Research into psilocybin continues to expand, with scientists investigating its effects far beyond the psychedelic experience for which it is best known.
Now, a study published in Science on 3 September 2026 has reported a particularly interesting finding: in preclinical models, psilocybin appeared to protect nerves against damage caused by chemotherapy.
The research, led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, investigated chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and uncovered a potential neuroprotective mechanism involving the movement of mitochondria within nerve cells.
So, what exactly did they find?
What is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy?
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN, is nerve damage caused by certain chemotherapy drugs.
It can result in symptoms including numbness, tingling, pain, increased sensitivity to cold and loss of sensation. In some patients these effects can persist after cancer treatment has finished.
Severe neuropathy can also affect balance and mobility and may result in doctors having to alter cancer treatment.
Finding ways to prevent the nerve damage before it occurs is therefore an important area of research.
Where does psilocybin come in?
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain species of fungi and has become the subject of increasing scientific interest.
For this study, researchers investigated what happened when psilocybin was administered before chemotherapy.
The results were striking.
In the preclinical models studied, as few as two doses of psilocybin before chemotherapy prevented the development of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
The researchers observed protection of sensory nerve endings, preservation of touch sensation and prevention of increased sensitivity to cold.
These effects continued even across repeated chemotherapy cycles involving drugs including cisplatin, paclitaxel and docetaxel.
It wasn’t simply masking pain
One of the particularly interesting aspects of the research is that psilocybin didn’t appear simply to change the perception of pain.
Researchers found evidence that it was actually protecting the nerves themselves.
To understand how, we need to look at mitochondria.
The mitochondrial connection
Mitochondria are tiny structures within our cells responsible for producing energy.
Nerve cells present an unusual logistical problem: some nerve fibres are extremely long, so mitochondria need to be transported along them to ensure distant nerve endings receive enough energy to function.
The researchers found that chemotherapy disrupted this mitochondrial movement.
When mitochondria could no longer travel effectively through the nerve fibres, vulnerable nerve endings could be deprived of the energy they required.
Psilocybin appeared to preserve this mitochondrial trafficking, helping maintain energy availability at the nerve endings.
The researchers linked this effect to signalling involving the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor.
What about chemotherapy’s effect on cancer?
This was another crucial question.
Protecting healthy nerves would be of little use if the intervention also protected cancer cells from chemotherapy.
In tumour-bearing experimental models, however, researchers reported that psilocybin did not impair the anti-tumour activity of chemotherapy.
The chemotherapy continued to reduce tumour size.
Researchers also tested a non-hallucinogenic compound that activates the same serotonin receptor pathway and observed similar nerve-protective effects.
That raises an intriguing possibility: the mechanism responsible for the neuroprotection may not necessarily depend upon the psychedelic effects associated with psilocybin.
Has this been proven in humans?
No — and this distinction is extremely important.
This study provides preclinical evidence.
While the research included experiments involving human sensory neurons and freshly isolated human peripheral nerve tissue, it has not established that giving psilocybin to cancer patients prevents chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Findings from laboratory and animal studies do not always translate into effective treatments for humans.
Clinical research is therefore the essential next step.
What happens next?
A Phase II clinical trial is now approved to investigate whether psilocybin-assisted therapy can prevent or reduce chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients receiving chemotherapy for breast, colorectal, or head and neck cancers.
Researchers will examine not only neuropathy, but measures including quality of life, pain, sleep, fatigue, functional status and cancer-treatment adherence.
It will be fascinating to see whether the neuroprotective effects observed in the preclinical research can be replicated in people.
Another fascinating direction for psilocybin research
Much of the public conversation surrounding psilocybin research has focused on the brain and mental health.
This study explores something rather different: the possibility that serotonin signalling involving psilocybin could directly help protect peripheral nerves by maintaining their cellular energy supply.
It doesn’t mean that psilocybin is a treatment for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.
But it does give researchers a compelling new biological mechanism to investigate — and another reminder of how much there still is to discover about fungi and the compounds associated with them.
Read the research
Published: Science, 3 September 2026
DOI: 10.1126/science.aec6116
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Important: This article reports on scientific research for educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and should not be interpreted as suggesting that psilocybin or any OnlySpores product can prevent, diagnose or treat cancer, chemotherapy side effects or any other medical condition.
