Lucid dreaming (LD), during which the dreamer becomes aware of the dream state, offers a unique opportunity for a variety of applications, including motor practice, personal well-being, and nightmare therapy. However, these applications largely depend on a dreamer's ability to control their dreams. While LD research has traditionally focused on induction techniques to increase dream frequency,...
Journal of AOAC InternationalFebruary 13, 2025Coleton Windsor, Christopher Niebergall, Kelsey Dodds et al.4 citations
Abstract Background Psilocybin-containing mushrooms are gaining the attention of the scientific community due to the potential benefits offered by their psychoactive phytochemicals in the treatment of addiction and various mental health conditions. Although there are hundreds of different Psilocybe species, only a handful have been successfully cultivated under indoor controlled conditions and...
This paper is a shortened version of the full paper that was published in the journal Frontiers of Psychology in May 2022. In recent decades, the scientific study of consciousness has significantly increased our understanding of this elusive phenomenon. Yet, despite critical development in our understanding of the functional side of consciousness, we still lack a fundamental theory regarding...
Psychedelic substances have shown preliminary efficacy for several neuropsychiatric disorders and are currently being investigated for chronic pain conditions. However, few studies have investigated outcomes of naturalistic psychedelic use among individuals with chronic pain, and none have assessed psychedelic-related changes in substance use patterns in this population. In a cross-sectional...
RATIONALE: Despite the critical role of choice processes in substance use disorders, the neurobehavioral mechanisms guiding human decisions about drugs remain poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to characterize the neural encoding of subjective value (SV) for cannabis versus non-drug rewards (snacks) in people who use cannabis on a near-daily/daily frequency (PWUCF) and assessed the impact...
Methamphetamine use disorder is a significant public health concern. No pharmacological treatment options currently exist for methamphetamine use disorder, and psychotherapy is only moderately effective. Preliminary evidence suggests that ketamine-assisted psychotherapy produces sustained improvements in substance use and mental health symptomatology. In addition to direct antidepressant...
The ``Hard Problem" of consciousness refers to a long-standing enigma about how qualia emerge from physical processes in the brain. Building on insights from the development of non-Euclidean geometry, this paper seeks to present a structured and logically coherent theory of qualia to address this problem. The proposed theory starts with a definition on what it means for an entity to be...
With increasing legalization of recreational and medical cannabis, use of this drug is growing rapidly among older adults. As cannabis can impair cognition in young adults, it is critically important to understand how its consumption interacts with the cognitive profile of aged subjects, who are already at increased risk of decline. The current study was designed to determine how cannabis...
The classic psychedelic psilocybin has attracted special interest across clinical and non-clinical settings as a potential tool for mental health. Despite increasing attention to challenging psychedelic experiences, few studies have explored the relevance of shame-related processes with psychedelic use. This prospective, longitudinal study involved sequential, automated, web-based surveys that...
We ordinarily think of the mind as private, “inside,” and accessible only to the person whose mind it is, and that the integrity of the mind is threatened by “outside” intervention. The prospect that neurotechnologies could be developed that are able to “read” our brains and directly manipulate our thoughts and feelings is, therefore, alarming to many. Implicit behind this sense of alarm is the...