Neuropsychopharmacology
March 27, 2026
Kade L Huckstep, Billi Newton, Grace Bailey et al.
Comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use is common and mutually-reinforcing, yet there are no pharmacological strategies that specifically target trauma-linked escalation of alcohol intake. We evaluated whether 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), given in a therapy-adjunctive fashion (30 min before fear extinction), could facilitate extinction of...
Journal of Affective Disorders
July 17, 2025
Alene Sze Jing Yong, Sue E Brennan, Suzie Bratuskins et al.
3 citations
Despite recent clinical and research interest, medical use of psychedelics has not been legalised in most jurisdictions. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration rescheduled methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in July 2023 to permit authorised prescribing of MDMA for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) outside of the clinical trial setting. This manuscript describes the development of...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
October 21, 2022
James J Gattuso, Daniel Perkins, Simon Ruffell et al.
233 citations
Abstract Psychedelics are a unique class of drug that commonly produce vivid hallucinations as well as profound psychological and mystical experiences. A grouping of interconnected brain regions characterized by increased temporal coherence at rest have been termed the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN has been the focus of numerous studies assessing its role in self-referencing, mind...
Neurochemistry International
May 2017
Linda D Mercer, Gavin C Higgins, Chew L Lau et al.
Toxicity of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) towards biogenic amine neurons is well documented and in primate brain predominantly affects serotonin (5-HT) neurons. MDMA induces damage of 5-HT axons and nerve fibres and intracytoplasmic inclusions. Whilst its pathobiology involves mitochondrially-mediated oxidative stress, we hypothesised MDMA possessed the capacity to activate...
Addiction Biology
September 1, 2006
David H Overstreet, Amir H Rezvani, Michael Cowen et al.
19 citations
The Fawn-Hooded rat (FH/Wjd) is an inbred alcohol-preferring rat strain, unlike most of the other strains that were selectively bred for high alcohol intake and preference. It was chosen for study some 16 years ago because of a reported mutation that disrupted platelet serotonin function. Although the FH/Wjd rat has high alcohol intake (>5 g/kg/day) and preference (>65%), interbreeding with an...