Psychedelics and music : neuroscience and therapeutic implications Frederick S. Barrett, Katrin H. Preller & Mendel Kaelen International Review of Psychiatry, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2018.1484342 ABSTRACT From the beginning of therapeutic research with psychedelics, music listening has been consistently used as a method to guide or support therapeutic experiences during the acute effects of psychedelic drugs. Recent findings point to the potential of music to support meaning-making, emotionality, and mental imagery after the administration of psychedelics, and suggest that music plays an important role in facilitating positive clinical outcomes of psychedelic therapy. This review explores the history of, contemporary research on, and future directions regarding the use [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelics : Where we are now, why we got here, what we must do Sean J. Belouin, Jack E. Henningfield Neuropharmacology, 2018, 142, 7e19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.02.018 a b s t r a c t The purpose of this commentary is to provide an introduction to this special issue of Neuropharmacology with a historical perspective of psychedelic drug research, their use in psychiatric disorders, research restricting regulatory controls, and their recent emergence as potential breakthrough therapies for several brain-related disorders. It begins with the discovery of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and its promising development as a treatment for several types of mental illnesses during the 1940s. This was [...]
Lire la suiteIncreased amygdala responses to emotional faces after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression Leor Roseman, Lysia Demetriou, Matthew B. Wall, David J. Nutt, Robin L. Carhart-Harris Neuropharmacology, 2018, 142, 263e269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.041 Abstract Recent evidence indicates that psilocybin with psychological support may be effective for treating depression. Some studies have found that patients with depression show heightened amygdala responses to fearful faces and there is reliable evidence that treatment with SSRIs attenuates amygdala responses (Ma, 2015). We hypothesised that amygdala responses to emotional faces would be altered post treatment with psilocybin. In this open-label study, 20 individuals diagnosed with moderate to severe, treatment-resistant depression, underwent two separate dosing [...]
Lire la suitePsychiatry & the psychedelic drugs. Past, present & future James J.H. Rucker, Jonathan Iliff, David J. Nutt Neuropharmacology, 2018, 142, 200e218 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.12.040 a b s t r a c t The classical psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide and mescaline, were used extensively in psychiatry before they were placed in Schedule I of the UN Convention on Drugs in 1967. Experimentation and clinical trials undertaken prior to legal sanction suggest that they are not helpful for those with established psychotic disorders and should be avoided in those liable to develop them. However, those with so-called ‘psychoneurotic’ disorders sometimes benefited considerably from their tendency to [...]
Lire la suiteChapter 8 : Pilgrimage to the Light ? On the Threshold of a Dream: Sacred Plants, Passionate Dedication to Ideals, and Healing Richard Yensen January 2015 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282132139 The desire to incorporate ancient healing practices with sacred plants into modern medicine has been a central passion of my career as a clinician and psychedelic researcher for over 40 years. During that time Mexico has offered me friendship, collegiality, adventure, and wonder. At times I have felt when visiting first Nations in Mexico like I was stepping back into ancient times. The wonder and honor of knowing Maria Sabina, Don Ricardo, Niuweme, and other healers and [...]
Lire la suiteResearch ethics aspects of experimentation with LSD on human subjects : a historical and ethical review Bodnár Kristóf János, Kakuk Péter Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy © Springer Nature B.V. 2018 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-018-9871-9 Abstract In this paper our aim is to examine whether research conducted on human participants with LSD-25 (lysergic acid diethylamide) raises unique research ethical questions or demands particular concerns with regard to the design, conduct and follow-up of these studies, and should this be the case, explore and describe those issues. Our analysis is based on reviewing publications up to date which examine the clinical, research and other uses of LSD and those addressing [...]
Lire la suiteSome distorted thoughts about ketamine as a psychedelic and a novel hypothesis based on NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic plasticity Rachael Ingram, Heather Kang, Stafford Lightman, David E. Jane, Zuner A. Bortolotto, Graham L. Collingridge, David Lodge, Arturas Volianskis Neuropharmacology, 2018, 142, 30e40 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.06.008 Abstract Ketamine, a channel blocking NMDA receptor antagonist, is used off-label for its psychedelic effects, which may arise from a combination of several inter-related actions. Firstly, reductions of the contribution of NMDA receptors to afferent information from external and internal sensory inputs may distort sensations and their processing in higher brain centres. Secondly, reductions of NMDA receptormediated excitation of GABAergic interneurons can result in [...]
Lire la suiteThe Varieties of Psychedelic Epistemology Chris Letheby Published in N. Wyrd, D. Luke, A. Tollan, C. Adams, and D. King (eds.) : "Psychedelicacies: more food for thought from Breaking Convention", Strange Attractor Press, 2019. INTRODUCTION Is it possible to gain knowledge1 by taking psychedelic2 drugs? One influential answer is ‘yes’: according to this conception, by inducing mystical states of consciousness, psychedelics afford direct knowledge of supernatural, transcendent dimensions of reality. This is an entheogenic conception of the drugs as agents that “generate the divine within”. A second influential answer is ‘no’: since materialism or physicalism3 is true, there are no transcendent realities, and psychedelics [...]
Lire la suiteEmerging from the dark side : new therapeutic applications of scheduled psychoactive substances Edward James, Thomas L. Robertshaw & Andrew D. Westwell Future medicinal chemistry, February 2019 Doi : 10.4155/fmc-2018-0447 Keywords : harm reduction • healthcare • MDMA • positive psychology • psilocybin • psychoactive • psychotherapy The discovery and development of new medicines occupies years of painstaking and expensive scientific work, with multidisciplinary teams working together in the hope of developing a new chemical entity that outperforms the current standard of care within the chosen disease setting. Once optimized in the laboratory and achieving acceptable regulatory preclinical benchmarks, years of clinical evaluation are required [...]
Lire la suiteWhy Psychiatry Needs 3,4 Methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine : A Child Psychiatrist’s Perspective Ben SESSA Neurotherapeutics, 2017, 14, (3), 741-749. doi:10.1007/s13311-017-0531-1 Abstract Since the late 1980s the psychoactive drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has had a well-known history as the recreationally used drug ecstasy. What is less well known by the public is that MDMA started its life as a therapeutic agent and that in recent years an increasing amount of clinical research has been undertaken to revisit the drug’s medical potential. MDMA has unique pharmacological properties that translate well to its proposed agent to assist trauma-focused psychotherapy. Psychological trauma—especially that which arises early in life from child abuse—underpins many [...]
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