Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
April 11, 2016
Robin Carhart-Harris, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Leor Roseman et al.
887 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the prototypical psychedelic drug, but its effects on the human brain have never been studied before with modern neuroimaging. Here, three complementary neuroimaging techniques: arterial spin labeling (ASL), blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) measures, and magnetoencephalography (MEG), implemented during resting state conditions, revealed marked changes in...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
May 18, 2015
Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Emma J. Kilford, Stephanie Minchin et al.
43 citations
3,4-methylenedioxy- N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) produces diverse pro-social effects. Cognitive training methods rooted in Eastern contemplative practices also produce these effects through the development of a compassionate mindset. Given this similarity, we propose that one potential mechanism of action of MDMA in psychotherapy is through enhancing effects on intrapersonal attitudes (i.e....
Journal of Psychopharmacology
August 13, 2014
LH Stewart, Bart Ferguson, CJA Morgan et al.
28 citations
BACKGROUND: Acute recreational use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') can promote pro-social effects which may alter interpersonal perceptions. AIMS: To explore such effects, this study investigated whether acute recreational use of ecstasy was associated with changes in individual perception of trustworthiness of people's faces and co-operative behaviours. METHOD: An...
Addiction
July 21, 2011
Celia J. A. Morgan, Helen Valerie Curran
645 citations
AIMS: Ketamine remains an important medicine in both specialist anaesthesia and aspects of pain management. At the same time, its use as a recreational drug has spread in many parts of the world during the past few years. There are now increasing concerns about the harmful physical and psychological consequences of repeated misuse of this drug. The aim of this review was to survey and integrate...
Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 2011
Yen F Tai, Rosa Hoshi, Catherine M Brignell et al.
Ecstasy (±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a popular recreational drug with known serotonergic neurotoxicity. Its long-term effects on dopaminergic function are less certain. Studying the long-term effects of ecstasy is often confounded by concomitant polydrug use and the short duration of abstinence. We used (18)F-dopa positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the long-term...
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
October 2010
Celia J. A. Morgan, Gráinne Schäfer, Tom P. Freeman et al.
The two main constituents of cannabis, cannabidiol and Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), have opposing effects both pharmacologically and behaviourally when administered in the laboratory. Street cannabis is known to contain varying levels of each cannabinoid. To study how the varying levels of cannabidiol and THC have an impact on the acute effects of the drug in naturalistic settings. Cannabis...
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
January 2010
Celia J. A. Morgan, Leslie Muetzelfeldt, Helen Valerie Curran
'Recreational' use of ketamine is spreading rapidly among young people. In healthy individuals an acute dose of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine induces marked psychosis-like effects and cognitive impairments, but little is known about the long-term effects of the drug. To evaluate the long-term neuropsychiatric or cognitive consequences. A total of 150 individuals...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 25, 2009
Celia J. A. Morgan, Leslie Muetzelfeldt, Mark Muetzelfeldt et al.
80 citations
Nutt and colleagues' 'rational' scale to assess the harms of commonly used drugs was based on ratings by a panel of experts. This survey aimed to assess drug users' views of the harms of drugs using the same scale. As users' drug choices are not solely based on harms, we additionally assessed perceived benefits. The survey was hosted at http://www.nationaldrugsurvey.org. UK residents reported...
Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2009
Mark Blagrove, Celia J. A. Morgan, Helen Valerie Curran et al.
Ketamine is an N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with psychotogenic effects and for which there are diverse reports of whether pleasant or unpleasant dreams result during anaesthesia, post-operatively or after sub-anaesthetic use. To assess in healthy volunteers the incidence of unpleasant dreams over the three nights after receiving a sub-anaesthetic dose of ketamine, in...
Psychopharmacology
October 2007
Rosa Hoshi, Kate Mullins, Catherine Boundy et al.
Despite years of research and much controversy surrounding the effects of ecstasy use, findings are equivocal. Attempting to reduce methodological problems, such as concurrent use of other recreational drugs, could lead to a clearer picture of the effects of ecstasy use on cognitive function. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of both prolonged abstention from ecstasy use and...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
March 2006
Rosa Hoshi, Hannah Pratt, Sachin Mehta et al.
The lowering of serotonin for a period following MDMA use could account for the increases in both self-rated and objective measures of aggression previously found in ecstasy users several days after taking the drug. There is some evidence of gender differences in the acute, sub-acute and long-term effects of MDMA use, and given that gender differences have been found in aggression, it is...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
October 1, 2003
Suzanne L. Verheyden, John A. Henry, Helen Valerie Curran
171 citations
Abstract This study examined the reported psychological effects of different patterns of MDMA use in men and women, and how they are modified by use of other psychoactive substances. A semi‐structured interview was conducted with 466 regular MDMA users, exploring the perceived acute, sub‐acute and long‐term subjective effects of this drug. Factor analysis established three main categories of...
Addiction
May 1, 2001
Helen Valerie Curran, Lisa Monaghan
Aims. Ketamine, a non‐competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, produces acute impairments of working, episodic and semantic memory along with psychotogenic and dissociative effects when a single dose is given to healthy volunteers. In recreational users, Curran & Morgan (2000) showed that ketamine produced the same acute effects but that 3 days after ingestion, ketamine users showed persisting...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
Helen Valerie Curran
143 citations
Evidence from research with a range of animal species, from rodents to non-human primates, has shown that MDMA (±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is neurotoxic. This article explores the evidence that MDMA may be neurotoxic in humans by briefly overviewing three types of research: (1) neurobiological, (2) psychological/somatic and (3) psychiatric. The first type of evidence derives from...