Psychopharmacology
June 1, 2010
D Matthew Walentiny, Robert E Vann, Jonathan A Warner et al.
49 citations
Salvinorin A, the primary psychoactive derivative of the hallucinogenic herb Salvia divinorum, is a potent and highly selective kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist. Several recent studies, however, have suggested endocannabinoid system mediation of some of its effects. This study represents a systematic examination of this hypothesis. Salvinorin A was isolated from S. divinorum and was...
Psychopharmacology
June 1, 2010
Eduardo R Butelman, Szymon Rus, Thomas E Prisinzano et al.
43 citations
The widely available hallucinogen salvinorin A is a unique example of a plant-derived compound selective for kappa-opioid receptors and may produce effects distinct from those of other compounds with classic hallucinogenic or dissociative properties which are also abused in humans. The objective of this study is to characterize the salvinorin A discriminative cue in nonhuman primates with high...
Psychopharmacology
May 2010
Robert A Battisti, Steven Roodenrys, Stuart J Johnstone et al.
The endogenous cannabinoid system is sensitive to the introduction of exogenous cannabinoids such as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which are known to impact upon memory functioning. We sought to examine the impact of chronic cannabis use upon memory-related brain function via examination of the subsequent memory effect (SME) of the event-related potential (ERP). The SME is predictive of recall...
Psychopharmacology
May 2010
Pierre Pouget, Nicolas Wattiez, Sophie Rivaud-Péchoux et al.
Ketamine, a non-competitive N-methyl-D: -aspartic acid antagonist, has been widely used for anaesthetic purposes. At sub-anaesthetic dosage, it induces a dissociative state similar to schizophrenia. The discovery of this effect on dissociative state has led to its use as a pharmacological model of schizophrenia and has also been responsible for its illegal use as a recreational drug. Whereas...
Psychopharmacology
April 2010
Marcello Solinas, Gianluigi Tanda, Carrie E Wertheim et al.
Although delta-9-tetreahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced elevations in accumbal dopamine levels are believed to play an important role in the abuse-related effects of cannabis, little direct evidence has been provided that the dopaminergic system is involved in the psychotropic effects of THC. The objective of this study is to investigate whether drugs activating or blocking the dopaminergic system...
Psychopharmacology
February 19, 2010
Clinton E. Canal, U. B. Olaghere da Silva, Paul J Gresch et al.
111 citations
RationaleHallucinogenic serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor partial agonists, such as (±)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane hydrochloride (DOI), induce a frontal cortex-dependent head-twitch response (HTR) in rodents, a behavioral proxy of a hallucinogenic response that is blocked by 5-HT2A receptor antagonists. In addition to 5-HT2A receptors, DOI and most other serotonin-like...
Psychopharmacology
January 18, 2010
Wendy M. Bosker, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Silke Conen et al.
45 citations
INTRODUCTION: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is known to improve psychomotor function and mood when measured during daytime. However, MDMA users tend to take this drug at dance parties while staying awake for prolonged periods of time. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study was designed to assess dose-related residual effects of MDMA on psychomotor function and mood after a night without...
Psychopharmacology
November 24, 2009
Adam L. Halberstadt, Mark A. Geyer
76 citations
RATIONALE: Compounds that activate the 5-HT(2A) receptor, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), act as hallucinogens in humans. One notable exception is the LSD congener lisuride, which does not have hallucinogenic effects in humans even though it is a potent 5-HT(2A) agonist. LSD and other hallucinogens have been shown to disrupt prepulse inhibition (PPI), an operational measure of...
Psychopharmacology
November 1, 2009
Dagmar Koethe, Carolin Hoyer, F Markus Leweke
Model psychosis is characterised by experimentally induced symptoms of withdrawal from reality, frequently accompanied by perceptual disturbances, thought disorders, delusional ideas and sometimes by hallucinations. These "altered states of consciousness" provide a long-standing and valid approach to enhance our understanding of certain aspects of schizophrenia. Targeting the endocannabinoid...
Psychopharmacology
November 1, 2009
C B Willmore, D M Krall, F M Spears et al.
Deficits in memory and attention are broadly acknowledged during psychosis; however, experiments on modeled psychosis often test working memory without systematic manipulation of attentional demands. The major research goal was discovering which neurobehavioral processes, attention, or memory contributed more to drug-provoked performance deficits. Rats were trained to perform operant ratio...
Psychopharmacology
August 2009
María Juliana Orejarena, Fernando Berrendero, Rafaël Maldonado et al.
There is evidence demonstrating changes in dopamine (DA) transmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) related to contingent versus non-contingent drug administration. The aim of this study was to evaluate basal and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-stimulated DA levels in the NAc of mice that had previously received contingent and non-contingent infusions of MDMA. Contingent mice were...
Psychopharmacology
July 1, 2009
Michael B. Gatch, Margaret A. Rutledge, Theresa M. Carbonaro et al.
Rationale There has been increased recreational use of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), but little is known of its discriminative stimulus effects. Objectives The present study assessed the similarity of the discriminative stimulus effects of DMT to other types of hallucinogens and to psychostimulants. Methods Rats were trained to discriminate DMT from saline. To test the similarity of DMT to known...
Psychopharmacology
June 1, 2009
Matthew R. Skelton, Tori L. Schaefer, Nicole R Herring et al.
31 citations
We have previously shown that (+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) treatment from postnatal days (P)11 to P20 leads to learning and memory deficits when the animals are tested as adults. Recently, the club drug 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT) has gained popularity. Due to the similarities between MDMA and 5-MeO-DIPT and the substitution of 5-MeO-DIPT for MDMA, the...
Psychopharmacology
May 27, 2009
Philip R. Corlett, Chris Frith, Paul C. Fletcher
392 citations
INTRODUCTION: Various experimental manipulations, usually involving drug administration, have been used to produce symptoms of psychosis in healthy volunteers. Different drugs produce both common and distinct symptoms. A challenge is to understand how apparently different manipulations can produce overlapping symptoms. We suggest that current Bayesian formulations of information processing in...
Psychopharmacology
April 1, 2009
Lisa E Baker, John J Panos, Bryan A Killinger et al.
57 citations
Research interests regarding the psychopharmacology of salvinorin A have been motivated by the recreational use and widespread media focus on the hallucinogenic plant, Salvia divinorum. Additionally, kappa opioid (KOP) receptor ligands may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of some neuropsychiatric conditions, including drug dependence and mood disorders. Salvinorin A is a selective...
Psychopharmacology
April 2009
Herbert Barry, James B. Appel
One important technique in behavioral pharmacology is to train laboratory animals to discriminate between a psychoactive drug effect and a nondrug condition. Tests with different drugs have identified several categories of drugs that have different discriminable effects. The two authors describe and discuss the early research on discriminable effects of sedative and hallucinogenic drugs and...
Psychopharmacology
April 2009
Danuta Marona‐lewicka, Benjamin R Chemel, David E Nichols
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) differs from other types of hallucinogens in that it possesses direct dopaminergic effects. The exact nature of this component has not been elucidated. The present study sought to characterize the effects of several dopamine D(4) agonists and antagonists on the discriminative stimulus effect of LSD at two pretreatment times and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine...
Psychopharmacology
April 2009
Joshua A Lile, Thomas H Kelly, David J Pinsky et al.
Preclinical evidence suggests that non-cannabinoid neurotransmitter systems are involved in the behavioral and physiological effects of cannabinoids, but relatively little research has been conducted in humans. The aims of this study were to assess whether oral Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) would function as a discriminative stimulus in humans and to examine the substitution...
Psychopharmacology
April 2009
Jerrold C Winter
Although man's first encounters with hallucinogens predate written history, it was not until the rise of the sister disciplines of organic chemistry and pharmacology in the nineteenth century that scientific studies became possible. Mescaline was the first to be isolated and its chemical structure determined. Since then, additional drugs have been recovered from their natural sources and...
Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2009
Mark Blagrove, Celia J. A. Morgan, H Valerie Curran et al.
Ketamine is an N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with psychotogenic effects and for which there are diverse reports of whether pleasant or unpleasant dreams result during anaesthesia, post-operatively or after sub-anaesthetic use. To assess in healthy volunteers the incidence of unpleasant dreams over the three nights after receiving a sub-anaesthetic dose of ketamine, in...
Psychopharmacology
March 2009
Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Brian Pittman, Edward Perry et al.
Acute and chronic exposure to cannabinoids has been associated with cognitive deficits, a higher risk for schizophrenia and other drug abuse. However, the precise mechanism underlying such effects is not known. Preclinical studies suggest that cannabinoids modulate brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Accordingly, we hypothesized that Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC), the...
Psychopharmacology
February 24, 2009
George K. Aghajanian
37 citations
INTRODUCTION: Dysregulation of neuronal networks has been suggested to underlie the cognitive and perceptual abnormalities observed schizophrenia. DISCUSSIONS: An in vitro model of psychosis is proposed based on the two different approaches to cause aberrant network activity in layer V pyramidal cells of prefrontal brain slices: (1) psychedelic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide...
Psychopharmacology
December 1, 2008
Alessandro Gozzi, Hugh Herdon, Adam Schwarz et al.
Increasing experimental evidence suggests that impaired N-methyl-D: -aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor (NMDAr) function could be a key pathophysiological determinant of schizophrenia. Agonists at the allosteric glycine (Gly) binding site of the NMDA complex can promote NMDAr activity, a strategy that could provide therapeutic efficacy for the disorder. NMDAr antagonists like phencyclidine (PCP) can...
Psychopharmacology
December 2008
Emily Joy Jaehne, Abdallah Salem, Rodney James Irvine
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") disrupts thermoregulation in rats and can lead to life-threatening hyperthermia in humans. MDMA administration can also lead to long-term neurotoxicity in animals and possibly humans. The purpose of the current study was to extend previous results on the acute effects of MDMA on behavioral thermoregulation to a repeated dosing regime,...
Psychopharmacology
November 1, 2008
Adam L. Halberstadt, Mahalah R Buell, Virginia L Masten et al.
46 citations
The hallucinogenic tea known as ayahuasca is made from a combination of psychoactive plants that contribute the active components N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-DMT (5-MeO-DMT), as well as the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors (MAOIs) harmine and harmaline for oral activity. The present study examined the effects of 5-MeO-DMT in combination with MAOIs in rats using the behavioral...