The neurophysiologic basis of near death experience (NDE) is unknown. Clinical observations suggest that REM state intrusion contributes to NDE. Support for the hypothesis follows five lines of evidence: REM intrusion during wakefulness is a frequent normal occurrence, REM intrusion underlies other clinical conditions, NDE elements can be explained by REM intrusion, cardiorespiratory afferents...
The authors further investigated the functional consequences of continued neurotoxicity of (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use. Fifteen participants who were previously given a brief neuropsychological battery were tested for a third time 2 years after baseline. At 2 years, seven participants were still using MDMA, whereas eight participants had become abstinent from MDMA since...
To examine the neurotoxic potential of continued MDMA ("Ecstasy") use in humans and its functional consequences over the course of 1 year, 15 MDMA users participated in a longitudinal study in which they completed a brief neuropsychological test battery composed mainly of retrospective and prospective memory tasks. Subjects were abstinent for 2 weeks on initial and 1-year testing. Continued use...
The authors found that striatal levels of serotonin and those of its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were severely depleted by 50 to 80% in brain of a chronic user of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) whereas concentrations of dopamine were within the normal control range. Our data suggest that MDMA exposure in the human can cause decreased tissue stores of serotonin and therefore some...
Previous epidemiologic data on sleep paralysis (SP) came from small specific samples. The true prevalence and associated factors of SP in the general population remain unknown. A representative sample of the noninstitutionalized general population of Germany and Italy age > or =15 years (n = 8,085) was surveyed by telephone using the Sleep-EVAL questionnaire and the Sleep Questionnaire of...
Abstinent MDMA users have impairment in verbal and visual memory. The extent of memory impairment correlates with the degree of MDMA exposure and the reduction in brain 5-HT, as indexed by CSF 5-HIAA.
Abstract In recent years, specific cortical networks have been proposed to be crucial for sustaining consciousness, including the posterior hot zone and frontoparietal resting state networks (RSN). Here, we computationally evaluate the relative contributions of three RSNs – the default mode network (DMN), the salience network (SAL), and the central executive network (CEN) – to consciousness and...
Background: Patients with ALS commonly exhibit pseudobulbar affect. Methods: The authors conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled, parallel, three-arm study to test a defined combination of dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DM) and quinidine sulfate (Q) (AVP-923) for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect in ALS. Q inhibits the rapid first-pass metabolism of DM. The effects of...