The euphoria and hallucinations induced from eating Psilocybe "magic mushrooms" have earned the fungi a cult following. Albert Hofmann, a chemist at Sandoz, isolated and determined the structure of psilocybin, the main ingredient in the mushrooms that leads to the psychedelic effects, nearly 60 years ago. That discovery and subsequent mind-altering experiments by Harvard University psychologist...
Salvinorin A (SalA) is a plant metabolite that agonizes the human kappa -opioid receptor (κ-OR) with high affinity and high selectivity over mu- and delta- opioid receptors. Its therapeutic potential has stimulated extensive semi-synthetic studies and total synthesis campaigns. However, structural modification of SalA has been complicated by its instability, and efficient total synthesis has...
Methoxetamine (MXE) is a novel drug of abuse that is structurally similar to phencyclidine (PCP). In the present study, rats were trained to discriminate PCP from saline and substitution tests were performed with arylcyclohexylamines PCP, eticyclidine (PCE), tenocyclidine (TCP), and MXE. PCP and PCE engendered PCP-lever selection in all subjects, whereas MXE and TCP produced PCP-lever selection...
A qualitative study of Western practitioners of Buddhist meditation investigated unexpected, challenging, difficult, and distressing experiences. This paper reports on a subset of 12 practitioners within Tibetan Vajrayāna lineages who described energy flowing through their body, knots of pain, pressure or tension, and/or concurrent emotional changes. In some cases, somatic changes were...
Sleep and HypnosisAugust 14, 2017Javed Ather Siddiqui, Shazia Farheen Qureshi, Abdul Khaliq Al Ghamdi3 citations
Sleep paralysis (SP) is a benign, transient episode of immobility lasting a few seconds to a few minutes that can occur while falling asleep or on awakening.It is a condition of unknown etiology.During the episode, all the skeletal muscles are virtually 'paralyzed', resulting in an inability to move or speak but individual remains conscious.Because it occurs in a clear sensorium, the individual...
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its derivatives, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromo-amphetamine hydrobromide (DOB) and para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) are recreational drugs whose pharmacological effects have recently been attributed to serotonin 5HT2A/C receptors. However, there is growing evidence that the oxytocin/vasopressin system can modulate some the effects of MDMA. In this study, MDMA...
An objective behavioral profile that was previously shown to distinguish the effects of hallucinogens from those of other classes of drugs was used here to further study hallucinogenic behaviors. Saline, d-amphetamine sulfate and five doses of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were administered to solitary adolescent rhesus monkeys in a totally dark environment and their behavior was observed via...
Abstract The problem of time has been fascinating thinkers since ancient times. Many philosophers (such as Plato, Aristotle, and Kant) and scientists (such as Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein) have tried to conceptualize and analyze time in many ways. There are two main concepts about time recognized as firstly, physical time that is objective and secondly, psychological time that is...
Conscious perception relies on interactions between spatially and functionally distinct modules of the brain at various spatiotemporal scales. These interactions are altered by anesthesia, an intervention that leads to fading consciousness. Relatively little is known about brain functional connectivity and its anesthetic modulation at a fine spatial scale. Here, we used functional imaging to...
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Cannabis is a widely used illicit drug and its use is often associated with co-occurring psychiatric disorders. This systematic review was aimed to provide information on the published Indian studies on co-occurring cannabis use disorders and psychiatric disorders. METHODS: An electronic search of available Indian literature using relevant search terms was carried out...