Sep 14, 2023

Mugglehead Magazine Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation launches $4.4M psychedelics mental health initiative Funds will be used to study psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapy; non-profit says Sweden needs to ‘catch up’ in this area of research By Psilocybe semilanceata (liberty cap) psychoactive mushrooms in Sweden. Photo by Arp via Wikimedia Commons A Swedish non-profit is investing €3.3 million in psychedelics research so the country can become a more established influence in the field. The Norrsken Foundation announced the creation of the Norrsken Mind: Psychedelic Science Initiative on Wednesday, which will be focused on investigating the potential of psychoactive substances for the treatment of mental health conditions. The funds will initially be utilized for studies on psilocybin and MDMA-assisted therapy at the Karolinska Institutet, a prestigious medical school in Stockholm and Umeå University — a public research institute in northern Sweden. The foundation hopes these studies will provide it with insight into cognitive and neurobiological changes linked to psilocybin therapy and the efficacy of MDMA for treating depression in young adults. Norrsken says the study being planned on MDMA would be the first of its kind in the country and that Norrsken Mind was created to help the country “catch up” to the rest of the world in psychedelics research, a rapidly developing field with significant implications for mental health. “There are plenty of interested researchers in Sweden and across Europe, and with the right funding and conditions in place, we can help them investigate more effective treatment options, accelerate psychedelic research, and ensure that Sweden does not stay behind the rest of the world,” said Norrsken Mind’s Managing Director Emma Christersson. Through fundraising and grant opportunities, we will catalyse more research in Sweden and across Europe to improve the understanding of psychedelic-assisted treatments, including their potential risks and effectiveness.