3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is a potent pyrovalerone cathinone that is substituted for amphetamines by recreational users. We report a comprehensive and detailed description of the effects of subcutaneous MDPV (1-4 mg/kg) on pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and metabolism, acute effects on thermoregulation under isolated and aggregated conditions, locomotion (open field) and sensory...
BACKGROUND: Emotion (dys)regulation as well as the interventions for improving these difficulties are receiving a growing attention in the literature. The aim of the present paper was to conduct a systematic review about the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in both substance and behavioral addictions (BAs). METHOD: A literature search was conducted using Cochrane, PubMed, and...
Research suggests that daily cannabis users have impaired memory for past events, but it is not clear whether they are also impaired in prospective memory (PM) for future events. The present study examined prospective memory in daily cannabis users who were either dependent (n = 18) or non-dependent (n = 18), and compared them with non-using controls (n = 18). The effect of future event...
BACKGROUND: perceptual abnormalities (VPAs) since they are underexplored and have been associated with suicidal ideation, negative symptoms, and objective visual dysfunction. METHOD: Using the 17 Bonn Scale vision items, we cross-sectionally investigated lifetime occurrence of VPAs in 21 first-episode psychosis and 22 chronic schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (SZ/SA) patients....
Naphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone (JWH-018) is a synthetic compound found in psychoactive “spice” products that activates cannabinoid receptors. Preclinical evidence suggests that exposure to synthetic cannabinoids increases 5-HT2A/2C receptor function in the brain, an effect which might contribute to psychotic symptoms. Here, we hypothesized that repeated exposures to JWH-018 would...
In clinical settings, nitrous oxide gas is a safe anesthetic used during childbirth, in dentistry, and to relieve anxiety in emergencies. Colloquially known as “hippy crack”’ or “laughing gas,” it is increasingly taken recreationally for its euphoric and relaxing effects and hallucinogenic properties. Using a self-reported survey, we gathered quantitative and qualitative information on users...
Mephedrone (MEPH) is a synthetic cathinone derivative with effects that mimic MDMA and/or cocaine. Our study in male Wistar rats provides detailed investigations of MEPH's and its primary metabolite nor-mephedrone's (nor-MEPH) pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution to four different substrates (serum, brain, lungs, and liver), as well as comparative analysis of their effects on locomotion [open...
The psychological and psychiatric literature has seldom appreciated the clinical fact that fears of ghosts and kindred supernatural worries may be a cause of intense discomfort, poor sleep, and socio-occupational impairment. In the present article, this claim is illustrated by the clinical features of six patients who developed intense anxiety when they had to sleep alone at night. The fears...
Connectomics is a framework that models brain structure and function interconnectivity as a network, rather than narrowly focusing on select regions-of-interest. MRI-derived connectomes can be structural, usually based on diffusion-weighted MR imaging, or functional, usually formed by examining fMRI blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal correlations. Recently, we developed a novel method...
Objective: This study aims to understand the impact of negative life experience (NLE) in auditory hallucinations (AHs) and explain the heterogeneity in phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Method: In depth interviews were conducted with 21 individuals (7 males and 14 females) experiencing AHs and accessing mental health treatment services at a not-for-profit organization....
Excessive glutamate release has been linked to stress and many neurodegenerative diseases. Evidence indicates abnormalities of glutamatergic neurotransmission or glutamatergic dysfunction as playing an important role in the development of many major psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder). Recently, ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate...
Many psychopathologists have approached symptom complexes without prejudging them as physical deficits or diseases, an approach suitable to connections with normal mind, to a broad dimensional and anthropological view of mental disorders. It contrasts with the prevailing orientation in psychiatry toward the medical model of delimited diseases. Discussions of this order centered on symptom...
Background: Increasing studies have found that high trait anxiety is a key susceptibility phenotype that causes depression. Mindfulness-based interventions can target on dealing with depressogenic vulnerability effectively. Evidence indicates that trait anxiety could affect the trajectory of anti-depressive psychotherapy, and play an important role in the relationship between mindfulness and...
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for veterans with PTSD. Extensive work has identified epigenetic factors related to PTSD disease risk and pathophysiology, but how these factors influence treatment response is unclear. Serotonin signaling and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning may be perturbed in PTSD and are molecular...
Background: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are experienced more frequently by patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) than previously assumed. However, consensus is lacking on how to treat them. Objective: To provide a systematic review of studies reporting on AVH in patients with BPD, with a focus on the efficacy of treatment of psychotic symptoms. Methods: For this review a...
Background: Despite advances in behavioral and pharmacotherapy interventions, substance use disorders (SUDs) are frequently refractory to treatment. Glutamatergic dysregulation has received increasing attention as one common neuropathology across multiple substances of abuse. Ketamine is a potent N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamatergic receptor antagonist which has been found to be effective...
Sleep is a quiescent behavioral state during which complex homeostatic functions essential to health and well-being occur. Insomnia is a very common psychiatric disorder leading to a myriad of detrimental effects including loss of concentration, memory, and performance as well as disease. Current pharmaceutical treatments can be expensive, impairing, unhealthy, and habit-forming. Relaxation...
Background: Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, is a common drug of abuse worldwide. Existing evidence suggest a disruption of oxytocin system involves in the development of addiction. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of oxytocin in ketamine addiction by measuring the blood oxytocin levels in ketamine-dependent (KD) patients. Methods: Sixty-five KD...
Background: The incubus phenomenon is a paroxysmal sleep-related disorder characterized by compound hallucinations experienced during brief phases of (apparent) wakefulness. The condition has an almost stereotypical presentation, characterized by a hallucinated being that exerts pressure on the thorax, meanwhile carrying out aggressive and/or sexual acts. It tends to be accompanied by sleep...
Hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is a syndrome characterized by prolonged or reoccurring perceptual symptoms, reminiscent of acute hallucinogen effects. HPPD was associated with a broader range of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)-like substances, cannabis, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, mescaline, and psychostimulants. The recent emergence of novel...
-methylcathinone) is a synthetic cathinone analog of the recreational drug ecstasy. Although it is marketed to recreational users as relatively safe, fatalities due to hyperthermia, serotonin syndrome, and multi-organ system failure have been reported. Since psychopharmacological data remain scarce, we have focused our research on pharmacokinetics, and on a detailed evaluation of temporal...
Objectives: Aminoindanes (“bath salts”, a class of novel psychoactive substances, NPSs) increased rapidly in popularity on the recreational drug market, particularly after mephedrone and other synthetic cathinones were banned in the UK in 2010. Novel aminoindanes continue to emerge, but relatively little is known about their effects and risks. Their history, chemistry, pharmacology, behavioural...
OBJECTIVE: Brain imaging studies in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have implicated a circuitry of brain regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, parietal cortex, and insula. Pharmacological treatment studies have shown a reversal of medial prefrontal deficits in response to traumatic reminders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a...
A feature of human culture is that we can learn to consume chemical compounds, derived from natural plants or synthetic fabrication, for their psychoactive effects. These drugs change the mental state and/or the behavioral performance of an individual and can be instrumentalized for various purposes. After the emergence of a novel psychoactive substance (NPS) and a period of experimental...
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its derivatives, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromo-amphetamine hydrobromide (DOB) and para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) are recreational drugs whose pharmacological effects have recently been attributed to serotonin 5HT2A/C receptors. However, there is growing evidence that the oxytocin/vasopressin system can modulate some the effects of MDMA. In this study, MDMA...