A century of research on psychedelics: A scientometric analysis on trends and knowledge maps of hallucinogens, entactogens, entheogens and dissociative drugs

Marco Solmi; Chaomei Chen; Charles Daure; Anne Buot; Michael Ljuslin; Vincent Verroust; Luc Mallet; Yasser Khazaal; Stephane Rothen; Gabriel Thorens; Daniele Zullino; Gabriella Gobbi; Joshua Rosenblat; Muhammad Ishrat Husain; Danilo De Gregorio; David Castle; Michel Sabé

doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.09.004

A century of research on psychedelics: A scientometric analysis on trends and knowledge maps of hallucinogens, entactogens, entheogens and dissociative drugs

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2022 Nov:64:44-60. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.09.004. Epub 2022 Sep 30.

Authors

Marco Solmi¹, Chaomei Chen², Charles Daure³, Anne Buot⁴, Michael Ljuslin⁵, Vincent Verroust⁶, Luc Mallet⁷, Yasser Khazaal⁸, Stephane Rothen⁹, Gabriel Thorens⁹, Daniele Zullino⁹, Gabriella Gobbi¹⁰, Joshua Rosenblat¹¹, Muhammad Ishrat Husain¹², Danilo De Gregorio¹³, David Castle¹⁴, Michel Sabé¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Mental Health, The Ottawa Hospital, Ontario, Canada; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) Clinical Epidemiology Program University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
² College of Computing & Informatics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Université de Paris, INSERM UMRS1144, 4 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75006 Paris, France.
⁴ Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, France; Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
⁵ Palliative Medicine Division, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Centre d'histoire des sciences, des sociétés et des conflits, Université Picardie Jules-Vernes, Amiens, France; UR PsyComAdd, hôpital Paul Brousse, Villejuif, France.
⁷ Univ Paris-Est Créteil, DMU IMPACT, Département Médical-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor - Albert Chenevier, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Créteil, France; Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France; Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, Global Health Institute, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Addiction Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital and Lausanne University, Switzerland Bugnon 23 a, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁹ Division of Addiction Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, 70, Grand-Pré, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University Health Center, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, Poul Hansen Family Centre for Depression, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, ON, Canada; Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
¹² Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Division of Neuroscience, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132, Milan, Italy.
¹⁴ Centre for Complex Interventions, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
¹⁵ Division of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Thonex, Switzerland. Electronic address: michel.sabe@hcuge.ch.

PMID: 36191546
DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.09.004

Abstract

A scientometric analysis was realized to outline clinical research on psychedelics over the last century. Web of Science Core Collection was searched up to March 18, 2022, for publications on psychedelics. Network analyses and bibliometrics were combined, to identify research themes and trends with Bibliometrix and CiteSpace. The primary aim was to measure research trends evolution over time, and the secondary aims were to identify bibliometric performance and influence networks of publications, authors, institutions, and countries. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for 2016-2022, and 2021 time periods. We included 31,687 documents (591,329 references), which aggregated into a well-structured network with credible clustering. Research productivity was split into an early less productive period mainly focusing on safety issues, and a "psychedelic renaissance" after the 1990s. Major trends were identified for hallucinogens/entheogens, entactogens, novel psychoactive substances (NPS), and on dissociative substances. There was a translational evolution from the bench to the bedside, with phase 2 and 3 trials and/or evidence synthesis in particular. The most recent trends concerned NPS, ketamine-associated brain changes, and ayahuasca-assisted psychotherapy. The USA and Canada were the most productive settings for the research overall, and more recently this geographical distribution became more prominent, reflecting legislative context/policy making. A translational evolution of psychedelics has been occurring, that has brought approval of esketamine for depression and will likely lead to approval of additional psychedelics across mental and physical conditions. Toxicology screening tools for NPS are urgently needed, which in turn might follow the same translational evolution of psychedelics in the future.

Keywords: Bibliometrix; CiteSpace; Evidence synthesis; Mood disorders; New psychoactive substances; Therapeutic.

Publication types

Review