The drug discrimination procedure has proven to be a valuable tool for studying the mechanism of action of psychoactive drugs. Recently, mice with targeted gene mutations have been developed that may also prove useful in evaluating the role of specific receptors in mediating the actions of drugs. We were interested in studying the effects of hallucinogens in genetically modified mice using the...
Marijuana produces a number of characteristic behaviors in humans and animals, including memory impairment, antinociception, and locomotor and psychoactive effects. However, tolerance and dependence to cannabinoids develops after chronic use, as demonstrated both clinically and in animal models. The potential therapeutic benefits of certain cannabinoid-mediated effects, as well as the use of...
The Impact Of Conscious Connected Breathing Training On Emotions Alicja Heyda, The Healing Breath Journal – a Journal of Breathwork Practice, Spirituality and Psychotherapy, vol.5, no 2 p. 9-18 Abstract The goal of C.C.B. (rebirthing) is to unblock breathing, gently relax chronic muscle tensions, and liberate repressed emotions and memories hidden behind. During the C.C.B. session, memories...
The historical lineage of therapeutic hypnosis in James Braid's "psychophysiology", Pierre Janet's "physiological modification", and Milton Erickson's "neuro-psycho-physiology" is extended to include current neuroscience research on activity-dependent gene expression, neurogenesis, and stem cells in memory, learning, behavior change, and healing. Three conditions that optimize gene expression...
Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of chanting the maha mantra on stress, depression, and the three gunas—sattva (enlightenment), rajas (passion), and tamas (inertia)—described in the Vedas as the basis of human psychology. Primary hypotheses of the study were that the maha mantra group would increase sattva and decrease stress, depression, rajas, and tamas...
Functional dopaminergic hyperactivity is a key feature of schizophrenia. Etiology of this dopaminergic hyperactivity, however, is unknown. We have recently demonstrated that subchronic phencyclidine (PCP) treatment in rodents induces striatal dopaminergic hyperactivity similar to that observed in schizophrenia. The present study investigates the ability of PCP to potentiate amphetamine-induced...
The role of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) neurotransmitter system in relation to psychoses is not completely understood, but represent a challenge in neurobiological research. The psychotic states induced by NMDA antagonists such as phencyclidine and ketamine have been described as being most similar to schizophrenia and the NMDA system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of...
Previously the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine was shown to disrupt generation of the auditory event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN) and the performance of an 'AX'-type continuous performance test (AX-CPT)--measures of auditory and visual context-dependent information processing--in a similar manner as observed in schizophrenia. This...
Ibogaine is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid, found in a variety of African shrubsof the Tabernathe genus (Obach, Pablo, and Mash, 1998). The root of the Tabernathe ibogaplant (also known as eboga) is the most frequently cited source of ibogaine, and this plantcontains 11 other known psychoactive constituents (Popik, and Skolnick, 1999). Chemically,ibogaine is classified as a tryptamine,...
The issue of whether an association exists between cannabis and psychosis exists, and why, has received considerable attention in recent years (Hall, 1998; Mueser et al. 1998; Blanchard et al. 2000; Degenhardt & Hall, 2002). There are probably a number of reasons for the sustained interest. First, psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are often chronic or recurring (Mason et al. 1996), are...