Matt is a specialist registrar in psychiatry and a Wellcome Doctoral Clinical Research Fellow with an interest in neuropsychiatry, psychopharmacology, and non-pharmacological treatment effects. He joined King’s College London in 2019 as an Academic Clinical Fellow and has since published widely in peer-reviewed journals. He is currently undertaking a neuroimaging study into the effects of the psychedelic psilocybin in functional neurological disorder. He holds MBChB (Hons) and MRes (Dist) from the University of Manchester and is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is the editor of the upcoming edition of Pocket Prescriber Psychiatry.

Research Interests:

• Neuropsychiatry
• Functional neurological disorder
• Psychopharmacology
• Non-pharmacological treatment effects (e.g. placebo, expectancy)

Research Groups:

• Neuropsychiatry Research & Education Group (NREG)

Teaching: 

Tutor on the MSc Neuropsychiatry course and lecturer on the iBSc Abnormal Psychology course.

Expertise and Public Engagement: 

Matt's work has appeared in national newspapers and televised news bulletins.

Key Publications: 

1. Butler M, Jelen L, Rucker J. (2022) Expectancy in trials of psychedelic substances: if so, so what? Psychopharmacology.
2. Butler M, Seynaeve M et al. (2022) Views on Using Psychoactive Substances to Self-Manage Functional Neurological Disorder: Online Patient Survey Results. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
3. Butler M et al. (2022) Emerging Knowledge of the Neurobiology of COVID-19 infection. Psychiatric Clinics of North America.
4. Butler M, Scott F, Stanton B, Rogers J. (2021) Against the Stream: Psychiatrists should investigate their patients less. BJPsych Bulletin.
5. Butler M & Arina Tamborska et al. (2021) Considerations for causality assessment of neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: from cerebral venous sinus thrombosis to functional neurological disorder. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
6. Butler M et al. (2021) International online survey of 1048 individuals with functional neurological disorder. European Journal of Neurology.
7. Butler M et (2021) Functional neurological disorder after SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: two case reports and discussion of potential public health implications. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
8. Butler M, Pollak TA, Rooney AG, Michael BD, Nicholson TR. (2020) Neuropsychiatric complications of covid-19. British Medical Journal.
9. Butler M et al. (2020) Psychedelic treatment of functional neurological disorder: a systematic review. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology.