PLoS One
December 7, 2015
John O. Younge, Machteld F. Wery, Rinske A. Gotink et al.
75 citations
A 12-week online mindfulness training added to usual care produced a borderline significant improvement in exercise capacity (13.2 meters on the 6-minute walk test) and a significant reduction in heart rate (−2.8 beats per minute) compared with usual care alone in 324 patients with heart disease. No significant differences were found for other physiological measures, subjective health status, perceived stress, psychological well-being, social support, or a composite clinical endpoint. The authors suggest mindfulness training may be a useful adjunct to current clinical therapy for heart disease.
PLoS One
June 17, 2016
Jason Wallach, Heather Kang, Tristan Colestock et al.
73 citations
1,2-Diarylethylamines such as diphenidine (DPH) and 2-methoxy-diphenidine (2-MXP) are sold as 'legal highs' and have been linked to fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Binding studies at 46 central nervous system receptors show these compounds are relatively selective N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists with weak off-target inhibition of dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake. In rats, DPH and 2-MXP significantly reduced prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI), an effect seen with dissociative drugs like phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine. DPH acted with a median effective dose (ED50) of 9.5 mg/kg, less potent than PCP and ketamine.
PLoS One
June 29, 2012
Laura Moreno-López, Emmanuel A. Stamatakis, María José Fernández-serrano et al.
73 citations
In a sample of 49 polysubstance users in residential treatment who had been abstinent for a prolonged period, the severity of use of heroin, alcohol, MDMA, and cannabis each showed negative correlations with brain metabolism in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and temporal cortex. Alcohol use was additionally linked to lower metabolism in the frontal premotor cortex and putamen, while stimulant use was associated with lower metabolism in the parietal cortex. These findings suggest that different drugs of abuse may produce overlapping and distinct patterns of brain dysfunction even after extended abstinence, which could inform targeted rehabilitation strategies.
PLoS One
November 30, 2020
Natália Bezerra Mota, Janaína Weissheimer, Marina Ribeiro et al.
71 citations
Dreams during the 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak reveal psychological distress. Analyzing 239 dream reports from 67 individuals, dreams during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic showed more anger and sadness words. These dreams also linked to "contamination" and "cleanness." Intriguingly, these dream characteristics explained 40% of the variation in psychological suffering related to social isolation, relevant for Psychiatry and Medicine. This underscores how the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) crisis impacts Sleep and Wakefulness Research, including mind wandering and attention, reflecting widespread Coronavirus Infections' effects.
PLoS One
November 5, 2018
Itxaso Barberia, Ramon Oliva, Pierre Bourdin et al.
71 citations
Immersive virtual reality can simulate death and near-death experiences, offering a new way to study their psychological impact. Participants embodied in virtual bodies on an island witnessed companions' deaths and their own death, including out-of-body experience, life review, and tunnel leading to white light. Fifteen female participants experienced six sessions from childhood to death; sixteen controls formed a waiting group. Those who underwent the simulation reported life attitude changes, becoming more concerned with others and more interested in global rather than material issues compared to the control group. The small sample size means results are indicative rather than conclusive.
PLoS One
May 13, 2015
Melanie Boly, Shuntaro Sasai, Olivia Gosseries et al.
69 citations
A meaningful sequence of stimuli, like movie frames, triggers varied experiences, while meaningless stimuli, like TV noise, produce a uniform experience despite physical differences. The differentiation of cortical responses, measured by Lempel-Ziv complexity of functional MRI images, reflects the overall meaningfulness of a stimulus set rather than differences among stimuli. Brain activity patterns showed highest differentiation during a movie, intermediate for a temporally scrambled movie, and minimal for spatially scrambled TV noise, even though overall cortical activation was strong and widespread in all conditions. Meaningfulness also correlated with higher information integration among cortical regions. This approach can assess stimulus meaningfulness without identifying relevant features or neural locations.
PLoS One
March 8, 2019
Bernard J. Crespi, Natalie L. Dinsdale, Silven Read et al.
68 citations
Spirituality relates differently to autism spectrum and schizotypal spectrum traits in a large sample of undergraduates. Total spirituality was negatively correlated with autism traits and positively correlated with positive schizotypal traits, supporting the diametrical model of autism and psychosis. These opposing associations were driven mainly by the Search for Meaning subscale, which was the only spirituality dimension significantly negatively linked to autism and positively linked to positive schizotypal traits. Belief in God was positively correlated with positive schizotypal traits but showed no correlation with autism traits. The opposite patterns for Search for Meaning align with cognitive models: weak central coherence in autism and enhanced salience in positive schizotypy.
PLoS One
October 24, 2012
Ricardo Pardo‐lozano, M. Farré, Samanta Yubero‐lahoz et al.
67 citations
A single oral weight-adjusted dose of MDMA (1.4 mg/kg) produced similar plasma concentrations and positive subjective effects in healthy recreational users regardless of gender or CYP2D6 and COMT genotypes. Female subjects experienced more intense physiological effects (increased heart rate and oral temperature) and negative effects (dizziness, sedation, depression, psychotic symptoms). Genotypes of COMT val158met or 5-HTTLPR with high functionality led to greater cardiovascular effects, while low-functionality genotypes were linked to negative subjective effects. The contribution of MDMA pharmacokinetics to gender differences in drug effects appears negligible; instead, 5-HTTLPR and COMT val158met genotypes play a major role.
PLoS One
March 14, 2024
Adam W. Levin, Rafaelle Lancelotta, Nathan D. Sepeda et al.
65 citations
In a small randomized trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for adults with major depressive disorder, the therapeutic alliance between participants and facilitators strengthened from the final preparation session to one week after the intervention. A stronger alliance before the psilocybin sessions predicted lower depression scores at 4 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months afterward. Stronger alliance also correlated with more intense mystical experiences and psychological insight during the drug sessions, which in turn predicted better depression outcomes. The findings suggest the therapeutic relationship is important for treatment success.
PLoS One
September 7, 2022
Geissy Lainny de Lima-Araújo, Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Thatiane Aparecida Mendes et al.
64 citations
A brief three-day mindfulness training increased interoceptive sensibility—the self-reported tendency to notice and attend to body signals—in 40 healthy young adults naive to meditation, compared with an active control group. Five of eight subdomains of interoceptive sensibility improved after the training, but interoceptive accuracy (objective performance on a heartbeat-detection task) did not change. The increase in interoceptive sensibility statistically mediated reductions in state anxiety, suggesting a plausible mechanism for the anxiolytic effects of brief mindfulness practices.
PLoS One
July 19, 2019
Jordan T. Quaglia, Fadel Zeidan, Peter G. Grossenbacher et al.
64 citations
Mindfulness training improves cognitive control in social situations by enhancing early top-down attention. In a randomized controlled study, participants who completed four brief mindfulness sessions showed better discrimination of facial expressions and more efficient cognitive control compared to a control group. Those with poorer baseline performance benefited most. Mindfulness also improved conflict monitoring of behavioral tendencies, as shown by larger No-Go N200 brain responses. These results suggest mindfulness helps people manage the unique demands of social contexts, particularly for those with greater room for improvement, and that early attention deployment may be a key mechanism behind mindfulness's regulatory benefits.
PLoS One
August 24, 2022
Mary M. Sweeney, Sandeep M. Nayak, Ethan Hurwitz et al.
60 citations
Psychedelic drug experiences and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences both change people's beliefs about death, but direct comparisons are rare. In a survey of 3,192 individuals who reported such experiences, those from non-drug causes (e.g., near-death) were more likely to involve unconsciousness, clinical death, or imminent danger. Both groups reported similar reductions in fear of death, high personal meaning, spiritual significance, and psychological insight. However, psychedelic participants scored higher on standardized measures of mystical and near-death features, while non-drug participants more often rated their experience as the single most meaningful of their lives. Among psychedelics, ayahuasca and DMT produced stronger positive enduring effects than psilocybin and LSD.
PLoS One
October 11, 2017
Raphael Vallat, Benoit Chatard, Mark Blagrove et al.
60 citations
Over seven days, 40 participants recorded their dreams and identified related waking-life elements (WLEs), including remote and trivial memories. On average, 83.4% of dream reports linked to at least one WLE. Among dated WLEs, 40.2% occurred the day before the dream, 26.1% in the prior month, 15.8% in the prior year, and 17.9% more than a year earlier. While most incorporated WLEs were rated as important, those from the day before were mostly mundane, consistent with Freud's day residues. Both positive and negative WLEs were rated as emotionally less intense in dreams than in waking, supporting the emotional regulation hypothesis of dreaming.
PLoS One
July 11, 2019
Daniella K. Villalba, Emily K. Lindsay, Anna L. Marsland et al.
59 citations
Two randomized controlled trials tested whether mindfulness training reduces inflammation, measured by C-Reactive Protein (CRP), in stressed community adults. One trial used a 2-week smartphone-based intervention; the other used an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. Training that combined attention monitoring with acceptance skills did not lower CRP compared to training without acceptance or to a control condition. Exploratory analyses combining data from both studies suggested that either mindfulness approach might reduce CRP in midlife-to-older adults and individuals with high body mass index, populations at risk for systemic inflammation.
PLoS One
August 8, 2018
Stephen LaBerge, Kristen Lamarca, Benjamin Baird
59 citations
Taking galantamine, a drug that boosts the brain chemical acetylcholine, significantly increases the chance of having a lucid dream—a dream where the dreamer knows they are dreaming. In a study of 121 people interested in lucid dreaming, 14% reported a lucid dream after a placebo, compared to 27% after a 4 mg dose and 42% after an 8 mg dose. The drug also improved dream recall, sensory vividness, and complexity. Lucid dreams themselves were more vivid, clear, controlled, and emotionally positive than non-lucid dreams. Combining galantamine taken in the last third of the night with a brief awakening and a focused mental technique is one of the most effective ways to induce lucid dreams.
PLoS One
March 4, 2010
Thomas S. Ray
57 citations
correction
Psychedelic drugs, particularly phenylalkylamines, interact with many more receptor types than previously thought. New affinity data for 25 psychedelic drugs at 51 receptors, transporters, and ion channels, plus literature data for 10 additional drugs, show these compounds bind to 42 of 49 broadly assayed sites, not just the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors. A new normalization method allows direct comparison of multi-receptor profiles across drugs. The 35 drugs display diverse interaction patterns with 18 different receptor classes, which may explain their qualitatively different mental effects. This diversity suggests psychedelics could be used as probes to study how various receptor systems contribute to human consciousness.
PLoS One
October 14, 2020
E. Marseille, J. Kahn, B. Yazar-Klosinski et al.
55 citations
For people with severe, chronic PTSD that does not respond to standard treatments, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MAP) appears to be cost-saving for health care payers while delivering substantial clinical benefit. A decision-analytic model based on pooled results from six phase 2 trials with 105 subjects and a four-year follow-up of 19 subjects estimated that, over 30 years, MAP for 1,000 individuals generates net discounted savings of $103.2 million and 5,553 additional quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) compared to continued standard care. MAP breaks even on cost at 3.1 years. Even under the conservative assumption that benefits last only one year, MAP costs $26,427 per QALY gained.
PLoS One
February 10, 2010
Clara Touriño, Andreas Zimmer, Olga Valverde
55 citations
The main psychoactive compound in cannabis, THC, can protect against brain damage caused by MDMA (ecstasy) in mice, primarily by preventing the dangerous rise in body temperature that MDMA induces. MDMA caused hyperthermia, glial activation, and loss of dopamine terminals in the striatum, especially at a warm ambient temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. THC prevented MDMA-induced hyperthermia and glial activation at both room and warm temperatures, and reversed dopamine terminal loss at the warm temperature. These protective effects were blocked by the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 and in CB1 knockout mice, but only partially blocked by CB2 receptor antagonism or knockout, indicating that THC's neuroprotection is primarily mediated by CB1 receptor activation reducing hyperthermia, with CB2 receptors contributing to reduced neuroinflammation.
PLoS One
January 10, 2024
Rachel Yehuda, Leah Bedrosian, Charlotte Harrison et al.
52 citations
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial of 90 participants with severe PTSD, MDMA-assisted therapy produced significantly greater improvements than therapy with placebo on measures of emotional coping and self-experience. Participants receiving MDMA showed larger gains on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and most factors of the Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities, including affect regulation and interpersonal functioning, with identity diffusion being the only exception. Most participants had histories of developmental trauma and multiple traumas. These findings suggest that MDMA-assisted therapy enhances psychological capacities that are often linked to poor treatment outcomes, offering insight into how psychedelic agents may reduce PTSD symptoms.
PLoS One
February 25, 2022
Elliot Marseille, Jennifer Mitchell, James G. Kahn
49 citations
For patients with severe or extreme chronic PTSD, MDMA-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) costs $11,537 per patient and generates net health care savings of $132.9 million over 30 years per 1,000 patients, while accruing 4,856 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and averting 61.4 premature deaths compared with standard care. The therapy breaks even on cost at 3.8 years. A three-session MDMA regimen yields greater medical savings and health benefits than a two-session regimen. Even if no health care cost savings are assumed, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is $2,384 per QALY gained. MDMA-AT is cost-saving from a payer's perspective and delivers substantial clinical benefit.
PLoS One
January 1, 2021
Naomi Kakoschke, Craig Hassed, Richard Chambers et al.
49 citations
A 5-week mindfulness-based lifestyle course for first-year medical students was associated with improvements in mental health, perceived stress, study engagement, and dispositional mindfulness. Among 205 students who completed questionnaires before and after the program, all measured outcomes improved. Improvements were interrelated: reductions in perceived stress correlated with gains in other areas, and increases in mindfulness correlated with better mental health and study engagement. The amount of informal mindfulness practice (e.g., integrating mindfulness into daily activities) was positively related to all improvements, whereas formal practice (e.g., seated meditation) was only linked to increased mindfulness scores. The findings suggest that even a brief mindfulness program can benefit medical student wellbeing, especially when students engage in informal practice.
PLoS One
January 1, 2013
Quinton Deeley, Eamonn Walsh, David A Oakley et al.
48 citations
Voluntary control and awareness of movement are central to selfhood and responsibility, yet can be lost in neuropsychiatric syndromes and dissociative states like spirit possession. Using suggestion and fMRI in 15 highly hypnotically suggestible subjects, loss of perceived control of movements was linked to reduced connectivity between the supplementary motor area (SMA) and motor regions. Reduced awareness of involuntary movements corresponded with less activation in parietal cortices and insula. These results suggest the sense of voluntary control may critically depend on SMA coupling with motor systems, offering a neural basis for narrowed awareness in pathological and culturally influenced dissociative phenomena.
PLoS One
June 23, 2014
Christopher Allen, Benjamin T. Dunkley, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy et al.
45 citations
Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the occipital cortex, expected to impair conscious vision, instead enhanced it relative to a sham control. The stimulation decreased cortical excitability and increased regional GABA concentration, suggesting that suppression of neural noise can improve the signal-to-noise ratio for conscious vision. No significant effects on magnetoencephalography measures were observed, though weak evidence for potentiation of beta-band event-related desynchronisation appeared. The authors propose that gating-by-inhibition in the visual cortex may be a foundation of consciousness.
PLoS One
July 1, 2021
Marie Therese Bartossek, Johanna Kemmerer, Timo Torsten Schmidt
43 citations
Flickering light with closed eyes temporarily alters consciousness, producing simple visual hallucinations like colors and geometric patterns. In 24 participants, 10 Hz stimulation caused stronger effects than 3 Hz, including vivid visual hallucinations. Participants' Absorption personality trait strongly correlated with the intensity of altered consciousness. The effects were rated similar in strength to those from psychedelic substances, supporting the study of shared brain mechanisms.
PLoS One
February 22, 2016
Daniela Dentico, Fabio Ferrarelli, Brady A. Riedner et al.
43 citations
After two intensive days of mindfulness or compassion meditation, long-term meditators showed increased low-frequency brain activity (1-12 Hz, peaking around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal areas during non-rapid eye movement sleep. This increase was strongest early in the night and extended to higher frequencies (25-40 Hz) during the third sleep cycle. The changes depended on meditation experience and did not differ between the two meditation styles. No such changes occurred in meditation-naive individuals. The findings suggest that intensive meditation practice acutely alters brain activity in regions linked to top-down regulation, complementing chronic changes seen in posterior areas.