Katrin Preller
Neuroscientist and Clinical Researcher
Data updated
Research Footprint
Katrin Preller appears in 54 tracked papers (2013–2026), most studied alongside Psilocybin, LSD and MDMA, across Neuroimaging & Brain Measures, Healthy Volunteers and Depressive Disorders.
Most-cited paper: Psychedelic drugs: neurobiology and potential for treatment of psychiatric disorders (546 citations).
Frequent co-authors: Franz Vollenweider, Erich Seifritz and Rafael Kraehenmann.
Background & Research
Katrin H. Preller is a neuroscientist and clinical researcher whose work focuses on the neural and psychological mechanisms of classic psychedelics in humans. Her research brings together psychopharmacology, functional neuroimaging and careful behavioural phenotyping to understand how serotonergic psychedelics reshape large-scale brain networks and conscious experience. She has emphasised translational questions about receptor-specific action, the neural basis of altered states, and the implications for psychiatric disorders.
Preller's major contributions include experimental pharmacological–MRI studies demonstrating that LSD-induced changes in global and thalamic connectivity are attributable to 5-HT2A receptor activation, analyses of effective connectivity during LSD-induced altered states, and investigations of how psychedelics affect imagery, empathy and moral decision-making. Across this body of work she has helped clarify mechanistic links between receptor pharmacology, network-level brain dynamics and measurable changes in perception and social cognition, informing both basic science and the therapeutic rationale for psychedelic-assisted interventions.
Key Impact
A leading investigator in human psychedelic neuropharmacology, known for combining neuroimaging, pharmacological challenge, and behavioural assays to map how classic psychedelics alter brain connectivity and social cognition via the 5-HT2A receptor.
Collaboration Network
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Affiliations
Institutions, companies, and organisations Katrin Preller is associated with.
University of Zurich
academicJunior Group Leader, Department of Psychiatry
Within the 'Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics' at the University of Zurich, Dr Milan Scheidegger is leading a team conducting psychedelic research and therapy development. Researchers here are investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics to reverse maladaptive neurobehavioral patterns in stress-related mood disorders and to enhance psychotherapeutic learning capabilities.
View stakeholder →Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich
The Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich (PUK) is affiliated with the University of Zurich and home to Franz Vollenweider's pioneering psychedelic neuroscience group, active since the 1990s; research includes PET imaging with psilocybin, S- and R-ketamine, MDMA, and DMT+harmine formulations, including a completed 2023 RCT of psilocybin (0.215 mg/kg) vs. placebo for major depressive disorder.
View stakeholder →Yale University
academicVisiting Assistant Professor
In 2016, the 'Yale Psychedelic Science Group' was established as a forum where clinicians and scholars from across Yale can learn about and discuss the rapidly re-emerging field of psychedelic science and therapeutics in an academically rigorous manner. Research with psychedelics is also underway at Yale School of Medicine. A recent study at the university found that a single dose of psilocybin can cause structural changes in the brain that counteract symptoms of depression.
View stakeholder →