BACKGROUND: A number of benefits have been described for the long-term practice of meditation, yet little is known regarding the immediate neurological and cardiovascular responses to meditation. Wireless sensor technology allows, for the first time, multi-parameter and quantitative monitoring of an individual's responses during meditation. The present study examined inter-individual variations...
Recent designer drugs, also known as "legal highs," include substituted cathinones (e.g., mephedrone, methylone, and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, often referred to as "bath salts"); synthetic cannabinoids (SCs; e.g., Spice); and synthetic hallucinogens (25I-NBOMe, or N-bomb). Compound availability has evolved rapidly to evade legal regulation and detection by routine drug testing. Young adults...
BACKGROUND: Better treatments for schizophrenia are urgently needed. The therapeutic use of the nitric oxide (NO)-donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in patients with schizophrenia has shown promising results. The role of NO in schizophrenia is still unclear, and NO modulation is unexplored in ketamine (KET) animal models to date. In the present study, we compared the behavioral effects of pre-...
The biochemical targets for antidepressants are relatively well established, but we lack a clear understanding of how actions at these proteins translate to clinical benefits. This study used a novel rodent assay to investigate how different antidepressant drugs act to modify affective biases that have been implicated in depression. In this bowl-digging task, rats encounter two equal value...
Recent debates about the ethics of identity in a global age have dealt with how to prioritize conflicting local and global allegiances. Guided by these concerns, the fiction of Alice Walker develops a distinctive view of how local cultures and global movements can fruitfully interact. This vision depends on concepts from Asian religions, a major influence that critics of Walker have largely...
The aim of this article is to analyse the popular perception of the nightmare in medieval Europe. The first section will explore the ways in which the base experience of the nightmare (as documented in neuropsychological research) was interpreted according to Church doctrine, classical dream theories and Galenic medicine. Then, with reference to the remedies used to protect the body against the...
Background: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces “prosocial” effects that contribute to its recreational use. Few studies have examined the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms by which MDMA produces these effects. Here we examined the effect of MDMA on a specific prosocial effect, i.e. generosity, using a task in which participants make decisions about whether they or another...
The consumption of cannabinoids has increased exponentially in the young. The cannabis-induced psychotic disorder is a rare condition, with transient paranoid ideation being the most common manifestation. Symptoms of anxiety are the most common adverse reaction associated with the moderate use of smoked cannabis. Cocaine use, in turn, is related to the appearance of delusions and hallucinations...
New title, or subtitle: „Current knowledge on the neurobiology of classical hallucinogens and their relevance for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders‘ Hallucinogenic substances have been used for millenia. Still, the scientific investigation into the effects and mechanisms of classical hallucinogens in humans has only commenced with the discovery of LSD by Albert Hofmann in 1943. In the...
Human Brain MappingMarch 2015Carinna M Torgerson, Andrei Irimia, S Y Matthew Goh et al.
The origin, structure, and function of the claustrum, as well as its role in neural computation, have remained a mystery since its discovery in the 17th century. Assessing the in vivo connectivity of the claustrum may bring forth useful insights with relevance to model the overall functionality of the claustrum itself. Using structural and diffusion tensor neuroimaging in N = 100 healthy...