Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
May 8, 2017
Kelan Thomas, Benjamin Malcolm, Dan Lastra
77 citations
Recent research suggests that functional connectivity changes may be involved in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Hyperconnectivity in the default mode network has been associated with psychopathology, but psychedelic serotonin agonists like psilocybin may profoundly disrupt these dysfunctional neural network circuits and provide a novel treatment for psychiatric disorders. We have...
Neurotherapeutics
May 5, 2017
Ben Sessa
11 citations
Since the late 1980s the psychoactive drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has had a well-known history as the recreationally used drug ecstasy. What is less well known by the public is that MDMA started its life as a therapeutic agent and that in recent years an increasing amount of clinical research has been undertaken to revisit the drug's medical potential. MDMA has unique...
Journal of Food and Drug Analysis
April 18, 2017
Ling‐yi Feng, Altansuvd Battulga, Eunyoung Han et al.
86 citations
Plant-based drugs of abuse are as old as recorded human history. Although traditional addictive substances, such as opium, cannabis and coca, have been controlled by the United Nations anti-drug conventions, many, if not most, natural plants with addictive or abuse liability remain elusive. Therefore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned the emerging threat from new...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
April 1, 2017
Rafael G. Dos Santos, José Carlos Bouso, Jaime E. C. Hallak
36 citations
Ibogaine is a naturally occurring hallucinogenic alkaloid with a therapeutic potential for reducing drug craving and withdrawal. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review was previously performed assessing these effects. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review of human studies assessing the antiaddictive effects of ibogaine. Papers published up to July 2, 2016 were included...
International Journal for the Study of New Religions
February 20, 2017
Christopher Partridge
1 citation
While much has been written about the life, work and influence of Aleister Crowley, relatively little attention has been directed to his drug use. This is a little surprising because, not only did he become addicted to heroin, but he incorporated psychoactive substances in his occult work, discussed their psychological effects, commented on drug-related social issues, critiqued contemporary...
Life Sciences
January 1, 2017
Udo Bonnet
Ketamine is approved to start and maintain anaesthesia or analgesia. Ketamine is also known to be neurotoxic and an old drug of abuse. Numerous studies have proven a rapid and strong antidepressant response (AR) following parenteral sub-anaesthetic ketamine doses when applied the first time to patients with treatment resistant unipolar or bipolar major depression. This rapid and robust AR is...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2017
Shawn. M. Aarde, Michael A. Taffe
Animal models of drug self-administration are currently the gold standard for making predictions regarding the relative likelihood that a recreational drug substance will lead to continued use and addiction. Such models have been found to have high predictive accuracy and discriminative validity for a number of drug classes including ethanol, nicotine, opioids, and psychostimulants such as...
Psychological Medicine
December 2016
Michael Bloomfield, E Mouchlianitis, C J A Morgan et al.
Cannabis is a widely used drug associated with increased risk for psychosis. The dopamine hypothesis of psychosis postulates that altered salience processing leads to psychosis. We therefore tested the hypothesis that cannabis users exhibit aberrant salience and explored the relationship between aberrant salience and dopamine synthesis capacity. We tested 17 cannabis users and 17 age- and...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 15, 2016
Clinton E. Canal, Kevin S. Murnane
Classic hallucinogens share pharmacology as serotonin 5-HT 2A , 5-HT 2B , and 5-HT 2C receptor agonists. Unique among most other Schedule 1 drugs, they are generally non-addictive and can be effective tools in the treatment of addiction. Mechanisms underlying these attributes are largely unknown. However, many preclinical studies show that 5-HT 2C agonists counteract the addictive effects of...
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
November 4, 2016
De Nichols, Mw Johnson, Cd Nichols
366 citations
Scientific interest in serotonergic psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin and LSD; 5‐HT 2A receptor agonists) has dramatically increased within the last decade. Clinical studies administering psychedelics with psychotherapy have shown preliminary evidence of robust efficacy in treating anxiety and depression, as well as addiction to tobacco and alcohol. Moreover, recent research has suggested that...