Philipp Stämpfli

P Stämpfli is a neuroscientist whose work centres on human neuroimaging studies of serotonergic psychedelics, with a focus on receptor-level mechanisms and network dynamics underlying altered states of consciousness. Their contributions emphasise multimodal imaging and advanced connectivity analyses to characterise how 5-HT2A (and related serotonergic) receptor stimulation by compounds such as LSD and psilocybin changes brain-wide and thalamic connectivity, effective connectivity patterns, and electrophysiological indices of prediction error processing.

Stämpfli has been involved in studies using fMRI, simultaneous EEG–fMRI and dynamic causal modelling in healthy volunteer cohorts to probe both basic mechanisms and cognitive/behavioural consequences of psychedelic administration. Key projects attributed to them include work demonstrating that LSD-induced alterations in global and thalamic connectivity are attributable to 5-HT2A receptor activity; analyses of effective connectivity changes under LSD; investigations of serotonergic modulation of social exclusion processing; LSD-related changes in social adaptation to similar opinions; and a simultaneous EEG–fMRI study showing psilocybin-induced aberrant prediction-error processing to tactile mismatches. Methodologically, their profile reflects expertise in connectivity modelling, receptor-pharmacology-informed neuroimaging, and translational approaches linking neural dynamics to social and perceptual processes.