Human Brain Mapping
August 21, 2020
Lukasz Smigielski, Michael Kometer, Milan Scheidegger et al.
42 citations
Abstract The concept of self and self‐referential processing has a growing explanatory value in psychiatry and neuroscience, referring to the cognitive organization and perceptual differentiation of self‐stimuli in health and disease. Conditions in which selfhood loses its natural coherence offer a unique opportunity for elucidating the mechanisms underlying self‐disturbances. We assessed the...
Schizophrenia Bulletin
August 5, 2020
Pantelis Leptourgos, Martin Fortier-Davy, Robin Carhart-Harris et al.
88 citations
Abstract The recent renaissance of psychedelic science has reignited interest in the similarity of drug-induced experiences to those more commonly observed in psychiatric contexts such as the schizophrenia-spectrum. This report from a multidisciplinary working group of the International Consortium on Hallucinations Research (ICHR) addresses this issue, putting special emphasis on hallucinatory...
Scientific Reports
July 22, 2020
Patricia Duerler, Leonhard Schilbach, Philipp Stämpfli et al.
36 citations
Abstract Adapting one’s attitudes and behaviors to group norms is essential for successful social interaction and, thus, participation in society. Yet, despite its importance for societal and individual functioning, the underlying neuropharmacology is poorly understood. We therefore investigated its neurochemical and neural correlates in a pharmacological functional magnetic resonance imaging...
Biomedicines
February 18, 2020
Candace R. Lewis, Katrin H. Preller, B. Blair Braden et al.
27 citations
Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound of mushrooms in the psilocybe species. Psilocybin directly affects a number of serotonin receptors, with highest affinity for the serotonin 2A receptor (5HT-2Ar). Generally, the effects of psilocybin, and its active metabolite psilocin, are well established and include a range of cognitive, emotional, and perceptual perturbations. Despite the generality...
Biological Psychiatry
January 13, 2020
Katrin H. Preller, Patricia Duerler, Joshua B. Burt et al.
199 citations
BackgroundThe use of psilocybin in scientific and experimental clinical contexts has triggered renewed interest in the mechanism of action of psychedelics. However, its time-dependent systems-level neurobiology remains sparsely investigated in humans.MethodsWe conducted a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, crossover study comprising 23 healthy human participants who received placebo and...
Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
December 20, 2019
Anya K. Bershad, Katrin H. Preller, Royce Lee et al.
95 citations
BackgroundThe practice of "microdosing," or the use of repeated, very low doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to improve mood or cognition, has received considerable public attention, but empirical studies are lacking. Controlled studies are needed to investigate both the therapeutic potential and the neurobiological underpinnings of this pharmacologic treatment.MethodsThe present study...
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
December 6, 2019
Jasmine T. Ho, Katrin H. Preller, Bigna Lenggenhager
61 citations
As a continual source of sensory input and fundamental component of self-referential processing, the body holds an integral modulatory role in cognition. In a healthy state, predictive coding of multisensory integration promotes the construction of a coherent self. However, several psychiatric disorders comprise aberrant perceptions of the bodily self that are purported to involve discrepancies...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 3, 2019
Katrin H. Preller, Franz X. Vollenweider
67 citations
Social cognition is a fundamental ability in human everyday lives. Deficits in social functioning also represent a core aspect of many psychiatric disorders. Yet, despite its significance, deficits in social cognition skills are insufficiently targeted by current treatments. Hallucinogens and entactogens have been shown to have the potential to modulate social processing. This article reviews...
Psychological Medicine
September 10, 2019
Thomas Pokorny, Patricia Duerler, Erich Seifritz et al.
102 citations
Abstract Background Psychiatric and neurodegenerative illnesses are characterized by cognitive impairments, in particular deficits in working memory, decision-making, and executive functions including cognitive flexibility. However, the neuropharmacology of these cognitive functions is poorly understood. The serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor might be a promising candidate for the modulation of...
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 28, 2019
Katrin H. Preller, Adeel Razi, Peter Zeidman et al.
303 citations
Psychedelics exert unique effects on human consciousness. The thalamic filter model suggests that core effects of psychedelics may result from gating deficits, based on a disintegration of information processing within cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) feedback loops. To test this hypothesis, we characterized changes in directed (effective) connectivity between selected CTSC regions after...
bioRxiv Preprint Server
January 28, 2019
Thomas Pokorny, Patricia Duerler, Erich Seifritz et al.
2 citations
preprint
Psychiatric and neurodegenerative illnesses are characterized by cognitive impairments, in particular deficits in working memory, decision making, and executive functions including cognitive flexibility. However, the neuropharmacology of these cognitive functions is poorly understood. The serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor might be a promising candidate for the modulation of cognitive processes....
Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
2019
Felix Scholkmann, Lisa Holper, Katrin H. Preller et al.
6 citations
The serotonergic hallucinogen psilocybin has characteristic effects on human brain activity and subjective experience. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies showed alternations of functional connectivity (FC) under the influence of psilocybin in humans. No study, as yet, investigated psilocybin-induced changes in brain hemodynamics and oxygenation with functional...
Elife
October 25, 2018
Katrin H. Preller, Joshua B. Burt, Jie Lisa Ji et al.
416 citations
Background: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has agonist activity at various serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine receptors. Despite the therapeutic and scientific interest in LSD, specific receptor contributions to its neurobiological effects remain unknown. Methods: We therefore conducted a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced, cross-over studyduring which 24 healthy human participants received...
International Review of Psychiatry
July 4, 2018
Frederick S. Barrett, Katrin H. Preller, Mendel Kaelen
85 citations
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...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
April 25, 2018
O. Grimm, Rainer Kraehenmann, Katrin H. Preller et al.
94 citations
Recent studies suggest that the antidepressant effects of the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist psilocybin are mediated through its modulatory properties on prefrontal and limbic brain regions including the amygdala. To further investigate the effects of psilocybin on emotion processing networks, we studied for the first-time psilocybin's acute effects on amygdala seed-to-voxel connectivity...
Journal of Neuroscience
March 19, 2018
Katrin H. Preller, Leonhard Schilbach, Thomas Pokorny et al.
75 citations
Distortions of self-experience are critical symptoms of psychiatric disorders and have detrimental effects on social interactions. In light of the immense need for improved and targeted interventions for social impairments, it is important to better understand the neurochemical substrates of social interaction abilities. We therefore investigated the pharmacological and neural correlates of...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
November 8, 2017
Rainer Kraehenmann, Dan Pokorný, Helena Aicher et al.
115 citations
Rationale: Stimulation of serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptors by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and related compounds such as psilocybin has previously been shown to increase primary process thinking – an ontologically and evolutionary early, implicit, associative, and automatic mode of thinking which is typically occurring during altered states of consciousness such as dreaming. However, it is...
Cerebral Cortex
September 12, 2017
Frederick S. Barrett, Katrin H. Preller, Marcus Herdener et al.
52 citations
Abstract Classic psychedelic drugs (serotonin 2A, or 5HT2A, receptor agonists) have notable effects on music listening. In the current report, blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal was collected during music listening in 25 healthy adults after administration of placebo, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and LSD pretreated with the 5HT2A antagonist ketanserin, to investigate the role of...
Neuroimage
July 12, 2017
Candace R. Lewis, Katrin H. Preller, Rainer Kraehenmann et al.
105 citations
Psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, is an agonist of various serotonin receptors. Seminal psilocybin positron emission tomography (PET) research suggested regional increases in glucose metabolism in frontal cortex (hyperfrontality). However, a recent arterial spin labeling (ASL) study suggests psilocybin may lead to hypo-perfusion in various brain regions. In this...
Psychopharmacology
July 1, 2017
Rainer Kraehenmann, Dan Pokorný, Leonie Vollenweider et al.
Rationale Accumulating evidence indicates that the mixed serotonin and dopamine receptor agonist lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) induces an altered state of consciousness that resembles dreaming. Objectives This study aimed to test the hypotheses that LSD produces dreamlike waking imagery and that this imagery depends on 5-HT2A receptor activation and is related to subjective drug effects....
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 14, 2017
Thomas Pokorny, Katrin H. Preller, Michael Kometer et al.
202 citations
Background: Impaired empathic abilities lead to severe negative social consequences and influence the development and treatment of several psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, empathy has been shown to play a crucial role in moral and prosocial behavior. Although the serotonin system has been implicated in modulating empathy and moral behavior, the relative contribution of the various serotonin...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
March 8, 2017
Oliver G. Bosch, Michael M. Havranek, A Baumberger et al.
22 citations
-receptor agonist currently used as treatment for narcolepsy but also as a drug of abuse. Non-medical GHB users have repeatedly reported prosexual effects including libido-enhancement and lowering of attractiveness standards for partner selection. Here, we examined the putative prosexual effects of oral GHB in healthy males in two experiments both employing randomized, placebo-controlled,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
April 18, 2016
Katrin H. Preller, Thomas Pokorny, Andreas Hock et al.
175 citations
Social ties are crucial for physical and mental health. However, psychiatric patients frequently encounter social rejection. Moreover, an increased reactivity to social exclusion influences the development, progression, and treatment of various psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, the neuromodulatory substrates of rejection experiences are largely unknown. The preferential serotonin (5-HT)...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
January 22, 2016
Thomas Pokorny, Katrin H. Preller, Rainer Kraehenmann et al.
148 citations
The mixed serotonin (5-HT) 1A/2A/2B/2C/6/7 receptor agonist psilocybin dose-dependently induces an altered state of consciousness (ASC) that is characterized by changes in sensory perception, mood, thought, and the sense of self. The psychological effects of psilocybin are primarily mediated by 5-HT2A receptor activation. However, accumulating evidence suggests that 5-HT1A or an interaction...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2016
Katrin H. Preller, Franz X. Vollenweider
285 citations
Classic serotonergic hallucinogens or psychedelics produce an altered states of consciousness (ASC) that is characterized by profound alterations in sensory perception, mood, thought including the perception of reality, and the sense of self. Over the past years, there has been considerable progress in the search for invariant and common features of psychedelic states. In the first part of this...