Writing in Dutch for Scientias.nl, Andrei Stiru reports on a replication effort in which five groups from UC Berkeley, UCSF and Stanford gave mice the same psilocybin dose and ran identical behavioural tests. One day later the treated mice did not differ from controls in anxiety, depression-like behaviour or sociability, and an earlier reported restoration of social interest was not reproduced.

Two labs saw a favourable result on one depression test while three did not, which shows how single small studies can mislead. Psychologist Michiel van Elk of Leiden University says positive results are easier to publish and animal models are not yet valid enough. The study does not show the drug fails in people. It is a good lesson in replication.

Source: Andrei Stiru, Scientias.nl (Dutch) (2026-11-03)

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.