Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) are widely used psychoactive drugs and their potential use in psychiatric medicine is currently generating interest. The mechanism by which these drugs may assist recovery in various disorders such as addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is still not well understood. Most investigations of the effects...
В докладе обсуждается природа, функция и структура двух терминов: «сознание» и «психика» в современном и историческом контекстах. Предоставляется краткий отчет об экспериментах с сознанием, проведенных междисциплинарной международной группой ученых (Германия, Новая Зеландия, Канада, Молдова, Россия) в 2020-2024, направленных на изучение ментального воздействия человека (или группы) на растения...
What is consciousness, and how can we tell who—or what—has it? Consciousness is the ability to have experiences, such as seeing, feeling, thinking, or knowing that you exist. Scientists believe it depends on the brain, but they still do not fully understand how it works. Studying consciousness is difficult because it is personal and cannot be directly measured. Researchers use tools like brain...
The currently expanding science of anomalous experiences is unique, in the sense that it necessarily sits at the treacherous borderlands between the often-opposed ontologies of religion/spirituality and secular physicalism. As might be expected in such an inherently charged position, the scientific study of the hallucinatory neurobiological underpinnings of these experiences has resulted in the...
Return to the Real describes how culturally prevalent narratives shape psychedelic experience. Building on Ten Berge’s two-part analysis, our commentary argues that psychedelic effects are best understood within cultural feedback loops linking cultural set and setting, individual expectations, experience, and its articulation back into culture. On this view, psychedelics operate primarily as...
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance globally, with an estimated 244 million people reporting its use in 2025. Cannabis remains the most widely used illicit substance globally, and its increasing prevalence among adolescents has raised critical public health concerns due to heightened neurodevelopmental vulnerability during this stage. In this review, we will attempt to explore...
Background Ketamine and esketamine have demonstrated rapid, short-term antidepressant effects in major depressive disorder (MDD), but their relative safety remains unclear. This review aims to update the evidence on the safety of two agents for MDD and indirectly compare their safety and tolerability. Method We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to 1 May...
PharmaceuticalsOctober 28, 2025Kacper Żełabowski, Kamil Biedka, Wojciech Pichowicz et al.
Background: Driving is a coordinated psychomotor activity that involves reaction time, attention, and decision-making. Psychoactive substances such as 2-phenylethylamine (PEA) derivatives and opioids may affect these functions and contribute to traffic safety. This systematic review revealed the effects of the selected PEA derivatives and opioids on psychomotor performance among drivers and...
ABSTRACT One barrier to mental health and a common focus of psychotherapy is the tendency to identify with relentless, often self‐critical thinking that searches for faults, becomes easily distracted, and pulls individuals away from the present moment. Identifying with such thinking distances people from each other, the external world, and important aspects of internal experiences that have...
Background: Psychedelic-assisted therapies show promise for MDD, PTSD, and addiction, yet mechanisms are often framed as 5-HT2A-centric, despite evidence of GABAergic pathology in these conditions.Hypothesis (Author Perspective): As a chemist examining psychedelic pharmacology, I propose that inhibitory-circuit modulation acts as a necessary systems-level gate converting transient 5-HT2A...