Psilocybin – Summary of knowledge and new perspectives Filip Tylš, Tomáš Páleníček, Jiří Horáček European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2014, 24, 342–356 Doi : 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.12.006 Abstract Psilocybin, a psychoactive alkaloid contained in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is nowadays given a lot of attention in the scientific community as a research tool for modeling psychosis as well as due to its potential therapeutic effects. However, it is also a very popular and frequently abused natural hallucinogen. This review summarizes all the past and recent knowledge on psilocybin. It briefly deals with its history, discusses the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and compares its action in humans and animals. It attempts to describe the mechanism of psychedelic effects [...]
Lire la suiteAcute Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Healthy Subjects Yasmin Schmid, Florian Enzler, Peter Gasser, Eric Grouzmann, Katrin H. Preller, Franz X. Vollenweider, Rudolf Brenneisen, Felix Müller, Stefan Borgwardt, and Matthias E. Liechti Biological Psychiatry, 2014, Vol. 78, 8, 544-553 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.11.015 ABSTRACT BACKGROUND : After no research in humans for .40 years, there is renewed interest in using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in clinical psychiatric research and practice. There are no modern studies on the subjective and autonomic effects of LSD, and its endocrine effects are unknown. In animals, LSD disrupts prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, and patients with schizophrenia exhibit similar [...]
Lire la suiteSalvia divinorum : from recreational hallucinogenic use to analgesic and anti-inflammatory action Ulises Coffeen, Francisco Pellicer Journal of Pain Research, 2019, Volume 12, 1069-1076 DOI: 10.2147/JPR.S188619 Abstract : Salvia divinorum is a herbal plant native to the southwest region of Mexico. Traditional preparations of this plant have been used in illness treatments that converge with inflammatory conditions and pain. Currently, S. divinorum extracts have become popular in several countries as a recreational drug due to its hallucinogenic effects. Its main active component is a diterpene named salvinorin A (SA), a potent naturally occurring hallucinogen with a great affinity to the κ opioid receptors and with [...]
Lire la suitePsilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W. Johnson, William A. Richards, Brian D. Richards3, Robert Jesse, Katherine A. MacLean, Frederick S. Barrett, Mary P. Cosimano and Maggie A. Klinedinst Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2018, 32, 1, 49-69. DOI: 10.1177/0269881117731279 Abstract Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences with participant-attributed increases in well-being. However, little research has examined enduring changes in traits. This study administered psilocybin to participants who undertook a program of meditation/spiritual practices. Healthy participants were randomized to three groups (25 each): [...]
Lire la suiteMystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personnality domain of openness Katherine A. MacLean, Matthew W. Johnson and Roland R. Griffiths Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2011, 25, (11), 1453-1461. doi: 10.1177/0269881111420188. Abstract A large body of evidence, including longitudinal analyses of personality change, suggests that core personality traits are predominantly stable after age 30. To our knowledge, no study has demonstrated changes in personality in healthy adults after an experimentally manipulated discrete event. Intriguingly, double-blind controlled studies have shown that the classic hallucinogen psilocybin occasions personally and spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict longterm changes in behaviors, attitudes and values. In [...]
Lire la suitePsilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences : immediate and persisting dose-related effects Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W. Johnson, William A. Richards, Brian D. Richards, Una McCann, Robert Jesse Psychopharmacology, 2011 DOI 10.1007/s00213-011-2358-5 Abstract Rationale : This dose-effect study extends previous observations showing that psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior. Objectives : This double-blind study evaluated psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg, p.o.) administered under supportive conditions. Methods : Participants were 18 adults (17 hallucinogennaïve). Five 8-h sessions were conducted individually for each participant at 1-month intervals. Participants were randomized to receive the four active doses in either ascending or [...]
Lire la suiteThe administration of psilocybin to healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-functional magnetic resonnance imaging environment : a preliminary investigation of tolerability Robin L. Carhart-Harris et al., Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2010, 1-6 DOI: 10.1177/0269881110367445 Abstract This study sought to assess the tolerability of intravenously administered psilocybin in healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-magnetic resonance imaging environment as a preliminary stage to a controlled investigation using functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore the effects of psilocybin on cerebral blood flow and activity. The present pilot study demonstrated that up to 2 mg of psilocybin delivered as a slow intravenous injection produces short-lived but typical drug effects that [...]
Lire la suiteImplications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin R. L. Carhart-Harris, R. Leech, T. M. Williams, D. Erritzoe, N. Abbasi, T. Bargiotas, P. Hobden, D. J. Sharp, J. Evans, A. Feilding, R. G. Wise and D. J. Nutt British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012, 200, 238-244. Doi : 10.1192/bjp.bp.111.103309 Background Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic drug that has a history of use in psychotherapy. One of the rationales for its use was that it aids emotional insight by lowering psychological defences. Aims To test the hypothesis that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions by comparing subjective and neural responses to positive [...]
Lire la suiteNeural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybine Robin L. Carhart-Harris, David Erritzoe, Tim Williams, James M. Stone, Laurence J. Reed, Alessandro Colasanti, Robin J. Tyacke, Robert Leech, Andrea L. Malizia, Kevin Murphy, Peter Hobden, John Evans, Amanda Feilding, Richard G. Wise, and David J. Nutt PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012, 109, (6), 2138-2143. doi:10.1073/pnas.1119598109 www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1119598109/-/DCSupplemental. Abstract Psychedelic drugs have a long history of use in healing ceremonies, but despite renewed interest in their therapeutic potential, we continue to know very little about howthey work in the brain. Here we used psilocybin, a classic [...]
Lire la suiteFlashback : Psychiatric Experimentation With LSD in Historical Perspective Erika Dyck Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 2005, Vol 50, No 7, 381-388. Doi : 10.1177/070674370505000703 In the popular mind, d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) research in psychiatry has long been associated with the CIA-funded experiments conducted by Ewen Cameron at the Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec. Despite this reputation, a host of medical researchers in the post–World War II era explored LSD for its potential therapeutic value. Some of the most widespread trials in the Western world occurred in Saskatchewan, under the direction of psychiatrists Humphry Osmond (in Weyburn) and Abram Hoffer (in Saskatoon). These [...]
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