Aims Ayahuasca is a traditional South American psychoactive beverage used in Amazonian shamanism, and in the religious ceremonies of Brazilian‐based syncretic religious groups with followers in the US and several European countries. This tea contains measurable amounts of the psychotropic indole N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and β‐carboline alkaloids with MAO‐inhibiting properties. In a...
The role of 5-HT2A-mediated stimulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis in the discriminative effects of hallucinogens was investigated in PC12 cells stably expressing the rat 5-HT2A receptor (PC12-5-HT2A cells). The hallucinogenic compounds, D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), (-)2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM), psilocybin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine...
Data reviewed suggest that previous theories of emotion experience are too narrow in scope and that lack of consensus is due to the fact that emotion experience takes various forms and is heterogenous. The authors treat separately the content of emotion experience, the underlying nonconscious correspondences, and processes producing emotion experience. They classify the nature and content of...
This review presents the remarkable advances that have been achieved in marijuana (cannabinoid) research, with the discovery of specific receptors and the existence of naturally occurring cannabis-like substances in the human body and brain. The last decade has seen more rapid progress in marijuana research than any time in the thousands of years that marijuana has been used by humans,...
This paper reviews the toxicokinetics of amphetamines. The designer drugs MDA (methylenedioxy-amphetamine, R,S-1-(3;,4;-methylenedioxyphenyl)2-propanamine), MDMA (R,S-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), and MDE (R,S-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine), as well as BDB (benzodioxolylbutanamine; R,S-1-(1;,3;-benzodioxol-5;-yl)-2-butanamine or R,S-1-(3;,4;-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-butanamine) and MBDB...
RationaleResearch with animals suggests that central 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) function may be attenuated for a period following a single dose of +/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'ecstasy'). If the same is true in humans, then functions thought to be modulated by 5-HT may differ in MDMA users compared with non-users a few days after the drug is taken.AimsThe present study therefore...
Many observers see geometric visual hallucinations after taking hallucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin; on viewing bright flickering lights; on waking up or falling asleep; in “near-death” experiences; and in many other syndromes. Klüver organized the images into four groups called form constants: (I) tunnels and funnels, (II) spirals, (III) lattices, including honeycombs...
1. The molecular nature and functions of the I(2) subtype of imidazoline binding sites are unknown but evidence suggests an association with monoamine oxidase (MAO). Rats can distinguish the selective imidazoline I(2)-site ligand 2-BFI from vehicle in drug discrimination, indicating functional consequences of occupation of these sites. We have used drug discrimination to investigate the nature...
The iboga alkaloid ibogaine and the novel iboga alkaloid congener 18-methoxycoronaridine are putative anti-addictive agents. Using patch-clamp methodology, the actions of ibogaine and 18-methoxycoronaridine at various neurotransmitter receptor ion-channel subtypes were determined. Both ibogaine and 18-methoxycoronaridine were antagonists at alpha 3 beta 4 nicotinic receptors and both agents...
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”), widely used as a recreational drug, can produce hyponatraemia. The possibility that this could result from stimulation of vasopressin by MDMA or one of its metabolites has been investigated in vitro . Release of both oxytocin and vasopressin from isolated hypothalami obtained from male Wistar rats was determined under basal conditions and...