Journal of Affective Disorders
August 10, 2026
Yves Martins Varela, Patrícia Cavalcanti-Ribeiro, Geovan Menezes de Sousa et al.
BACKGROUND: Ketamine is an effective rapid-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), producing antidepressant effects within hours of administration. Because it induces states of heightened neuroplasticity and psychological openness, psychotherapy may enhance its therapeutic effects. METHODS: This exploratory, nonrandomized, open-label clinical trial evaluated the adjunctive...
Current Psychology
June 1, 2026
Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Geissy Lainny de Lima-Araújo, Vagner Deuel de Oliveira Tavares et al.
Abstract Dispositional mindfulness, also known as trait mindfulness, refers to an individual dispositional tendency to attend the present moment experiences with openness, curiosity and awareness. It is often associated with well-being, particularly through its role with emotional regulation. Yet, it is not well understood how it may influence the expression of major depression symptoms. This...
medRxiv Preprint Server
May 31, 2026
Yves Martins Varela, Patrícia Cavalcanti-Ribeiro, Geovan Menezes de Sousa et al.
preprint
Background Ketamine has emerged as an effective rapid-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), producing significant antidepressant effects within hours of administration. Given ketamine’s capacity to induce states of heightened neuroplasticity and psychological openness, psychotherapy may represent a meaningful complement to its pharmacological effects — facilitating...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 5, 2022
Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Vagner Deuel de Oliveira Tavares, Ana Cecília de Menezes Galvão et al.
14 citations
Introduction The understanding of biological responses to psychedelics with antidepressant potential is imperative. Here we report how a set of acute parameters, namely emotional (depressive symptoms), cognitive (psychedelic experience), and physiological (salivary cortisol), recorded during an ayahuasca dosing session, modulated serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), serum cortisol...
PLoS One
September 7, 2022
Geissy Lainny de Lima-Araújo, Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Thatiane Aparecida Mendes et al.
64 citations
Interoception is a collection of different representations of signals originating within the body. The way of perceiving these signals seems to be related to both emotion regulation and dysregulation, and its dysfunction is implicated across a variety of affective disorders. There is a growing body of research investigating the relationship between mindfulness meditation practices and...
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
2022
Maria Lara Porpino de Meiroz Grilo, Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Lilían Andrade Carlos de Mendonça et al.
12 citations
Observational studies of long-term users of ayahuasca, an Amazonian psychedelic brew, suggest an increase in resilience via improvements in emotion and cognition. Ayahuasca has also demonstrated clinical antidepressant effects in human and animal studies; however, its potential prophylactic action in depression has not been previously studied. Therefore, this experimental study sought to...
BMC Psychology
February 1, 2021
Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Geissy Lainny de Lima-Araújo, Dráulio Barros de Araújo et al.
90 citations
BACKGROUND: Psychological distress in University settings has grown and became a public health concern. In this context, contemplative practices such as mindfulness have been proposed as a strategy to help students on stress management. METHODS: Forty university students (20 female), aged between 18 to 30 years (mean = 24.15; SD = 3.56), with no previous experience with meditation or yoga were...
Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
November 21, 2018
Flávia S. Da Silva, Erick Allan Dos Santos Silva, Geovan Menezes de Sousa et al.
46 citations
OBJECTIVE: The incidence rate of major depression in adolescents reaches approximately 14%. This disorder is usually recurrent, without remission of symptoms even after pharmacological treatment, and persists throughout adult life. Since the effects of antidepressants take approximately 2 weeks to begin, new pharmacological therapies are under continuous exploration. Recent evidence suggests...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
January 25, 2018
Flávia Santos Da Silva, Erick Allan Dos Santos Silva, Geovan Menezes de Sousa et al.
4 citations
preprint
ABSTRACT The incidence of major depression in adolescents, aged between 15 to 18 years, reaches approximately 14%. Usually, this disorder presents a recurrent way, without remission of symptoms even after several pharmacological treatments, persisting through adult life. Due to the relatively low efficacy of commercially available antidepressant, new pharmacological therapies are under...