This paper explores the experiences and perspectives of people from Poland who engage with psychoactive plants, referred to by me as the Plants, such as ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, and mescaline-containing cacti-for healing and personal growth. Based on fourteen in-depth interviews and analysis of online discussions, the paper examines how my interlocutors conceptualize health, disease,...
This study investigates the impact of shamanic practices, specifically Ayahuasca consumption and sound healing combined with guided meditation, on creativity. Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined changes in creativity, openness to new experiences, executive functions, and divergent thinking among 47 participants. Results indicate that meditation and sound healing positively influence...
This paper focuses on a single case of ayahuasca-assisted grief therapy for the prevention of complicated grief, conducted within a clinical trial. The participant, a woman in her thirties who lost her father to cancer, completed a 9-session process of Meaning Reconstruction Therapy (MRT) organised around two ayahuasca sessions. Following each psychedelic experience, she also completed a...
This text reviews some of Jean Langdon’s most important classical and contemporary writings about shamanism, highlighting her key contributions to the area, as well as her relevance to the anthropology of health and Indigenous health policies. The paper also reflects on Langdon’s influence in the discussions surrounding gender and female agency in ethnographies of lowland South America. Jean...
Abstract Background Peripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are often used as a biomarker for the rapid plasticity-promoting effects of ketamine, psychedelics, and other psychoplastogens in humans. However, studies analyzing peripheral BDNF after psychoplastogen exposure show mixed results. In this meta-analysis, we aimed to test whether the rapid upregulation of...
O estudo buscou analisar o efeito dos psicodélicos como um meio alternativo para o tratamento do transtorno depressivo maior. Trata se de uma revisão integrativa de literatura na qual foram selecionados os descritores “psychedelic” “depression” adicionados com o operador booleano “and” entre esses nas bases de dados National Library of Medicine (PUBMED) e na Biblioteca Virtual De Saúde (BVS)....
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is becoming increasingly acknowledged as an effective therapeutic intervention for various psychiatric illnesses. However, the evaluation of masking success is rarely reported in trials. The objective of the present systematic review was to evaluate placebo-control and masking in studies exploring psychedelic-assisted therapy. Nine (k = 9) studies dating between...
Abstract Interest in psychedelic research in the West is surging, however, clinical trials have almost exclusively studied synthetic compounds such as MDMA, ketamine, DMT, LSD, ibogaine, and psilocybin. To date, few clinical trials have utilized whole mushroom/plant material like Psilocybe mushrooms, Iboga, or Ayahuasca. Individuals participating in the Roots To Thrive Psilocybin-Assisted...
This meta-analysis investigates the effect of classic psychedelic drugs on empathy and focuses on cognitive and emotional empathy measured using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). Empathy entails the ability to understand and share the feelings of another and is a significant component of social interaction. Several studies have examined the effects of psychedelic drugs such as LSD,...
No presente artigo pretende-se trazer à tona fragmentos da poesia oral, daimista, amazônica de Luiz Mendes, um sábio ancião da/na Amazônia acreana. Objetiva-se ainda realizar uma breve análise cultural em diálogo ético com tal repertório, entendido aqui como repertório de resistência. O documento oral constitui o cerne da pesquisa realizada e da escrita aqui apresentada; e é em diálogo com ele...