The global population is ageing rapidly, with the number of individuals aged 60 and older reaching 1 billion in 2019 and expected to double by 2050. As people age, neuropsychological health often deteriorates, leading to a higher prevalence of age-related depression. Symptoms may include anxiety, apathy, mood instability, sadness, and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts. Depression in the...
Psychedelics were explored for their potential in the mental health field. However, research was delayed by concerns over short-term side effects and long-term consequences of substance use. Technological advances enabled the development of Hallucinatory Visual Virtual Experiences (HVVEs), namely psychedelic experiences simulations in immersive virtual reality. This study investigated HVVEs'...
The increasing prevalence of dementia within an ageing global population, combined with prolonged life expectancy, accentuates Alzheimer's disease (AD) as a multifaceted healthcare challenge. This challenge is further compounded by the limited therapeutic options currently available. Addressing the intricacies of AD management, the mitigation of comorbidities has emerged as a pivotal facet of...
INTRODUCTION: Psychedelics are gaining recognition for their therapeutic potential in mental health treatment, yet societal attitudes remain divided, influenced by both skepticism and curiosity. This study aimed to develop and validate a scale assessing attitudes toward psychedelics. METHODS: Study 1 (n = 1000, convenience sample) explored the factor structure, identifying two dimensions:...
INTRODUCTION: This study evaluates the impact of a two-hour team-based learning (TBL) curriculum on medical students' knowledge, comprehension, ethical understanding, and attitudes towards psychedelic therapies. METHODS: Sixty-three pre-surveys and fifty post-surveys assessed students' perceived knowledge and attitudes using Likert scales. Forty-eight matched pre/post-knowledge tests with...
Abstract We introduce here a general model of Functional Neurological Disorders based on the following hypothesis: a Functional Neurological Disorder could correspond to a consciously initiated voluntary top-down process causing involuntary lasting consequences that are consciously experienced and subjectively interpreted by the patient as involuntary. We develop this central hypothesis...
Cannabis can elicit an acute psychotic reaction, and its long-term use is a risk factor for schizophrenia. The main active psychoactive ingredient ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) activates cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors, which are localized to the terminals of glutamate and GABA neurons in the brain. The endogenous cannabinoids are involved in information processing and plasticity at synapses...
This article retraces the story of cannabis from the earliest contacts of humans with the plant to its subsequent global expansion, its medicinal uses, and the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the 20th century. Cannabis was attested to around 12 000 years ago near the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, and since then, cannabis seeds have accompanied the migration of nomadic peoples....
This article covers the renaissance of classical psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD plus 3,4-methylene dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA-ecstasy) in psychiatric research. These drugs were used quite extensively before they became prohibited. This ban had little impact on recreational use, but effectively stopped research and clinical treatments, which up to that point had looked very...
Cannabis (also known as marijuana) is the most frequently used illicit psychoactive substance in the world. Though it was long considered to be a “soft” drug, studies have proven the harmful psychiatric and addictive effects associated with its use. A number of elements are responsible for the increased complications of cannabis use, including the increase in the potency of cannabis and an...
Despite the complexity and heterogeneity of mood disorders, basic and clinical research studies have begun to elucidate the pathophysiology of depression and to identify rapid, efficacious antidepressant agents. Stress and depression are associated with neuronal atrophy, characterized by loss of synaptic connections in key cortical and limbic brain regions implicated in depression. This is...
This paper is an overview of recent discussions concerning the mind-body problem, which is being addressed at the interface between philosophy and neuroscience. It focuses on phenomenal features of consciousness or "qualia," which are distinguished from various related issues. Then follows a discussion of various influential skeptical arguments that question the possibility of reductive...
Ecstasy (MDMA, 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine) and the stimulants methamphetamine (METH, speed) and amphetamine are popular drugs among young people, particularly in the dance scene. When given in high doses both MDMA and the stimulant amphetamines are clearly neurotoxic in laboratory animals. MDMA causes selective and persistent lesions of central serotonergic nerve terminals, whereas...
Serendipity is one of the many factors that may contribute to drug discovery. It has played a role in the discovery of prototype psychotropic drugs that led to modern pharmacological treatment in psychiatry. It has also played a role in the discovery of several drugs that have had an impact on the development of psychiatry. "Serendipity" in drug discovery implies the finding of one thing while...
This review focuses on recent brain imaging and behavioral studies of sensory gating functions, which assess similarities between the effects of classic hallucinogens (eg, psilocybin), dissociative anesthetics (eg, ketamine), and entactogens (eg, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) in humans. Serotonergic hallucinogens and psychotomimetic anesthetics produce overlapping psychotic...