Synapse
April 2018
Benjamin B Tournier, Andrea Dimiziani, Stergios Tsartsalis et al.
The Roman high (RHA)- and low (RLA)-avoidance rat sublines have been identified as an addiction-prone and addiction-resistant phenotype based on their high vs. low locomotor responsiveness to novelty and high vs. low ability to develop neurochemical and behavioral sensitization to psychostimulants, respectively. Most studies though have focused on psychostimulants and little is known about the...
American Journal on Addictions
April 1, 2018
Joseph El-Khoury, Evelyne Baroud
3 citations
Recreational use of salvia divinorum (salvia), a potent, naturally occurring hallucinogen, is on the rise internationally. Despite the paucity of information about its long-term health effects, salvia is readily available and generally portrayed as a safe non-addictive substance. We report on two patients who presented with an enduring and pervasive pattern of salvia use. Evaluating patients...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
February 20, 2018
David E. Nichols
87 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is one of the most potent psychoactive agents known, producing dramatic alterations of consciousness after submilligram (≥20 μg) oral doses. Following the accidental discovery of its potent psychoactive effects in 1943, it was supplied by Sandoz Laboratories as an experimental drug that might be useful as an adjunct for psychotherapy, or to give psychiatrists...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2018
Ming-Chyi Huang, Lian-Yu Chen, Hu-Ming Chang et al.
Background: Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, is a common drug of abuse worldwide. Existing evidence suggest a disruption of oxytocin system involves in the development of addiction. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of oxytocin in ketamine addiction by measuring the blood oxytocin levels in ketamine-dependent (KD) patients. Methods: Sixty-five KD...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
2018
Benjamin Malcolm, Martin Polanco, Joseph P Barsuglia
64 citations
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is currently an epidemic in the United States (US) and ibogaine is reported to have the ability to interrupt opioid addiction by simultaneously mitigating withdrawal and craving symptoms. This study examined opioid withdrawal and drug craving scores in 50 participants with OUD undergoing a week-long detoxification treatment protocol with ibogaine. The Addiction...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
October 17, 2017
Jared Wildberger, Cassandra N. John, Robert M. Hallock
22 citations
This survey examined perceptions among college students about the potential medicinal benefits of hallucinogenic drugs. Current research and potential benefits include an ability to help anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction with hallucinogen-assisted psychotherapy. We devised and administered a survey on 124 students at two college campuses, one small private college in the...
TIPS - Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
September 22, 2017
Evan J. Kyzar, Charles D. Nichols, Raul R. Gainetdinov et al.
155 citations
Psychedelic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin, exert profound effects on brain and behavior. After decades of difficulties in studying these compounds, psychedelics are again being tested as potential treatments for intractable biomedical disorders. Preclinical research of psychedelics complements human neuroimaging studies and pilot clinical trials,...
Performance Research
August 18, 2017
Jennifer Fisher
1 citation
This article examines DMT by Jeremy Shaw, a Berlin-based Canadian artist whose oeuvre has investigated altered states. For this 2004 video work, Shaw administered the hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine to a group of friends and videotaped their experiences. I am interested in how Shaw curates the psychedelic session as a performance of the drug’s agency and aesthetic power. A powerful entheogen...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
June 1, 2017
Angelica Rocha, Nigel Hart, Keith A Trujillo
Adolescence is a phase of development during which many physiological and behavioral changes occur, including increased novelty seeking and risk taking. In humans, this is reflected in experimentation with drugs. Research demonstrates that drug use that begins during adolescence is more likely to lead to addiction than drug use that begins later in life. Despite this, relatively little is known...
European Journal of Neuroscience
June 1, 2017
Hector Vargas-Perez, Taryn E Grieder, Ryan Ting-A-Kee et al.
21 citations
Despite several studies suggesting the therapeutic use of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors type 2A (5-HT2A ) agonists in the treatment of substance use disorders, the neurobiological basis accounting for such effects are still unknown. It has been observed that chronic exposure to drugs of abuse produces molecular and cellular adaptations in ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons, mediated by...