L'EncephaleDecember 1, 2015D Carpentier, L Romo, P Bouthillon-Heitzmann et al.
For several years, the learning of mindfulness has developed in a psychological intervention perspective, particularly in the field of addiction. Presently, the management of addictions with substances is centered on two questions: the motivation in the change of behaviour and in a significant change in alcohol consumption. Concerning alcohol dependence, the evolution of behaviour is variable...
Noribogaine is the long-lived human metabolite of the anti-addictive substance ibogaine. Noribogaine efficaciously reaches the brain with concentrations up to 20 μM after acute therapeutic dose of 40 mg/kg ibogaine in animals. Noribogaine displays atypical opioid-like components in vivo, anti-addictive effects and potent modulatory properties of the tolerance to opiates for which the mode of...
BackgroundAyahuasca is a psychotropic plant tea used for ritual purposes by the indigenous populations of the Amazon. In the last two decades, its use has expanded worldwide. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase-inhibiting properties. Acute administration induces an introspective dream-like...
Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Ibogaine, illegal in United States, has been used for years in other countries.It is a compound derived from the Iboga plant and is a very powerful hallucinogen.It is described as a journey inside one’s mind where thoughts are clear to the addicted client.It is used on average of 1-3 times in the course of Ibogaine treatment according to patient and...
Ketamine is a NMDA receptor antagonist that produces rapid antidepressant responses in individuals with major depressive disorder. The antidepressant action of ketamine has been linked to blocking NMDA receptor activation at rest, which inhibits eukaryotic elongation factor2 kinase leading to desuppression of protein synthesis and synaptic potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus....
In clinical research settings around the world, renewed investigations are taking place on the use of psychedelic substances for treating illnesses such as addiction, depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since the termination of a period of research from the 1950s to the
Structural magnetic resonance imaging techniques are powerful tools for examining the effects of drug use on the brain. The nicotine and cannabis literature has demonstrated differences between nicotine cigarette smokers and cannabis users compared to controls in brain structure; however, less is known about the effects of co-occurring cannabis and tobacco use. We used voxel-based morphometry...
Noribogaine, a polypharmacological drug with activities at opioid receptors, ionotropic nicotinic receptors, and serotonin reuptake transporters, has been investigated for treatment of substance abuse-related disorders. Smoking cessation has major benefits for both individuals and society, therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of noribogaine for use as a treatment for...
Trials of physiologically safe and non-addictive drugs such as LSD are almost impossible, writes James J H Rucker, calling on the authorities to downgrade their unnecessarily restrictive class A, schedule 1 classification
Some 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) users become dependent as a result of chronic consumption. A greater understanding of the neurobiological basis of the rewarding effects of MDMA could contribute to developing effective pharmacotherapies for MDMA-related problems. The present study evaluated the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors (NMDARs) in the acquisition and...
Objectives: To explore the relationship between occurrence of drug dreams (DDs) and daytime negative affect and drug craving during the course of a 5-week treatment program for substance dependence. Methods: Using the dream journal methodology, 86 participants reported occurrence of dreams, dream content, and ratings of affect and drug craving. The relationships between the experience of DD,...
A recent large population study of 130,000 adults in the United States failed to find evidence for a link between psychedelic use (lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin or mescaline) and mental health problems. Using a new data set consisting of 135,095 randomly selected United States adults, including 19,299 psychedelic users, we examine the associations between psychedelic use and mental...
The plant indole alkaloid ibogaine has shown promising anti-addictive properties in animal studies. Ibogaine is also anti-addictive in humans as the drug alleviates drug craving and impedes relapse of drug use. Although not licensed as therapeutic drug and despite safety concerns, ibogaine is currently used as an anti-addiction medication in alternative medicine in dozens of clinics worldwide....
BackgroundHallucinogenic drugs were used to treat alcoholic patients in the past, and recent developments in the study of hallucinogens led to a renewal of interest regarding the application of these drugs in the treatment of addiction. In this scenario, accumulating evidence suggests that the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca (Aya) may have therapeutic effects on substance abuse problems.MethodsWe...
Several lines of evidence suggest that classic (5HT2A agonist) hallucinogens have clinically relevant effects in alcohol and drug addiction. Although recent studies have investigated the effects of psilocybin in various populations, there have been no studies on the efficacy of psilocybin for alcohol dependence. We conducted a single-group proof-of-concept study to quantify acute effects of...
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a semisynthetic compound with strong psychoactive properties. Chemically related to serotonin, LSD was initially hypothesized to produce a psychosislike state. Later, LSD was reported to have benefits in the treatment of addictions. However, widespread indiscriminate use and reports of adverse affects resulted in the classification of LSD as an illicit drug...
Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences have been linked to persisting effects in healthy volunteers including positive changes in behavior, attitudes, and values, and increases in the personality domain of openness. In an open-label pilot-study of psilocybin-facilitated smoking addiction treatment, 15 smokers received 2 or 3 doses of psilocybin in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy...
Trait impulsivity has been linked to addiction in humans. It has been suggested that drug users with high trait impulsivity levels are more sensitive to subjective drug intoxication. This study assessed whether subjective response to drugs differs between drug users with normal or high levels of trait impulsivity. Regular drug users (N = 122) received doses of cocaine HCl, cannabis, and placebo...
Dextromethorphan, an antitussive (cough suppressant) drug of the morphinan class with sedative and dissociative properties found in cough syrup and other over-the-counter products, is also a substance of abuse, seen primarily in young adults all over the world. A case of dextromethorphan use disorder is presented in a 45-year-old women. Her repeated attempts at abstinence were unsuccessful...
Acute activation of κ opioid (KOP) receptors results in anticocaine-like effects, but adverse effects, such as dysphoria, aversion, sedation and depression, limit their clinical development. Salvinorin A, isolated from the plant Salvia divinorum, and its semi-synthetic analogues have been shown to have potent KOP receptor agonist activity and may induce a unique response with similar...