Heliyon
December 1, 2022
Benjamin Kelmendi, Giuliana DePalmer, Gayle Maloney et al.
34 citations
A patient with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder received psilocybin and was followed for a year. His OCD symptoms markedly improved, with the YBOCS score dropping from 24 to between 0 and 2. Broader gains included better emotional connection, social and work functioning, and quality of life. This individual was an early participant in an ongoing controlled study. The results are preliminary but suggest that carefully monitored and supported psychedelic treatment may hold therapeutic potential for obsessions and compulsions.
Heliyon
August 1, 2019
S. Best, D. Pavel, N. Haustrup
34 citations
Combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with biomarker-determined ketamine infusions (CTK) is an effective long-term therapy for treatment-resistant depression. In a retrospective review of 28 patients, the mean Clinical Global Impression severity score dropped by 4.46 points after treatment, and this improvement remained stable two years later. The coincident administration of ketamine allowed patients to tolerate higher TMS intensities than they otherwise could. This suggests CTK is a safe and durable option for treatment-resistant depression.
Heliyon
May 14, 2024
Winson F.z. Yang, Terje Sparby, Malcolm Wright et al.
30 citations
Advanced concentrative absorption meditation, such as the jhanas, involves volitional mental absorption that can be scientifically studied. This paper argues that these states represent a distinct category of meditative experience characterized by deep, effortless focus and profound well-being. It proposes a scientific framework for understanding these measurable states of consciousness, drawing on existing research to outline how absorption, concentration, and positive outcomes like well-being can be systematically investigated. The authors suggest that developing a rigorous scientific approach to jhana and similar practices could bridge contemplative traditions and consciousness research, offering new insights into the nature of deep meditative states and their potential benefits.
Heliyon
June 30, 2024
Fariba Eslamimoghadam, Zahra Abedini, Ashraf Khoramirad
7 citations
A mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program delivered via social networks reduced stress, anxiety, and depression among nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an experiment with 72 nursing students, those who received the MBSR intervention showed significantly lower scores on stress, anxiety, and depression measures immediately after the program and two months later, compared with a control group. The findings suggest that MBSR can be an effective and practical tool for supporting the mental health of nursing students during crises and could be incorporated into their curriculum.
Heliyon
May 15, 2024
Yan-Jun Lin, Su-Li Chen, Xiang-Li Zheng et al.
7 citations
In female patients undergoing hysteroscopy, combining propofol with 0.2 mg/kg of esketamine required a median effective dose (ED50) of 1.95 mg/kg of propofol to prevent response to laryngeal mask airway insertion, while 0.3 mg/kg of esketamine lowered the ED50 to 1.60 mg/kg. The 95% effective doses were 2.22 mg/kg and 2.15 mg/kg, respectively. Although the higher esketamine dose reduced propofol needs, it led to significantly greater additional propofol doses and higher airway pressure. No serious adverse effects occurred. The authors recommend using 0.2 mg/kg esketamine with propofol for optimal conditions during LMA insertion in this population.
Heliyon
May 17, 2023
Dominique Strauss, Soumya Ghosh, Zurika Murray et al.
7 citations
A review of the fungal genus Panaeolus finds that, although species in this group are reputed to contain the psychedelic compound psilocybin and are used recreationally, no contemporary scientific summary has catalogued which species are psychedelic versus those that are not. The global distribution, species diversity, and extent of DNA sequence data for identification remain poorly documented. This lack of data hinders regulation and law enforcement as markets for these fungi rapidly develop. The review reveals regions where species are mostly known and highlights areas lacking biodiversity data. Substantial further study is needed to confirm which Panaeolus species are truly psychedelic and what compounds they produce.
Heliyon
April 15, 2024
Aletta Me Millen, William Mu Daniels, Sooraj Baijnath
6 citations
Depression prevalence in Africa is severely underestimated due to unique societal risk factors and low public awareness. Treatment is hindered by inaccessible, low-cost options and a one-dimensional focus on outdated neurotransmitter theories, leading to rising treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine has emerged as a novel antidepressant, with esketamine FDA-approved for TRD in 2019, and ketamine infusion clinics established in Africa. However, esketamine is expensive and inaccessible to many, while cheaper racemic ketamine shows clinical potential but lacks regulation and understanding of its neurological mechanisms, especially in diverse African populations. This review provides an African context of depression and ketamine's therapeutic potential by highlighting its molecular mechanism of action.
Heliyon
August 15, 2024
A Faramarzi, M Fooladi, M Yousef Pour et al.
4 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) relieves pain by modulating the brain's pain neural network. In a crossover study with 20 healthy volunteers, brain scans using fMRI showed that LSD alters activity and connectivity in pain-processing regions. During placebo, more active voxels appeared in the anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, insula cortex, parietal operculum, and frontal pole compared to LSD. LSD increased activity in left frontal pole and left insula cortex. Functional connectivity patterns differed between LSD and placebo, and effective connectivity between the left anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and secondary somatosensory cortex changed significantly. These results suggest LSD affects pain network architecture and function.
Heliyon
September 15, 2024
Hao Hua, Xinghuo Fu, Wenli Wang et al.
2 citations
A bibliometric analysis of 710 publications from 2004 to October 2023 reveals growing research interest in psychedelics as treatments for depression. The analysis maps annual publication trends, authorship, countries, institutions, journals, and keywords to visualize emerging frontiers and influential factors. The authors assert that regulation of psychedelic drugs is necessary but should not impede scientific progress.
Heliyon
January 15, 2025
E A S K Somarathne, M W Gunathunga, E Lokupitiya
1 citation
Among 25 skilled Vipassana meditators in Sri Lanka, trait mindfulness was strongly associated with positive lifestyle habits. Two facets of mindfulness—observing and non-reactivity to present-moment experience—showed statistically strong links with perceived quality of life. Positive lifestyle habits significantly mediated the relationship between the observing facet of mindfulness and carbon footprint from food and beverage consumption, as well as between acting with awareness and carbon footprint from solid waste disposal. No temporal variables of meditation experience were significantly correlated with any domain of carbon footprint.
Heliyon
May 14, 2026
Kumarangie Vithanage, Dilshani WN. Dissanayake, Thashi Chang
Long-term meditators scored higher on all cognitive domains—immediate memory, visuospatial ability, language, attention, and delayed memory—compared to matched non-meditators, with all differences statistically significant. They also showed greater alpha brainwave activity in the right temporal region at rest and more high-frequency wave activity in the frontopolar region during meditation. Nerve conduction velocity and amplitude in the tibial nerve were higher in meditators, and visual evoked potential latencies were shorter. The findings suggest that long-term meditation is associated with enhanced cognitive function and measurable changes in brain activity and nerve conduction.
Heliyon
February 21, 2025
Regular cannabis smokers who used legally purchased pre-rolls showed increased spontaneous mind-wandering and impaired task performance after cannabis use, compared to abstinent sessions. The study used a remote three-session ABA design: the first and third sessions were on abstinent days, while the second session followed cannabis use. In baseline blocks, cannabis produced a large increase in spontaneous mind-wandering, a smaller increase in deliberate mind-wandering, and worse performance on a metronome-response attention task. When participants were instructed to mind-wander either 20% or 80% of the time, cannabis reduced their ability to adjust deliberate mind-wandering and task performance accordingly, indicating impaired regulation of mind-wandering.
Heliyon
September 1, 2023
Junling Gao, Hang Kin Leung, B. W. Wu et al.
Long-term intuitive inquiry meditation, a Buddhist Zen/Chan practice that uses doubt and belief to explore the self, alters brain activity related to self- and Buddha-schema processing differently depending on experience level. In an event-related potential study, beginner meditators showed reduced brain activity when viewing Buddha images but not when viewing themselves, while experienced meditators (monks) showed reduced brain activity when viewing themselves but not when viewing Buddha images. Experienced meditators also had greater theta power and higher intertrial coherence, suggesting more flexible cognitive modulation. These results indicate that intuitive inquiry meditation helps beginners detach from the concept of Buddha, whereas experienced practitioners become spontaneously detached from the self.
Heliyon
November 1, 2020
Ali Heydari Movahed, Fakhri Sabouhi, Reza Mohammadpourhodki et al.
A clinical trial randomly assigned 54 type-2 diabetic amputees to an experimental group receiving transcendental meditation (three sessions) or a control group. Spiritual well-being was measured before and after the intervention using the 20-item Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Before the intervention, the groups did not differ significantly. After the intervention, the mean spiritual well-being score was 97.82 ± 9.25 in the control group and 88.40 ± 9.47 in the experimental group (P = 0.001). The authors suggest that spiritual care can improve spiritual well-being in this population.
Heliyon
July 1, 2019
Mohammad Jamali, Mehdi Golshani, Yousef Jamali
A model and mechanism for mind-brain interaction is proposed, combining extended Bohmian quantum mechanics with Avicenna's philosophical ideas. The model shows that mind and mental states can affect brain activity without violating physical laws. It is a mathematical and descriptive model offering a causal account of mind's effect on matter. The model respects realistic philosophical constraints, aligns with Libet-style experimental results and parapsychological data, and is derived from a modified non-unitary Schrödinger equation obtained via second quantization. Three methods for extending Bohmian QM through path integral formalism are presented, with numerical simulations of two-slits experiment trajectories distinguishing them, and one method chosen as the basis for the mind-brain model.
Heliyon
February 1, 2019
Mohit Virmani, Nithin Nagaraj
A new measure of brain network complexity, ΦC, is proposed that bridges Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI). ΦC uses a perturbation-based compression-complexity approach, is mathematically well bounded, has negligible current state dependence, and avoids combinatorial explosion because its atomic bipartitions scale linearly with the number of network nodes. Computations show ΦC produces a hierarchy similar to IIT's Φ for several multiple-node networks and reveals a rich interplay between differentiation, integration, and entropy. ΦC is a promising heuristic for characterizing network complexity and may contribute to building a measure of consciousness, with potential applications to neurophysiological data.