This article focuses on the outcomes at 1 year post-treatment of a naturalistic evaluation of services provided through the Takiwasi Centre, an accredited Peruvian therapeutic community offering an ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment program for addiction rehabilitation. Participants (n = 52) completed structured interviews and a battery of validated instruments. Outcome measures included...
Ayahuasca, an entheogen from the Amazon rainforest, has garnered growing interest for treating substance dependence. To date, there is little research concerning the act of ayahuasca-related purging (mainly vomiting), which is considered to be central to healing during ayahuasca rituals. This study explored practitioner perspectives on purging during ayahuasca rituals at the Takiwasi Center in...
Psilocybin may provide a useful treatment for mood disorders including anxiety and depression but its mechanisms of action for these effects are not well understood. While recent preclinical work has begun to assess psilocybin's role in affective behaviors through innate anxiety or fear conditioning, there is scant evidence for its role in conflict between reward and punishment. The current...
New psychoactive substances (NPSs) are a heterogenous group of psychotropic molecules and diverted pharmaceutical drugs sold worldwide as legal substitutes for controlled drugs. The psychiatric consequences of NPS use are relatively unknown, although evidence of related psychotic symptoms has been described in the literature. We sought to summarize the available evidence on NPS-related...
Los psicodélicos generalmente provocan un cambio profundo en la conciencia, frecuentemente con disolución del ego, experiencias místicas y una percepción sensorial enriquecida, aunque son médicamente seguros para la mayoría de las personas. La taquifilaxia ocurre tras la administración repetida de psicodélicos, lo que impide la dependencia biológica. El MDMA puede tener cierto potencial de...
While it has long been acknowledged that Chan differs in many ways from more mainstream forms of Buddhism, recent scholarship has also resulted in an increasing awareness of the originality of early Buddhist teachings found in the Nikāyas and their distinctiveness from the later doctrine of classical Theravāda. This book is inspired by passages in Nikāya and early Chan texts that can be read as...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy trials for depression have shown robust, rapid symptom reduction lasting weeks to months after treatment in some studies. The largest trial to date found a dose-dependent increase in suicidal ideation and behavior, suggesting potential risks. Psychedelics show promise in addressing depression and anxiety related to terminal illnesses.
Accurate and generalizable classification of brain states is essential for understanding their neural underpinnings and improving clinical diagnostics. Traditionally, functional connectivity patterns and graph-theoretic metrics have been utilized. However, cortical gradient features, which reflect global brain organization, offer a complementary approach. We hypothesized that a machine learning...
Psychedelics generally elicit a profound change in consciousness, often with ego dissolution, mystical experiences, and enriched sensory perception, but are medically safe for most. Tachyphylaxis occurs after repeated psychedelic administration, preventing biological dependence. MDMA may have some abuse potential and less tachyphylaxis compared to LSD/psilocybin. Psychedelics have 5-HT2B...
Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) derived from tryptamines has been detected in aquatic environments, leading to environmental toxicology concerns. However, the specific toxicological mechanism, underlying these NPS, remains unclear. In our previous work, we used 5-Methoxy-N-isopropyl-N-methyltryptamine (5-MeO-MiPT) as the representative drug for NPS, and found that, 5-MeO-MiPT led to obvious...