Psychopathology
August 18, 2025
Evan J. Kyzar, George H Denfield, Jasper Feyaerts et al.
1 citation
Dynamical systems theory (DST) has recently gained traction as a framework to describe and predict the progression of psychopathology. However, a number of challenges to the application of DST to psychopathology have arisen, including the heterogeneity of symptom measures and the lack of theoretical underpinnings to describe the temporal unfolding of psychiatric illnesses. In this article, we...
Journal of consciousness studies : controversies in science & the humanities
April 1, 2024
George H Denfield, Evan J. Kyzar
Philosophy of mind has made substantial progress on biologically-rooted approaches to understanding the mind and subjectivity through the enactivist perspective, but research on subjectivity within neuroscience has not kept apace. Indeed, we possess no principled means of relating experiential phenomena to neurophysiological processes. Here, we present the Nested States Model as a framework to...
Psychopathology
2024
George H Denfield, Evan J. Kyzar
1 citation
Subjective experience is central to the nature of mental illness, yet it has not played a central role in most empirical approaches to psychopathology. While phenomenological perspectives in psychiatry have seen a recent resurgence, there remains a need for more detailed models of psychopathological processes based on explicit phenomenological and enactive foundations. We present a framework...
October 16, 2023
George H Denfield, Evan J. Kyzar
preprint
Subjective experience is central to the nature of mental illness, yet it has not played a central role in most empirical approaches to psychopathology. Despite some recent progress, we lack detailed phenomenological models for psychopathological processes and mental disorders. Here, we present a framework through which such models could be constructed. This framework is derived from the Nested...
Molecular Psychiatry
2023
Evan J. Kyzar, George H Denfield
62 citations
Nearly all psychiatric diseases involve alterations in subjective, lived experience. The scientific study of the biological basis of mental illness has generally focused on objective measures and observable behaviors, limiting the potential for our understanding of brain mechanisms of disease states and possible treatments. However, applying methods designed principally to interpret objective...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
September 25, 2018
Andrey D. Volgin, Oleg A. Yakovlev, Konstantin A. Demin et al.
38 citations
Hallucinogenic drugs potently alter human behavior and have a millennia-long history of use for medicinal and religious purposes. Interest is rapidly growing in their potential as CNS modulators and therapeutic agents for brain conditions. Antimuscarinic cholinergic drugs, such as atropine and scopolamine, induce characteristic hyperactivity and dream-like hallucinations and form a separate...
Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
September 22, 2017
Evan J. Kyzar, Charles D. Nichols, Raul R. Gainetdinov et al.
155 citations
Psychedelic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin, exert profound effects on brain and behavior. After decades of difficulties in studying these compounds, psychedelics are again being tested as potential treatments for intractable biomedical disorders. Preclinical research of psychedelics complements human neuroimaging studies and pilot clinical trials,...
Zebrafish
March 22, 2016
Evan J. Kyzar, Allan V. Kalueff
29 citations
After decades of sociopolitical obstacles, the field of psychiatry is experiencing a revived interest in the use of hallucinogenic agents to treat brain disorders. Along with the use of ketamine for depression, recent pilot studies have highlighted the efficacy of classic serotonergic hallucinogens, such as lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin, in treating addiction, post-traumatic stress...
Behavioural Brain Research
2016
Evan J. Kyzar, Adam Michael Stewart, Allan V. Kalueff
Serotonin (5-HT) plays a crucial role in the brain, modulating mood, cognition and reward. The serotonin transporter (SERT) is responsible for the reuptake of 5-HT from the synaptic cleft and regulates serotonin signaling in the brain. In humans, SERT genetic variance is linked to the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and...
Open MIND
2015
Jonathan Cachat, Chris Collins, Evan J. Kyzar et al.
Three-dimensional reconstructions of zebrafish swimming paths (Cachat et al. 2011) are a new technique to discover novel, meaningful behavioral patterns evoked by different experimental manipulations. Compared to traditional 2D traces, 3D swim path reconstructions enable both macro-level (general) and micro-level (specific/repeated) analyses of potentially meaningful behavioral patterns,...
Behavioural Brain Research
2013
Jonathan Cachat, Evan J. Kyzar, Christopher Collins et al.
112 citations
An indole alkaloid, ibogaine is the principal psychoactive component of the iboga plant, used by indigenous peoples in West Africa for centuries. Modulating multiple neurotransmitter systems, the drug is a potent hallucinogen in humans, although its psychotropic effects remain poorly understood. Expanding the range of model species is an important strategy for translational neuroscience...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2012
Evan J. Kyzar, Christopher Collins, Jeremy Green et al.
1 citation
Mescaline, phencyclidine (PCP) and psilocybin are potent hallucinogenic drugs strongly affecting both human and animal behavior. However, these compounds have not been previously investigated in zebrafish (Danio rerio), rapidly gaining popularity as a model in psychopharmacology research. Here, we examine the effects of mescaline, PCP and psilocybin in multiple behavioral paradigms. Mescaline...
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
January 10, 2012
Evan J. Kyzar, Christopher Collins, Siddharth Gaikwad et al.
122 citations
Mescaline and phencyclidine (PCP) are potent hallucinogenic agents affecting human and animal behavior. As their psychotropic effects remain poorly understood, further research is necessary to characterize phenotypes they evoke in various animal models. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are rapidly emerging as a new model organism for neuroscience research. Here, we examine the effects of mescaline...
Behavioural Pharmacology
April 8, 2011
Adam Stewart, Russell Riehl, Keith Wong et al.
66 citations
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'ecstasy') is a potent psychedelic drug inducing euphoria and hypersociability in humans, as well as hyperactivity and anxiety in rodents. Adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become a widely used species in neurobehavioral research. Here, we explore the effects of a wide range (0.25-120 mg/l) of acute MDMA doses on zebrafish behavior in the novel tank...