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Natasha L. Mason

Maastricht University

84 papers in the library · 3,165 citations · publishing 2017-2026

Papers

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Psychedelic Research as a Career Path: A Roundtable Discussion with Early Career Researchers in the Field.

Psychedelic Med (New Rochelle) March 12, 2024 Jacob S. Aday, Natasha L. Mason, Bo Jarrett Wood et al.

Psychedelic MedicineAhead of Print Psychedelic Research as a Career Path: A Roundtable Discussion with Early Career Researchers in the FieldModerators: Jacob S. Aday, Natasha L. Mason, Participants: Bo Jarrett Wood, Hannah M. Kramer, Cynthia E. Ortiz, M. Frances Vest, Caroline Sagrera, and C. J. HealyModerators: Jacob S. Aday*Address correspondence to: Jacob S. Aday, PhD, Department of...

Who are you after psychedelics? A systematic review and a meta-analysis of the magnitude of long-term effects of serotonergic psychedelics on cognition/creativity, emotional processing and personality

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews February 3, 2024 Ivana Solaja, Kate Haldane, Natasha L. Mason et al. 17 citations

This systematic review and a meta-analysis synthesised the results from contemporary, randomized and non-randomized controlled studies to assess lasting (one week minimum) changes on cognition/creativity, emotional processing and personality from serotonergic psychedelics. PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo were searched in July 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using Rob 2.0 and ROBINS-I. Ten studies...

Shared functional connectome fingerprints following ritualistic ayahuasca intake.

Neuroimage 2024 Pablo Mallaroni, Natasha L. Mason, Lilian Kloft et al. 17 citations

The knowledge that brain functional connectomes are unique and reliable has enabled behaviourally relevant inferences at a subject level. However, whether such "fingerprints" persist under altered states of consciousness is unknown. Ayahuasca is a potent serotonergic psychedelic which produces a widespread dysregulation of functional connectivity. Used communally in religious ceremonies, its...

Present and future of metabolic and metabolomics studies focused on classical psychedelics in humans.

Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie December 31, 2023 Francisco Madrid-Gambin, David Fabregat-Safont, Alex Gomez-Gomez et al. 12 citations

Psychedelics are classical hallucinogen drugs that induce a marked altered state of consciousness. In recent years, there has been renewed attention to the possible use of classical psychedelics for the treatment of certain mental health disorders. However, further investigation to better understand their biological effects in humans, their mechanism of action, and their metabolism in humans is...

Present and future of metabolic and metabolomics studies focused on classical psychedelics in humans

Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy December 31, 2023 David Fabregat-Safont, Alex Gomez-Gomez, Francisco Madrid-Gambin et al.

Psychedelics are classical hallucinogen drugs that induce a marked altered state of consciousness. In recent years, there has been renewed attention to the possible use of classical psychedelics for the treatment of certain mental health disorders. However, further investigation to better understand their biological effects in humans, their mechanism of action, and their metabolism in humans is...

The unique neural signature of your trip: Functional connectome fingerprints of subjective psilocybin experience

Network Neuroscience November 1, 2023 Juan Carlos Farah, Pablo Mallaroni, Enrico Amico et al. 21 citations

Abstract The emerging neuroscientific frontier of brain fingerprinting has recently established that human functional connectomes (FCs) exhibit fingerprint-like idiosyncratic features, which map onto heterogeneously distributed behavioral traits. Here, we harness brain-fingerprinting tools to extract FC features that predict subjective drug experience induced by the psychedelic psilocybin....

Cortical structural differences following repeated ayahuasca use hold molecular signatures

Frontiers in Neuroscience October 5, 2023 Pablo Mallaroni, Lilian Kloft, Natasha L. Mason et al. 8 citations

Introduction Serotonergic psychedelics such as ayahuasca are reported to promote both structural and functional neural plasticity via partial 5-HT 2A agonism. However, little is known about how these molecular mechanisms may extend to repeated psychedelic administration in humans, let alone neuroanatomy. While early evidence suggests localised changes to cortical thickness in long-term...

Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status in healthy volunteers: An experimental, placebo-controlled study

Brain Behavior and Immunity September 7, 2023 Natasha L. Mason, Attila Szabo, Kim P. C. Kuypers et al. 83 citations

Patients characterized by stress-related disorders such as depression display elevated circulating concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a hyperactive HPA axis. Psychedelics are demonstrating promising results in treatment of such disorders, however the mechanisms of their therapeutic effects are still unknown. To date the evidence of acute and persisting effects of psychedelics on...

Psychedelic Intimacy: Altered States of Consciousness in Romantic Relationships

August 25, 2023 J. Neubert, Katie Anderson, Natasha L. Mason preprint

Objective: Engaging in practices of intimacy meant to develop and sustain intimacy can be beneficial for couples. Psychoactive substances such as 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) have shown to facilitate bonding within couples and it is hypothesised that classic psychedelics, due to their property to increase prosocial behaviours, can similarly promote interactional intimacy. This study...

Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions: A survey study

European Journal of Pain August 20, 2023 Mauro Cavarra, Amanda Feilding, Pamela Kryskow et al. 28 citations

Abstract Background Chronic pain is a major cause of suffering and disability and is often associated with psychiatric complications. Current treatments carry the risk of severe side effects and may lead to limited or no relief at all in a relevant portion of this patient population. Preliminary evidence suggests that classical psychedelics (e.g. LSD and psilocybin) may have analgesic effects...

Examining the Psychoactive Differences between Kratom Strains

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health July 21, 2023 Guido Huisman, Maximilian Menke, Oliver Grundmann et al. 13 citations

) is a Southeast Asian plant containing various alkaloids that induce pharmacological effects in humans. In Western countries, online vendors sell a variety of different kratom strains which are marketed to have distinct effect profiles. However, as of yet such marketing claims are unsubstantiated, and therefore the current study investigated whether differently colored kratom products can...

A phase 1/2 trial to assess safety and efficacy of a vaporized 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine formulation (GH001) in patients with treatment-resistant depression

Frontiers in Psychiatry June 20, 2023 Johannes T. Reckweg, Cees van Leeuwen, Cécile Henquet et al. 86 citations

Background Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a substantial public health burden, but current treatments have limited effectiveness. The aim was to investigate the safety and potential antidepressant effects of the serotonergic psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DMT in a vaporized formulation (GH001) in adult patients with TRD. Methods The Phase 1 part ( n = 8) of the trial investigated two single...

Assessment of the Acute Effects of 2C‐B vs. Psilocybin on Subjective Experience, Mood, and Cognition

Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics May 30, 2023 Pablo Mallaroni, Riccardo Paci, Sabrina Ritscher et al. 34 citations

2,5‐dimethoxy‐4‐bromophenethylamine (2C‐B) is a hallucinogenic phenethylamine derived from mescaline. Observational and preclinical data have suggested it to be capable of producing both subjective and emotional effects on par with other classical psychedelics and entactogens. Whereas it is the most prevalently used novel serotonergic hallucinogen to date, it's acute effects and distinctions...

Altered State of Consciousness and Mental Imagery as a Function of N, N-dimethyltryptamine Concentration in Ritualistic Ayahuasca Users

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2023 Johannes G. Ramaekers, Pablo Mallaroni, Lilian Kloft et al. 15 citations

Abstract Consumption of the psychedelic brew ayahuasca is a central ritualistic aspect of the Santo Daime religion. The current observational, baseline controlled study was designed to assess whether members (n = 24) of the Santo Daime church would show enhanced capacity for mental imagery during an ayahuasca experience. In addition, this study assessed whether the effects of ayahuasca on...

Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers

medRxiv November 1, 2022 Natasha L. Mason, Attila Szabo, Kim P. C. Kuypers et al. 6 citations preprint

Abstract Patients characterized by stress-related disorders such as depression display elevated circulating concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a hyperactive HPA axis. Psychedelics are demonstrating promising results in treatment of such disorders, however the mechanisms of their therapeutic effects are still unknown. To date the evidence of acute and persisting effects of...

Ritualistic use of ayahuasca enhances a shared functional connectome identity with others

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) October 11, 2022 Pablo Mallaroni, Natasha L. Mason, Lilian Kloft et al. 4 citations preprint

Abstract The knowledge that brain functional connectomes are both unique and reliable has enabled behaviourally relevant inferences at a subject level. However, it is unknown whether such “fingerprints” persist under altered states of consciousness. Ayahuasca is a potent serotonergic psychedelic which elicits a widespread dysregulation of functional connectivity. Used communally in religious...

Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees

Frontiers in Psychiatry July 7, 2022 Maggie Kiraga, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Malin V. Uthaug et al. 24 citations

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorders among Western countries. Evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral therapy result in deficient treatment responses. Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms among healthy and clinical populations. The main...

Psychedelic resting-state neuroimaging: A review and perspective on balancing replication and novel analyses.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews July 1, 2022 Drummond E-Wen Mcculloch, Gitte Moos Knudsen, Frederick Streeter Barrett et al. 14 citations

Clinical research into serotonergic psychedelics is expanding rapidly, showing promising efficacy across myriad disorders. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a commonly used strategy to identify psychedelic-induced changes in neural pathways in clinical and healthy populations. Here we, a large group of psychedelic imaging researchers, review the 42 research...

The use patterns of novel psychedelics: experiential fingerprints of substituted phenethylamines, tryptamines and lysergamides.

Psychopharmacology June 1, 2022 Pablo Mallaroni, Natasha L. Mason, F R J Vinckenbosch et al. 16 citations

Novel psychedelics (NPs) are an expanding set of compounds, presenting new challenges for drug policy and opportunities for clinical research. Unlike their classical derivatives, little is known regarding their use profiles or their subjective effects. The purpose of this study was to compile usage patterns and adverse event rates for individual NPs belonging to each of three main psychedelic...

A Phase 1, Dose-Ranging Study to Assess Safety and Psychoactive Effects of a Vaporized 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine Formulation (GH001) in Healthy Volunteers

European Psychiatry June 1, 2022 Johannes T. Reckweg, Natasha L. Mason, Cees van Leeuwen et al. 3 citations

Introduction 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a tryptamine with ultra-rapid onset and short duration of psychedelic effects. Prospective studies for other tryptamines have suggested beneficial effects on mental health outcomes. Objectives In preparation for a study in patients with depression, the present study GH001-HV-101 aimed to assess the impact of four different dose levels...

A Comparison of Acute Neurocognitive and Psychotomimetic Effects of a Synthetic Cannabinoid and Natural Cannabis at Psychotropic Dose Equivalence

Frontiers in Psychiatry May 19, 2022 Eef L. Theunissen, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Natasha L. Mason et al. 7 citations

Due to differences in potency, efficacy, and affinity for CB1 receptors, similarities and differences in psychoactive effect profiles of natural cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) cannot reliably be derived from equipotent dose comparisons. Instead, the current study proposes to compare the intrinsic psychoactive effects of natural cannabis (THC) and an SC, JWH-018, at psychotropic dose...

Cannabis Use and Neuroadaptation: A Call for Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Challenge Studies

Frontiers in Psychiatry April 14, 2022 Johannes G. Ramaekers, Eef L. Theunissen, Peter van Ruitenbeek et al. 6 citations

Currently, the assessment of the neurobehavioral consequences of repeated cannabis use is restricted to studies in which brain function of chronic cannabis users is compared to that of non-cannabis using controls. The assumption of such studies is that changes in brain function of chronic users are caused by repeated and prolonged exposure to acute cannabis intoxication. However, differences in...

Metabolomics and integrated network analysis reveal roles of endocannabinoids and large neutral amino acid balance in the ayahuasca experience

Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy March 24, 2022 Francisco Madrid-Gambin, Alex Gomez-Gomez, Arnau Busquets-García et al. 14 citations

There has been a renewed interest in the potential use of psychedelics for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanism of action and molecular pathways influenced by ayahuasca use in humans. Therefore, for the first time, our study aims to investigate the human metabolomics signature after consumption of a psychedelic, ayahuasca, and its connection...

Persisting decreases in state and trait anxiety post-psilocybin: A naturalistic, observational study among retreat attendees

medRxiv March 2, 2022 Maggie Kiraga, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Malin V. Uthaug et al. preprint

Abstract Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric disorders among Western countries. Evidence-based treatment modalities including pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral therapy result in relatively low response rates (average range: 51 - 58%). Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms among healthy...