Common neural signatures of psychedelics : Frequency-specific energy changes and repertoire expansion revealed using connectome-harmonic decomposition Selen Atasoy, Jakub Vohryzek, Gustavo Deco, Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Morten L. Kringelbach Progress in Brain Research, 2018, Volume 242,97- https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.08.009 ISSN 0079-6123 © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Abstract The search for the universal laws of human brain function is still on-going but progress is being made. Here we describe the novel concepts of connectome harmonics and connectomeharmonic decomposition, which can be used to characterize the brain activity associated with any mental state. We use this new frequency-specific language to describe the brain activity elicited by psilocybin and LSD [...]
Lire la suiteHallucinogens and Their Therapeutic Use : A Literature Review Matthew J. BEGOLA, Jason E. SCHILLERSTROM Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 2019, 25, (5), 334–346 Doi : 10.1097/PRA.0000000000000409 The exploration of possible therapeutic benefitsof hallucinogenic substances has undergone a revitalization in the past decade. This literature review investigated the published literature regarding the psychotherapeutic uses of hallucinogens in psychiatric disorders. The results showed that a variety of substances have been evaluated in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including ayahuasca, ibogaine, ketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and psilocybin. The conditions treated ranged from depression to autism, with the largest volume of research dedicated to substance use disorders. [...]
Lire la suiteBook Review : The psychedelic religion of mystical consciousness, Rick Strassman William A. Richards Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences Columbia University Press, New York, 2016, 244 pp. Hardback ISBN: 978-0-231-17406-0 Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2018 Doi : 10.1556/2054.2018.003 With an extreme range of terms for psychedelic drugs – from “schizotoxic” to “entheogenic” – “psychedelic,” nonetheless remains the most salient one. These substances manifest or disclose aspects of the mind of those who take them as well as the mind of those who study them. Proponents for the innumerable terms for these drugs are all able to adduce supportive evidence. Necessarily, this evidence is a subjective experience, [...]
Lire la suiteReview of Sacred Knowledge : Psychedelics and Religious Experience William A. Richards New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2016. 269 pp. ISBN 978-0-231-17406-0 $29.95 Reviewed by Michael J. Winkelman http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040299 Abstract Reviews the book, Sacred knowledge: Psychedelics and religious experiences, by William A. Richards. Richards’s career of clinical research with psychedelics and professional formation in theology, comparative religion and the psychology of religion bring integrative perspectives to understanding psychedelic experiences. Clinical accounts, scientific research and his personal experiences with psychedelics enable Richards to address issues of core importance in religious studies, medicine and society in general. Clinical studies with psychedelics provide findings that contribute to assessment of [...]
Lire la suiteAyahuasca, Psychedelic Studies and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew Kenneth W. Tupper, and Beatriz C. Labate Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 2014, 7, 71-80 Abstract : This article offers critical sociological and philosophical reflections on ayahuasca and other psychedelics as objects of research in medicine, health and human sciences. It situates 21st century scientific inquiry on ayahuasca in the broader context of how early modern European social trends and intellectual pursuits translated into new forms of empiricism and experimental philosophy, but later evolved into a form of dogmatism that convenienced the political suppression of academic inquiry into [...]
Lire la suiteOf Roots and Fruits : A Comparison of Psychedelic and Non-psychedelic Mystical Experiences David B. Yaden, Khoa D. Le Nguyen, Margaret L. Kern, Alexander B. Belser, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, Jonathan Iwry, Mary E. Smith, Nancy A. Wintering, Ralph W. Hood Jr., and Andrew B. Newberg Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 2017, Vol. 57, (4), 338–353 DOI: 10.1177/0022167816674625 Abstract Experiences of profound existential or spiritual significance can be triggered reliably through psycho-pharmacological means using psychedelic substances. However, little is known about the benefits of religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences (RSMEs) prompted by psychedelic substances, as compared with those that occur through other means. In this study, 739 self-selected [...]
Lire la suite2018 : A Watershed Year for Psychedelic Science ? Jacob S. Aday, Christopher C. Davoli, & Emily K. Bloesch Article, ·August 2019 DOI: 10.1177/2050324519872284 Abstract While interest in the study of psychedelic drugs has increased over much of the last decade, in this article we argue that 2018 marked the true turning point for the field. Substantive advances in the scientific, public, and regulatory communities in 2018 significantly elevated the status and long-term outlook of psychedelic science, particularly in the United States. Advances in the scientific community can be attributed to impactful research applications of psychedelics as well as acknowledgement in preeminent journals. In the [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelics and the new behaviourism : considering the integration of third-wave behaviour therapies with psychedelic-assisted therapy REVIEW ARTICLE Zach Walsh and Michelle S. Thiessen INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF PSYCHIATRY, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2018.1474088 ABSTRACT This narrative review examines evidence related to the potential for third wave behaviour therapies to serve as adjuncts to psychedelic-assisted therapy. It identifies shared theoretical foundations for both approaches, and notes enhanced mindfulness, decentering, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance as common mechanisms of action. It also identifies potential targets for which both approaches have demonstrated therapeutic potential, including problematic substance use, self-directed and other directed violence, and mood disorders. Based on these commonalities, there is [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelic drugs in the treatment of anxiety, depression and addiction Tor-Morten KVAM, Lowan H. STEWART, Ole A. ANDREASSEN Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening, 2018. Doi : 10.4045/tidsskr.17.1110 B A C K G R O U N D There is growing interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental disorders. The drugs are considered safe when administered within a clinical framework. Older studies performed prior to 1970 had methodological shortcomings, but studies in recent years have shown promising results regarding the use of psychedelic drugs in unipolar depression, depression in life-threatening illness, anxiety and addiction. The aim of this literature review is [...]
Lire la suitePsilocybine mindfulness training modulates self-consciousness and brain default mode network connectivity with lasting effects SMIGIELSKI Lukasz, SCHEIDEGGER Milan, KOMETER Michael, VOLLENWEIDER Franz X. NeuroImage, 2019, 196, 207-215 Doi : 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.009 A B S T R A C T Both psychedelics and meditation exert profound modulatory effects on consciousness, perception and cognition, but their combined, possibly synergistic effects on neurobiology are unknown. Accordingly, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 38 participants following a single administration of the psychedelic psilocybin (315 μg/kg p.o.) during a 5-day mindfulness retreat. Brain dynamics were quantified directly pre- and post-intervention by functional magnetic resonance imaging during the resting state and [...]
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