisted therapy.  

The new research, developed by Feilding in collaboration with leading neuroimaging experts from King’s College London and UCL, will leverage the latest neuroimaging technology to scan the brain with an unprecedented degree of detail, revealing the subtle changes of brain states occurring at the time of existential and transformational insights, and will expand our understanding of the neurobiology of consciousness.  

Feilding is also collaborating with specialist physicians at the University of Basel – the city in which Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD – in the design of a new clinical trial examining the therapeutic potential of microdosing LSD for the treatment of apathy and depression in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

One other study with Cornell University will use advanced optical imaging to investigate how LSD alters cerebral blood flow, and the connection between neurons and their associated network of blood vessels. These three studies form part of the larger multi-armed research program, which makes use of the latest generation of neuroimaging technologies.

The announcement coincides with Feilding’s acceptance of the Science Pioneer Award for the official Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) on November 19th. Feilding will be the first psychedelics leader to be honored with the prestigious award.  

Feilding said: “I have long been fascinated by the mechanisms underlying the profound shift in consciousness that psychedelics bring about, and, in 1998, I instituted the Beckley Foundation in order to develop the best possible research to address this fascinating domain of inquiry.  In 2008, I initiated the Beckley/Imperial Psychedelic Research Programme, as part of which we conducted a number of landmark studies that contributed to propelling psychedelics from the taboo terrain — where they had been imprisoned since the late 1960s— to their current status as the newest, most promising treatments in psychiatry. Our breakthrough studies included the first use of psilocybin for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression The results were published in 2016 to worldwide acclaim and led to the founding of the first unicorn company.” However, Feilding continues: “There are still a lot of unanswered questions to be addressed in order to better harvest the potential of these incredible compounds.”

In addition to new research, Feilding also recently launched Beckley Retreats with co-founder and CEO, Neil Markey, and her son, Rock Feilding-Mellen, in order to integrate the deep knowledge and science of the Beckley Foundation into legal, professional and accessible psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands and Jamaica. Learn more about Beckley Retreats here: www.beckleyretreats.com.

About  

Founded by Amanda Feilding in 1998, the Beckley Foundation is a think tank and UN -accredited NGO at the forefront of global drug policy reform and scientific research into psychoactive substances. Feilding has co-authored 80+ peer-reviewed studies, and was a friend of and thought-partner to psychedelic pioneers like Albert Hofmann, Sasha and Ann Shulgin, Terence McKenna, and many others. She’s been dubbed everything from ‘The Countess of Psychedelics’ (WIRED) to the “Queen of Psychedelics” (The Economist) and “Queen of Consciousness” (The Telegraph).  

Through her leadership of the Beckley Foundation’s Science Programme, Amanda has collaborated with leading scientists and institutions around the world for over 20 years to design and direct a wide range of scientific research projects (including ground-breaking clinical trials) investigating the effects of psychoactive substances on brain function, subjective experience, and clinical symptoms, with a focus on cannabis, the psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, 5-MEO-DMT) and MDMA. With the Beckley/Imperial Psychedelic Program, she was behind the first study to demonstrate the benefits of psilocybin to treat treatment-resistant depression, published in 2016. This pioneering research has not only shed light on the mechanism s of action and therapeutic potential of these substances, but also on consciousness itself.  This has led to a groundswell of interest in, and recognition of, the possible benefits that careful use of these extraordinary compounds can bring.