DELOS Desarrollo Local Sostenible
August 31, 2026
Ricardo Cavalari Dória, Romulo Ronsani Ferreira, Maria Eugenia Garavello et al.
O uso de ayahuasca vem se expandindo no Brasil para além do contexto religioso tradicional, alcançando também padrões recreativos, com riscos psiquiátricos ainda pouco documentados na literatura nacional. Este relato descreve o caso de uma paciente de 28 anos, com Transtorno Afetivo Bipolar (CID-10 F31.2) diagnosticado havia nove anos e três internações prévias por mania psicótica, internada...
medRxiv
August 27, 2026
Krista Whitley, Kai Davide Castellarin, Kumar Dave et al.
preprint
Abstract Ayahuasca use has expanded beyond its traditional Amazonian contexts, yet prospective longitudinal data examining depressive symptoms following naturalistic use in the United States remain limited. We conducted an interim analysis of an ongoing prospective observational cohort of adults participating in naturalistic ayahuasca use in Las Vegas, Nevada. Depressive symptoms were assessed...
Current Pharmacology Reports
August 24, 2026
John I. Ogbu, Caroline V. L. Moreira, Ayobami J. Olusola et al.
Abstract Purpose of Review This review integrates evidence from the literature with network pharmacology tools to explore the decoction’s multitarget potential and provide multilevel insights into its therapeutic role in neuropsychiatric disorders. Recent Findings Neuropsychiatric disorders remain a significant health burden, underscoring the limitations of single-target pharmacotherapies and...
Proa Revista de Antropologia e Arte
August 19, 2026
Susan Elizabeth Rocha
This research addresses visionary practices in contemporary Ecuadorian art, focusing on their relationship with the ritual ingestion of San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) and Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi). From a perspective grounded in animist ontologies, which understand nature as a vast web of interconnected beings with interiority, the study analyzes how these master plants function as...
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research
August 16, 2026
Eric P. Rubenstein
Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared by aqueous extraction and concentration of Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. The resulting beverage contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine (THH), additional alkaloids, polyphenolic constituents, carbohydrates, organic acids, suspended solids, and numerous other plant-derived compounds. The source plants are...
PsyArXiv Preprints
August 14, 2026
preprint
Background: Despite the rapid growth of psychedelic research, limited attention has been given to how psychedelics are used, experienced and integrated within highly conservative religious communities, and in Jewish contexts more broadly. This study addresses this gap by examining ayahuasca use among the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community, a highly religious, conservative, and collectivist...
August 14, 2026
Fabrizio Dimitri Boris Beverina
# OSF Pre-Registration ## Title BaZi Birth-Chart Favorability and Psychological Growth Following Ayahuasca Ceremonies: A Pre-Registered Retrospective Correlational Study ## Description Stanislav Grof has long argued that the moment of an individual's birth, read through a symbolic system tied to that moment, is predictive of the character and outcome of non-ordinary states of consciousness -- a...
Contemporary Drug Problems
August 11, 2026
Alana Roy, M.l. Williams, Kimberley Day et al.
Alternative healthcare practices using psychedelic “plant medicines,” such as ayahuasca, challenge current prohibition and mainstream healthcare frameworks. Despite the criminalization of ayahuasca's active component, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), Australian ayahuasca dietero networks have developed sophisticated healthcare systems with systematic assessment processes, safety mechanisms, and...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
August 7, 2026
Elena María Martínez Gijón
The aim of the present work is to explore possible similarities between the subjective experience of “being dead” described by some individuals following ayahuasca use and the conviction of being dead that may occur in certain cases of Cotard syndrome. Interest in this question arises from a recurring observation, both in testimonies collected directly and in accounts publicly available on the...
Braz J Psychiatry
July 7, 2026
Alberto Souza Sá Filho, James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye, Antonio Egidio Nardi et al.
Beyond Enthusiasm: Ayahuasca and the Future of Depression Research.
PLoS One
April 23, 2019
Roland R. Griffiths, Ethan Hurwitz, Alan K. Davis et al.
249 citations
Naturally occurring and psychedelic drug-occasioned experiences interpreted as personal encounters with God are well described but have not been systematically compared. In this study, five groups of individuals participated in an online survey with detailed questions characterizing the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes attributed to their single most memorable God...
Psychological Medicine
June 15, 2018
Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Dayanna Barreto, Heloisa Onias et al.
827 citations
Abstract Background Recent open-label trials show that psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, hold promise as fast-onset antidepressants in treatment-resistant depression. Methods To test the antidepressant effects of ayahuasca, we conducted a parallel-arm, double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial in 29 patients with treatment-resistant depression. Patients received a single dose of either...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
March 18, 2016
Rafael G. Dos Santos, Flávia de Lima Osório, José Alexandre S. Crippa et al.
306 citations
To date, pharmacological treatments for mood and anxiety disorders and for drug dependence show limited efficacy, leaving a large number of patients suffering severe and persistent symptoms. Preliminary studies in animals and humans suggest that ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may have antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive properties. Thus, we conducted a...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
December 11, 2015
Rafael Faria Sanches, Flávia de Lima Osório, Rafael G. Dos Santos et al.
468 citations
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian botanical hallucinogenic brew which contains dimethyltryptamine, a 5-HT2A receptor agonist, and harmine, a monoamine-oxidase A inhibitor. Our group recently reported that ayahuasca administration was associated with fast-acting antidepressive effects in 6 depressive patients. The objective of the present work was to assess the antidepressive potentials of ayahuasca in...
Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
March 1, 2015
Flávia de Lima Osório, Rafael Faria Sanches, Ligia Ribeiro Horta de Macedo et al.
486 citations
These results suggest that AYA has fast-acting anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in patients with a depressive disorder.
PLoS One
February 18, 2015
Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Kátia C. Andrade, Luís Fernando Tófoli et al.
461 citations
The experiences induced by psychedelics share a wide variety of subjective features, related to the complex changes in perception and cognition induced by this class of drugs. A remarkable increase in introspection is at the core of these altered states of consciousness. Self-oriented mental activity has been consistently linked to the Default Mode Network (DMN), a set of brain regions more...
Current Drug Abuse Reviews
June 1, 2013
Gerald Thomas, Philippe Lucas, N. Rielle Capler et al.
327 citations
This form of ayahuasca-assisted therapy appears to be associated with statistically significant improvements in several factors related to problematic substance use among a rural aboriginal population. These findings suggest participants may have experienced positive psychological and behavioral changes in response to this therapeutic approach, and that more rigorous research of...
Pharmacognosy Reviews/Bioinformatics Trends/Pharmacognosy review
2013
Milad Moloudizargari, Peyman Mikaili, Shahin Aghajanshakeri et al.
381 citations
Wild Syrian rue (Peganum harmala L. family Zygophyllaceae) is well-known in Iran and various parts of this plant including, its seeds, bark, and root have been used as folk medicine. Recent years of research has demonstrated different pharmacological and therapeutic effects of P. harmala and its active alkaloids, especially harmine and harmaline. Analytical studies on the chemical composition...
PLoS One
August 8, 2012
José Carlos Bouso, Débora González, Sabela Fondevila et al.
313 citations
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychoactive plant beverage containing the serotonergic 5-HT(2A) agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting alkaloids (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine) that render it orally active. Ayahuasca ingestion is a central feature in several Brazilian syncretic churches that have expanded their activities to urban Brazil, Europe and North...
Psychopharmacology
March 30, 2006
Jordi Riba, Sergio Romero, Eva Grasa et al.
245 citations
RationaleAyahuasca is a South American psychoactive plant tea which contains the serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine-oxidase inhibitors that render DMT orally active. Previous investigations with ayahuasca have highlighted a psychotropic effect profile characterized by enhanced introspective attention, with individuals reporting altered somatic perceptions and...
Pharmacol Ther
May 1, 2004
Dennis J. Mckenna
299 citations
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic beverage that is prominent in the ethnomedicine and shamanism of indigenous Amazonian tribes. Its unique pharmacology depends on the oral activity of the hallucinogen, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which results from inhibition of monoamine oxidase (MAO) by beta-carboline alkaloids. MAO is the enzyme that normally degrades DMT in the liver and gut. Ayahuasca has...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
June 18, 2003
Jordi Riba, Marta Valle, Gloria Urbano et al.
383 citations
The effects of the South American psychotropic beverage ayahuasca on subjective and cardiovascular variables and urine monoamine metabolite excretion were evaluated, together with the drug's pharmacokinetic profile, in a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. This pharmacologically complex tea, commonly obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, combines...
Psychopharmacology
February 22, 2001
Jordi Riba, Antoni Rodrı́guez-fornells, Gloria Urbano et al.
302 citations
RationaleAyahuasca is a South American psychoactive beverage that contains the naturally occurring psychedelic agent N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). This "tea" has been used for centuries in religious and medicinal contexts in the rain forest areas of South America and is presently gaining the attention of psychedelic users in North America and Europe.ObjectivesIn the present study, the...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
February 1, 1996
Charles S. Grob, Dennis J. Mckenna, James C. Callaway et al.
333 citations
A multinational, collaborative, biomedical investigation of the effects of hoasca (ayahuasca), a potent concoction of plant hallucinogens, was conducted in the Brazilian Amazon during the summer of 1993. This report describes the psychological assessment of 15 long-term members of a syncretic church that utilizes hoasca as a legal, psychoactive sacrament as well as 15 matched controls with no...