L'Encephale
August 1, 2021
L Berkovitch, B Romeo, L Karila et al.
25 citations
A systematic review of 25 studies found that psychedelics (psilocybin, ayahuasca, and LSD) produce a quick and substantial reduction in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and addiction that lasts for several months, sometimes after a single dose. Studies included randomized controlled trials, open-label trials, and long-term follow-ups, with no severe adverse events reported. However, most studies were descriptive or open-label with small sample sizes. The evidence suggests psychedelics are promising treatments that are well tolerated, but effects need confirmation in larger trials and comparison with standard care.
L'Encephale
October 1, 2023
R Ouchene, N El Habchi, A Demina et al.
24 citations
Lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) appears effective in reducing nightmare frequency among adults with chronic and recurring nightmares, based on a systematic review of four randomized controlled trials, two case series, and five case reports. Nightmares affect 2% to 8% of the general population and can lead to serious psychiatric and physical consequences. No studies were identified in children. The review notes that while the included studies have limited internal validity, the initial results are encouraging, though larger and more rigorous research is needed to better assess LDT's utility for nightmares.
L'Encephale
August 1, 2024
Fabrice Berna, Amaury C Mengin, Philippe Huguelet et al.
7 citations
A systematic review of 18 studies with 1272 participants examined whether mindfulness meditation increases spirituality or religiosity as measured by validated scales. Four scales (FACIT-sp, INSPIRIT, DSES, DUREL) contained items on spirituality, religion, and mysticism—elements critics consider risky for sectarian drift. A few studies found significant increases in spirituality scores after mindfulness meditation, but the clinical relevance of these changes is uncertain; control groups showed smaller changes. The review concludes that a pragmatic harm-reduction approach is more appropriate than banning mindfulness-based practices, and that the debate over secularism in French psychotherapy requires further research.
L'Encephale
June 1, 2022
H Bottemanne, A Baldacci, C Muller et al.
7 citations
Ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, produces dissociative effects and promotes brain plasticity. Although preliminary studies suggest combining it with psychotherapy may be beneficial, clinical antidepressant use rarely includes per- and post-infusion therapy. The psychodysleptic experiences and synaptogenic effects could enhance cognitive behavioral therapy. This article proposes a practical protocol for Ketamine Augmented Psychotherapy (KAP), synthesizing literature and clinical experience. It details four steps: preparation, administration, integration, and prolongation, and discusses limits and prospects for mood disorder management.
L'Encephale
May 23, 2025
Maroussia Dumenil, Gabriel Cordova, Wissam El-Hage
1 citation
A Mexican student in France with recurrent unipolar depression experienced incomplete relief from Escitalopram over two years, with side effects including nausea, fatigue, and numbness. After two supervised psilocybin sessions in Mexico in summer 2020, he achieved full remission of depressive symptoms and remained antidepressant-free through 2020. A 2021 double-blind trial with 59 subjects reported 70% of psilocybin-treated patients had over 50% reduction in depression, versus 48% on Escitalopram. Psilocybin, a 5-HT2A agonist, reduces amygdala reactivity to negative emotions and alters brain connectivity. The case suggests psilocybin may help treatment-resistant depression, though larger studies are needed.
L'Encephale
April 9, 2026
Amel Bouloufa, Sarah Delcourte, Thomas Delannay et al.
Major depressive disorder affects over 350 million people worldwide, and about one-third of patients do not achieve remission with standard antidepressants, a condition known as treatment-resistant depression. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) modulates the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor and the glutamatergic system, which are involved in neuroplasticity, and early clinical studies suggest rapid and sustained antidepressant responses. Clinical trials are underway to test LSD's safety and efficacy for major depressive disorder, though methodological challenges include creating meaningful placebos and the need for specialized therapist training. LSD-assisted therapy remains experimental, but its therapeutic potential is increasingly recognized given the limitations of current treatments for treatment-resistant depression.
L'Encephale
August 1, 2025
Andreas Rosén Rasmussen, Helene Stephensen, Julie Nordgaard et al.
A French translation of the Examination of Anomalous Fantasy and Imagination (EAFI) is presented, along with an introduction to the phenomenology of imagination and its experiential alterations. The EAFI's interrater reliability was tested in a diagnostically heterogeneous sample of 20 inpatients, yielding agreement from 0.6 to 1.0 with an average κ of 0.84, and internal consistency (Cronbach's α) above 0.88. The anomalies of imagination explored by the EAFI are suggested to reflect an alteration of the structure of consciousness and belong to a fundamental, generative layer of psychopathology, with potential relevance for differential diagnosis, especially in first-contact patients.
L'Encephale
April 4, 2025
George A Michael, Sara Salgues, Geoffrey Duran
Complex bodily hallucinations are common, with 96.6% of a general population sample of 623 participants reporting at least one. A new short scale assessing four themes—delusional parasitosis, feeling of presence, autoscopic phenomena, and body distortions—shows good internal consistency, 3-month test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. The data best fit a hierarchical model linking the four themes to a higher-order factor tentatively identified as bodily self-consciousness. Combinations of themes were more frequent than isolated reports, each of which occurred in less than 5% of the sample. The scale balances specificity and sensitivity when using the 90th percentile of the total score as a classification criterion, making it suitable for clinical and research use.
L'Encephale
February 1, 2025
Doriane Dost, Amine Benyamina, Laurent Karila
A systematic review of neuroimaging studies on psychedelics found that these substances reduce functional network integration, increase connectivity between brain networks, and expand the repertoire of functional connectivity patterns. Thalamic gating and emotional processing are also impaired. These changes correlate with symptom improvement in clinical populations. Despite these findings, understanding of psychedelic effects remains incomplete, and no unifying neurocognitive theory has emerged to explain the phenomena.
L'Encephale
June 1, 2026
Pierre A Geoffroy, Sammy Saadi, Sibylle Mauries et al.
Hyperonirism, or 'epic dreaming,' is an emerging clinical phenomenon marked by excessive, vivid, and continuous dream activity that disrupts sleep and causes daytime fatigue. Four patients at sleep and psychiatry centers described dream activity that was frequent, intrusive, and mentally exhausting, yet distinct from nightmares because the content was not necessarily negative. Comprehensive evaluations, including polysomnography and actigraphy, found largely normal objective sleep measures, highlighting a disconnect between subjective experience and standard tests. Psychiatric conditions like depression or anxiety were common but insufficient to explain the hyperonirism. This case series supports recognizing hyperonirism disorder as a distinct condition at the intersection of sleep medicine and psychiatry, with proposed diagnostic criteria covering both nocturnal and daytime symptoms.
L'Encephale
June 1, 2026
Alix Romier, Jeanne Leseur, Anne Moroy et al.
Sleep disturbances—including insomnia, nightmares, abnormal sleep duration, and circadian rhythm disruptions—are consistently associated with suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths, independent of psychiatric disorders. Objective markers such as nocturnal wakefulness and REM sleep alterations further support this link. Potential mechanisms involve inflammation, neurotransmitter dysregulation, impaired prefrontal-limbic connectivity, and psychosocial factors like hopelessness and nocturnal isolation. Incorporating sleep-related interview questions, validated questionnaires, and actigraphy into suicide risk assessment may strengthen detection. Interventions targeting sleep, such as CBT-I, sleep medications, and Imagery Rehearsal Therapy, show promise in reducing suicidal ideation.
L'Encephale
November 1, 2022
J. Hulot, Jean-Baptiste Roseau, D. Gomez-Mérino et al.
Among active-duty service members and veterans treated for PTSD in French military hospitals, sleep quality is severely impaired and trauma-related nightmares are highly prevalent, frequent, and immersive. Of 77 patients, 93.5% experienced traumatic nightmares, averaging 4.7 per week. Mean total sleep time was only 5.3 hours. 31% had fully replicative nightmares and 57.7% had partially replicative ones. Nightmares were associated with very severe PTSD symptoms (mean PCL-S score 62.6) and exacerbated symptoms during and after the nightmare. The authors suggest that long-term traumatic nightmares are a prominent feature of military PTSD and a potential therapeutic target.
L'Encephale
August 1, 2022
H Bottemanne, Y Longuet, C Gauld
Bayesian Brain Theory, rooted in Predictive Processing, provides a mathematical and mechanistic account of how the mind works. It posits that the brain encodes probabilistic beliefs to generate predictions about sensory input, then updates those beliefs using prediction errors. This theory integrates concepts from philosophy of mind with neuroscience data to explain perception, decision-making, learning, action, emotion, and even psychiatric symptoms. The paper introduces the fundamentals of this computational approach, showing how it translates complex cognitive processes into a unified framework.
L'Encephale
December 1, 2021
H Bottemanne, A Chevance, L Joly
Philosophy of mind, a rapidly growing field that has merged with cognitive science, addresses foundational questions about mental states, cognition, and their relation to the world. It provides a conceptual framework for generating theories in cognitive science by integrating philosophical concepts with neuroscientific data. However, psychiatry has been slow to adopt insights from philosophy of mind, relying only on fragments emerging from neuroscience. This paper describes the evolution of contemporary philosophy of mind and details its contributions to psychiatry around three central themes: naturalization of mind, mental causality, and subjectivity of mental states. It shows how philosophy of mind links different levels of explanation in psychiatry, from biology to function, neurophysiology to cognition, and matter to mind.
L'Encephale
December 1, 2015
D Carpentier, L Romo, P Bouthillon-Heitzmann et al.
A mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) program for alcohol dependence, delivered to 26 patients in three groups in France, led to reduced alcohol consumption, increased mindfulness, decreased impulsivity, and improved tolerance to anxiety. Patients showed better acceptance of thoughts and feelings, reduced tendency to give in to impulses, and increased self-efficacy. The non-controlled study used seven assessments before and after the eight-session program, including measures of mindfulness, impulsivity, anxiety, and automatic thoughts. The authors report maintained abstinence or moderation among still-consuming patients, though they note the small sample size and call for larger, longer-term studies to confirm these preliminary findings.
L'Encephale
December 1, 2014
M Trousselard, D Steiler, D Claverie et al.
Mindfulness is a universal human ability with roots in multiple religious and philosophical traditions, not only Buddhism and Hinduism but also Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Western philosophy. It involves bringing complete, nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience. The French language lacks a distinct term for mindfulness versus awareness, complicating its translation. The paper describes how mindfulness fosters concentration, attention, and acceptance, and reviews its positive effects on mental and physical health, particularly stress reduction from a physiological perspective. Neurobiological changes from mindfulness meditation, including modifications in cerebral networks and the default-mode network, are discussed, with evidence that practice decreases mind-wandering. Comparisons with relaxation techniques highlight technique-specific differences needing further study.