Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation Johnson M.W., Garcia-Romeu A., Griffiths R.R. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2017, 43, (1), 55–60 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2016.1170135 Abstract Background : A recent open-label pilot study (N = 15) found that two to three moderate to high doses (20 and 30 mg/70 kg) of the serotonin 2A receptor agonist, psilocybin, in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation, resulted in substantially higher 6-month smoking abstinence rates than are typically observed with other medications or CBT alone. Objectives : To assess long-term effects of a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation program at ≥12 months after psilocybin administration. Methods : The present [...]
Lire la suiteUnifying Theories of Psychedelic Drug Effects Link R. Swanson Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018, Volume 9, Article 172, 1-23 www.frontiersin.org (2 March 2018) doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00172 Abstract How do psychedelic drugs produce their characteristic range of acute effects in perception, emotion, cognition, and sense of self? How do these effects relate to the clinical efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies? Efforts to understand psychedelic phenomena date back more than a century in Western science. In this article I review theories of psychedelic drug effects and highlight key concepts which have endured over the last 125 years of psychedelic science. First, I describe the subjective phenomenology of acute psychedelic effects using [...]
Lire la suiteThe tripping point : The potential role of psychedelic-assisted therapy in the response to the opioid crisis Elena Argento, Kenneth W. Tupper, M. Eugenia Socias International Journal of Drug Policy, 2019, 66, 80–81 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.11.006 0955-3959/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved A B S T R A C T The increasing contamination of the drug supply with illicitly manufactured fentanyl and related analogs in North America has resulted in the most severe drug-overdose crisis in history. Available pharmaco-therapy options for the treatment of opioid use disorder have had limited success in curbing the current crisis, and a growing body of evidence highlights the need for [...]
Lire la suiteEndocannabinoid Signaling and Synaptic Function Pablo E. Castillo, Thomas J. Younts, Andres E. Chavez, and Yuki Hashimotodani Neuron, Cell Press, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.09.020 Endocannabinoids are key modulators of synaptic function. By activating cannabinoid receptors expressed in the central nervous system, these lipid messengers can regulate several neural functions and behaviors. As experimental tools advance, the repertoire of known endocannabinoid-mediated effects at the synapse, and their underlying mechanism, continues to expand. Retrograde signaling is the principal mode by which endocannabinoids mediate short- and long-term forms of plasticity at both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. However, growing evidence suggests that endocannabinoids can also signal in a nonretrograde manner. [...]
Lire la suiteAssociations between Adolescent Cannabis Use and Neuropsychological Decline : A Longitudinal Co-Twin Control Study Madeline H. Meier, Avshalom Caspi, Andrea Danese, Helen L. Fisher, Renate Houts, Louise Arseneault, & Terrie E. Moffitt Addiction. 2018, 113, (2), 257-265. doi: 10.1111/add.13946. Abstract Aims : This study tested whether adolescents who used cannabis or met criteria for cannabis dependence showed neuropsychological impairment prior to cannabis initiation and neuropsychological decline from before to after cannabis initiation. Design : A longitudinal co-twin control study. Setting and Participants : Participants were 1,989 twins from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of twins born in England and Wales [...]
Lire la suite“Microdosers” of LSD and magic mushrooms are wiser and more creative. Anderson T., Petranker R. The Conversation, 2018 Available from: http://theconversation.com/microdosers-of-lsd-and-magicmushrooms- are-wiser-and-more-creative-101302 We just ran the first ever pre-registered scientific study on the microdosing of psychedelics and found some very promising results. We compared people who microdose — that is, who take a psychedelic substance such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) or “magic” mushrooms (psilocybin) in very small quantities — with those who don’t, and found that microdosers had healthier scores on key mental health and well-being measures. Specifically, we found that microdosers scored higher on measures of wisdom, open-mindedness and creativity. Microdosers also scored lower on measures [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelics in the treatment of unipolar mood disorders : a systematic review James J.H. Rucker, Luke A. Jelen, Sarah Flynn, Kyle D. Frowde and Allan H. Young Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016, 1-10 DOI: 10.1177/0269881116679368 Abstract Unipolar mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia), confer high rates of disability and mortality and a very high socioeconomic burden. Current treatment is suboptimal in most cases and there is little of note in the pharmaceutical development pipeline. The psychedelic drugs, including lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin, were used extensively in the treatment of mood disorders, and other psychiatric conditions, before their prohibition in the [...]
Lire la suiteAssociations between adolescent cannabis use frequency and adult brain structure : A prospective study of boys followed to adulthood. Madeline H. Meier, Roberta A. Schriber, Jordan Beardslee, Jamie Hanson, Dustin Pardini Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2019, 202, 191-199 Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V. PMID : 31357120 DOI : 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.05.012 Abstract BACKGROUND : Few studies have tested the hypothesis that adolescent cannabis users show structural brain alterations in adulthood. The present study tested associations between prospectively-assessed trajectories of adolescent cannabis use and adult brain structure in a sample of boys followed to adulthood. METHODS : Data came from the Pittsburgh Youth Study - a longitudinal [...]
Lire la suiteConsommer du cannabis à l’adolescence n’aurait pas d’impact sur la structure du cerveau à l’âge adulte 31 juillet 2019 Floriane Ramfos © DR La dangerosité du cannabis pour le développement neuronal des adolescents est un argument courant chez les partisans de la prohibition. Pourtant, selon une étude du Drug and Alcohol Dependence, la consommation de cannabis pendant l’adolescence n’est pas associée à des différences structurelles dans le cerveau à l’âge adulte. Méthodologie et résultats L’étude a été réalisée auprès de 1000 hommes, auxquels les chercheurs ont demandé de déclarer leur consommation de cannabis lorsqu’ils avaient entre 13 à 19 ans. Cela a permis aux scientifiques d’identifier différentes [...]
Lire la suiteEfficacy and Safety of Intranasal Esketamine for the Rapid Reduction of Symptoms of Depression and Suicidality in Patients at Imminent Risk for Suicide: Results of a Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study Carla M. Canuso, M.D., Jaskaran B. Singh, M.D., Maggie Fedgchin, Pharm.D., Larry Alphs, M.D., Ph.D., Rosanne Lane, M.A.S., Pilar Lim, Ph.D., Christine Pinter, M.S., David Hough, M.D., Gerard Sanacora, M.D., Ph.D., Husseini Manji, M.D., Wayne C. Drevets, M.D. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2018, 175, 620–630 doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17060720 Objective : The authors compared the efficacy of standardof- care treatment plus intranasal esketamine or placebo for rapid reduction of symptoms of major depression, including suicidality, among [...]
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