npj Mental Health Research
September 10, 2026
Lucas V. M. Cruz, Marcio S. C. Longo, Rafael Rodrigues et al.
Abstract This observational survey study investigated the relationship between prior ayahuasca experience and mental health and mindset outcomes. Participants planning to attend an ayahuasca ceremony completed a survey before their upcoming ayahuasca use. Measures included substance use, depression, anxiety, stress, spiritual well-being, aberrant salience, and metaphysical beliefs. Participants...
Current Addiction Reports
February 21, 2026
Draulio B Araujo, Lucas O. Maia, Tiago Arruda Sanchez et al.
Summarizes preclinical and clinical evidence on ayahuasca—a traditional Amazonian brew combining N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and β-carbolines—in treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, eating, and personality disorders. Preclinical work shows enhanced neuroplasticity, reduced inflammation, and oxidative stress. Human neuroimaging reveals decreased default...
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI
December 1, 2025
Lucas Rego Ramos, Orlando Fernandes, Tiago Arruda Sanchez
1 citation
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychedelic brew that contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and beta carbolines. Prolonged use has shown changes in cognitive-behavioral tasks, and in humans, there is evidence of changes in cortical thickness and an increase in neuroplasticity factors that could lead to modifications in functional neural circuits. To investigate the long-term effects of Ayahuasca usage...
Progress in Brain Research
2025
Handersson Barros, Marcelo Falchi-Carvalho, Lucas O. Maia et al.
2 citations
Psychedelic experiences, especially those induced by substances such as N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are often characterized by high subjective intensity, complex visual content, and notable ineffability-that is, the difficulty of being fully expressed in words. This expressive limitation poses a significant challenge to the integration of the experience, which is essential for the therapeutic...
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
February 10, 2024
Tiago Arruda Sanchez, Lucas Rego Ramos, Felipe Araujo et al.
12 citations
Ayahuasca is a beverage used in Amazonian traditional medicine and it has been part of the human experience for millennia as well as other different psychoactive plants. Although Ayahuasca has been proposed as potentially therapeutic as an anxiolytic and antidepressant, whilst no studies have been carried out so far investigating their direct effect on brain emotional processing. This study...
Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria
2024
Dráulio Barros de Araújo, Tiago Arruda Sanchez, Sidarta Ribeiro
1 citation
The use of psychedelic substances has intrigued, benefited, and challenged humanity for millennia. These substances, found regularly in nature, are known to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness. They provide heightened sensory, emotional and cognitive experiences, which include augmented visual imagery, changes in thought, mood, and awareness, perception of space-time and reality and, in...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 21, 2020
Morgana M. Novaes, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Heloisa Onias et al.
110 citations
Pranayama refers to a set of yoga breathing exercises. Recent evidence suggests that the practice of pranayama has positive effects on measures of clinical stress and anxiety. This study explored the impact of a Bhastrika pranayama training program on emotion processing, anxiety and affect. We used a randomized controlled trial design with thirty healthy young adults assessed at baseline and...
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
June 2, 2016
Fabiana M. Carvalho, Khallil Taverna Chaim, Tiago Arruda Sanchez et al.
26 citations
The updating of prospective internal models is necessary to accurately predict future observations. Uncertainty-driven internal model updating has been studied using a variety of perceptual paradigms, and have revealed engagement of frontal and parietal areas. In a distinct literature, studies on temporal expectations have also characterized a time-perception network, which relies on temporal...
Human Brain Mapping
September 16, 2011
Dráulio Barros de Araújo, Sidarta Ribeiro, Guillermo Cecchi et al.
241 citations
Abstract The hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca, a rich source of serotonergic agonists and reuptake inhibitors, has been used for ages by Amazonian populations during religious ceremonies. Among all perceptual changes induced by Ayahuasca, the most remarkable are vivid “seeings.” During such seeings, users report potent imagery. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a closed‐eyes...