Psychopharmacology
May 31, 2018
Kim P. C. Kuypers, E. B. de Sousa Fernandes Perna, Patrick C. Dolder et al.
14 citations
BACKGROUND: New psychoactive substances (NPS) are chemical analogues designed to mimic the effects of various classic recreational drugs of abuse including MDMA, LSD, and cannabis. NPS use is associated with concern about the acute and longer-term effects particular substances might have, with abuse and addiction as potential consequences. Impulsivity and sensitivity to the rewarding effects of...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 30, 2018
Peter Eischens, William Leigh Atherton
Background: Traditional treatment interventions for alcohol use disorders (AUD) have produced mixed outcomes and the global increase in AUDs demands novel and innovative approaches to addiction treatment.Psychedelic substances have been reintroduced into the Western medical community as a potential intervention to complement the treatment of AUDs.Objectives: This paper will discuss the...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
May 11, 2018
Steven J Simmons, Jonna M Leyrer-Jackson, Chicora F Oliver et al.
Cathinone is a plant alkaloid found in khat leaves of perennial shrubs grown in East Africa. Similar to cocaine, cathinone elicits psychostimulant effects which are in part attributed to its amphetamine-like structure. Around 2010, home laboratories began altering the parent structure of cathinone to synthesize derivatives with mechanisms of action, potencies, and pharmacokinetics permitting...
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
April 30, 2018
Keith A Platt
3 citations
This literature review examines eight peer reviewed studies reporting on the efficacy of mindfulness-based and self-compassion-based interventions for adults diagnosed with substance use disorders. Prevalence of substance use disorders is provided, and relevant definitions are discussed. The syndrome model of addiction is advanced as an etiological explanation, and the search methodology...
Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
April 18, 2018
Eric L Garland, Matthew O Howard
Contemporary advances in addiction neuroscience have paralleled increasing interest in the ancient mental training practice of mindfulness meditation as a potential therapy for addiction. In the past decade, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been studied as a treatment for an array addictive behaviors, including drinking, smoking, opioid misuse, and use of illicit substances like...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
April 17, 2018
Carola Rong, Caroline Park, Joshua D. Rosenblat et al.
116 citations
OBJECTIVES: Extant evidence indicates that ketamine exerts rapid antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depressive (TRD) symptoms as a part of major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). The identification of depressed sub-populations that are more likely to benefit from ketamine treatment remains a priority. In keeping with this view, the present narrative review aims to...
Brain Sciences
April 7, 2018
Michelle A Sahai, Colin Davidson, Neelakshi Dutta et al.
Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) may have unsuspected addiction potential through possessing stimulant properties. Stimulants normally act at the dopamine transporter (DAT) and thus increase dopamine (DA) availability in the brain, including nucleus accumbens, within the reward and addiction pathway. This paper aims to assess DAT responses to dissociative diarylethylamine NPS by means of in...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
April 2, 2018
Joselaine Ida Da Cruz, Solange Aparecida Nappo
35 citations
The low efficacy of crack cocaine addiction treatment available in Brazil has led Brazilian users to find alternatives to reduce drug consumption or even to reach abstinence. One of them is the use of entheogenic substances, like ayahuasca, an infusion obtained from two native plant species from the Amazon. The present report aimed to understand how crack cocaine users recover from drug...
Synapse
April 2018
Benjamin B Tournier, Andrea Dimiziani, Stergios Tsartsalis et al.
The Roman high (RHA)- and low (RLA)-avoidance rat sublines have been identified as an addiction-prone and addiction-resistant phenotype based on their high vs. low locomotor responsiveness to novelty and high vs. low ability to develop neurochemical and behavioral sensitization to psychostimulants, respectively. Most studies though have focused on psychostimulants and little is known about the...
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
April 1, 2018
Jan Gryczynski, Robert Schwartz, Marc J Fishman et al.
Maladaptive responses to stress are thought to play a role in addiction and relapse. Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a popular meditation technique with promising clinical applications. This study sought to: (a) examine the feasibility of providing TM during AUD treatment; (b) compare outcomes for TM vs. treatment as usual (TAU); and (c) investigate the relationship between TM practice and...
American Journal on Addictions
April 1, 2018
Joseph El-Khoury, Evelyne Baroud
3 citations
Recreational use of salvia divinorum (salvia), a potent, naturally occurring hallucinogen, is on the rise internationally. Despite the paucity of information about its long-term health effects, salvia is readily available and generally portrayed as a safe non-addictive substance. We report on two patients who presented with an enduring and pervasive pattern of salvia use. Evaluating patients...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
March 29, 2018
Marta Sancho, Marta de Gracia, Rita Cristina Rodríguez et al.
229 citations
BACKGROUND: Emotion (dys)regulation as well as the interventions for improving these difficulties are receiving a growing attention in the literature. The aim of the present paper was to conduct a systematic review about the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in both substance and behavioral addictions (BAs). METHOD: A literature search was conducted using Cochrane, PubMed, and...
PLoS One
March 16, 2018
Víviam Vargas de Barros, Emérita Sátiro Opaleye, Marcelo Demarzo et al.
9 citations
INTRODUCTION: Dispositional mindfulness can be described as the mental ability to pay attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally. There is evidence of inverse relation between dispositional mindfulness and insomnia and substance use, but as of yet, no studies evaluating the specific association between dispositional mindfulness and the components of hypnotic use disorder. OBJECTIVE: To...
Current Neuropharmacology
March 2, 2018
Jonathan Hamill, Jaime E. C. Hallak, Serdar Dursun et al.
179 citations
Background: Ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian decoction with psychoactive properties, is made from bark of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (containing beta-carboline alkaloids) and leaves of the Psychotria viridis bush (supplying the hallucinogen N,N-dimethyltryptamine, DMT). Originally used by indigenous shamans for the purposes of spirit communication, magical experiences, healing, and...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
February 21, 2018
Elizabeth M. Nielson, Darrick G. May, Alyssa A. Forcehimes et al.
111 citations
Research on the clinical applications of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has demonstrated promising early results for treatment of alcohol dependence. Detailed description of the content and methods of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as it is conducted in clinical settings, is scarce. Methods: An open-label pilot (proof-of-concept) study of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
February 20, 2018
Michael P. Bogenschutz, Samantha K. Podrebarac, Jessie H. Duane et al.
125 citations
After a hiatus of some 40 years, clinical research has resumed on the use of classic hallucinogens to treat addiction. Following completion of a small open-label feasibility study, we are currently conducting a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder. Although treatment effects cannot be analyzed until the study is complete,...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
February 20, 2018
David E. Nichols
87 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is one of the most potent psychoactive agents known, producing dramatic alterations of consciousness after submilligram (≥20 μg) oral doses. Following the accidental discovery of its potent psychoactive effects in 1943, it was supplied by Sandoz Laboratories as an experimental drug that might be useful as an adjunct for psychotherapy, or to give psychiatrists...
Neuropharmacology
January 31, 2018
Sean B. Dolan, Zhenglan Chen, Renqi Huang et al.
ABSTRACT This study aimed to address the mechanisms and reinforcing effects of three synthetic cathinone analogs of MDMA commonly reported in “Ecstasy” formulations: methylone, butylone, and pentylone. Whole‐cell patch clamp techniques were used to assess the mechanism of each compound at the dopamine and serotonin transporters. Separate groups of rats were trained to discriminate...
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
January 2, 2018
Deborah C. Mash
29 citations
Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid that comes from the root of the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. Ibogaine has been used for centuries in spiritual celebrations, coming of age rituals, and heali...
Buddhist-Christian Studies
2018
Pamela Ayo Yetunde
1 citation
Virtually every published academic study on American Buddhist practitioners excludes the culturally specific experiences of African American Buddhist practitioners. In the Insight Meditation Community (initially created by white Jewish American practitioners who studied and practiced in Southeast Asia before bringing the Theravada-influenced practices and teachings to the United States), there...