Expanding the Lens: Mechanisms, Models & Modes - Transdiagnostic Potential of Psychedelic Medicines

Psychedelics are increasingly recognized for their transdiagnostic therapeutic potential, affecting core neural processes that underlie a wide range of conditions beyond traditional psychiatric diagnoses. From PTSD and major depression to cluster headaches, phantom-limb pain, and long Covid, these compounds appear to act on fundamental mechanisms of brain and nervous system function. Multiple models have emerged to explain how psychedelics facilitate such wide-ranging effects—including enhanced neuroplasticity, reflexive learning, psychological reframing, anti-inflammatory action, epigenetic encoding, amplified adjunctive therapies, and structural restoration of neural networks.This panel brings together leading researchers to explore points of convergence and divergence among these models. Do they represent competing or complementary mechanisms? How do they interpret changes in sensory processing, cortical reorganization, and neural stability? By examining these questions, the panel will highlight how understanding the underlying pathways of psychedelic action can inform more precise, cross-disciplinary treatment strategies—and expand the therapeutic horizon far beyond the silo of mental health.