European Journal of Pharmacology
March 31, 2008
Chad J Reissig, Richard A. Rabin, Jerrold C Winter et al.
Induction of mRNA or protein for immediate-early genes, such as c-fos, is used to identify brain areas, specific cell types, and neuronal circuits that become activated in response to various stimuli including psychoactive drugs. The objective of the present study was to identify the cell types in the prefrontal cortex in which lysergic acid diethylamide (d-LSD) induces c-Fos expression....
Brain, Behavior and Evolution
March 28, 2008
Stuart J. Dimond
The question is explored of the location of consciousness in the human brain. The author''s own studies of defects of consciousness as the result of the splitting of the corpus callosum are described and disorders of consciousness associated with damage to other specific areas of the brain are reviewed. A circuit spanning the brain is described which stretches from the parietal lobe at one side...
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
March 27, 2008
Brian E. Kane, Christopher R Mccurdy, David M Ferguson
The structural basis to salvinorin A recognition of the kappa-opioid receptor is evaluated using a combination of site-directed mutagenesis and molecular-modeling techniques. The results show that salvinorin A recognizes a collection of residues in transmembrane II and VII, including Q115, Y119, Y313, I316, and Y320. The mutation of one hydrophobic residue in particular, I316, was found to...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
March 19, 2008
L Muetzelfeldt, Sunjeev K. Kamboj, H Rees et al.
Although recreational use of the dissociative anaesthetic drug ketamine is currently increasing, little is known about the phenomenological aspects of its use. We therefore designed a structured interview to examine initiation experiences, positive and negative effects of ketamine use, and concerns about the drug and its long-term effects. Ninety participants (30 frequent users, 30 infrequent...
Journal of Neuroscience
March 12, 2008
Stéphane Doly, Emmanuel Valjent, Vincent Setola et al.
140 citations
The “club drug” 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; also known as ecstasy) binds preferentially to and reverses the activity of the serotonin transporter, causing release of serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] stores from nerve terminals. Subsequent activation of postsynaptic 5-HT receptors by released 5-HT has been shown to be critical for the unique psychostimulatory effects of MDMA....
Neuroscience
March 3, 2008
A R Alvaro, J Martins, A C Costa et al.
Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) has potent CNS stimulant effects. Besides the acute effects of MDMA, such as psychomotor activation, euphoria, decreased appetite, and hyperthermia, long-term damage of dopaminergic and serotonergic nerve terminals in multiple brain areas have also been reported. Although some studies have demonstrated that considerable amounts of MDMA reach the...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
March 2008
Yulin Wang, Yong Chen, Wei Xu et al.
Salvinorin (Sal) A is a naturally occurring, selective kappa opioid receptor (KOPR) agonist with a short duration of action in vivo. Pharmacological properties of a C(2) derivative, 2-methoxymethyl (MOM)-Sal B, were characterized. MOM-Sal B bound to KOPR with high selectivity and displayed approximately 3-fold higher affinity than U50,488H...
Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
March 1, 2008
Priscila Previato Almeida, Maria Alice Fontes Pinto Novaes, Rodrigo A. Bressan et al.
24 citations
OBJECTIVE: Cannabis is the most used illicit drug worldwide, however only a few studies have examined cognitive deficits related to its use. Clinical manifestations associated with those deficits include a motivational syndrome, impairment in cognitive flexibility, inattention, deficits in abstract reasoning and concept formation, aspects intimately related to the executive functions, which...
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience
March 1, 2008
Ram Lakhan Pandey Vimal
Deterministic reductive monism and non-reductive substance dualism are two opposite views for consciousness, and both have serious problems. An alternative view is needed. For this, we hypothesize that strings or elementary particles (fermions and bosons) have two aspects: (i) elemental proto-experiences (PEs) as phenomenal aspect, and (ii) mass, charge, and spin as material aspect. Elemental...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
February 15, 2008
Mikhail Kalinichev, Melanie J Robbins, Elizabeth M Hartfield et al.
In a putative model of acute phencyclidine (PCP)-induced psychosis we evaluated effects of the drug on locomotor activity (LMA) and immediate early gene (IEG) induction in the rat using two routes of drug administration, intraperitoneal (i.p.) and subcutaneous (s.c.). Adult male rats received saline or PCP (1.0-5.0 mg/kg) either i.p or s.c. and were assessed for LMA for 60 min. At the end of...