Depression and anxiety disorders are debilitating diseases resulting in substantial economic costs to society. Traditional antidepressants often take weeks to months to positively affect mood and are ineffective for about 30% of the population. Alternatives, such as ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic capable of producing hallucinations, and the psychoactive tisane ayahuasca, have shown great...
This chapter explores psychedelics as catalysts of spontaneous thought. Classic serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca can induce potent alterations in cognition and perception. The chapter reviews research on these substances through the lens of cultural neurophenomenology, which aims to trace how neurobiology and sociocultural factors interact to shape experience....
Abstract In this article I explore the ontological turn in anthropological theory through three interconnected approaches. First, I situate the academic success of Amerindian ontologies in the context of recent debates on the urgency of addressing the political consequences of the anthropocene. Secondly, I undertake an archaeology of the concept of perspectivism as a central stage of the...
BACKGROUND: The ceremonial use of psychoactive/hallucinogenic plant based drugs, such as ayahuasca, psilocybin and others, is a growing trend in the United States (US) and globally. To date, there has been little research documenting how many people are using psychoactive substances in this context, who the users are, what benefits/risks exist in the use of these drugs and the relationship...
Psychedelic entity experiences are examined from perspectives of evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. Their similarities with other entity experiences illustrate the need for a general biological explanation of entity experiences. Mechanisms are proposed to involve innate modules, operators, and intelligences that underlie ordinary cognitive inferences and provide the basis for...
Recently, installations of the Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, with different degrees of Indian participation, have been presented in art museums in Bilbao, São Paulo, and Vienna. The beautiful tissue installations achieved part of their force from their references to ayahuasca healing by the Huni Kuin (Kaxinawa) people of the State of Acre in Brazil. It is interesting to note the convergence...
This chapter undertakes an unorthodox approach and investigate dietary and behavioural restrictions in the practice of Western ayahuasca drinking in comparison to indigenous Amazonian practices of dieting often believed to be the source of the "Western ayahuasca dieta." Combining readings of Amazonian ethnography with the authors' ethnographic research in neoshamanic contexts of ayahuasca...
Serotonergic psychedelics act as agonists at cortical 5-HT2A receptors and seem to induce personality changes. We conducted a systematic review of studies assessing the effects of these drugs on personality. Papers published from 1985-2016 were included from PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO databases. Three hundred and sixty-nine studies were identified, and 18 were included. Specific personality...
Trata o presente artigo de uma reflexão sobre as potencialidades educativas de determinadas plantas com destaque para aquela que é considerada a planta professora por excelência, a ayahausca, beberagem de origem indígena, também conhecida por uma diversidade de nomes, entre os quais: natema, yagé, nepe, kahi, caapi, nixi pae, shori, kamarampi, cipó, além de daime, vegetal e outros. Resultado de...
Debates do NERFebruary 6, 2018Amurábi Oliveira, Felipe Boin1 citation
O presente trabalho busca explorar como o daime é percebido por alguns agentes que fazem uso da ayahuasca em rituais de caráter religioso, mais especificamente como tais agentes percebem o daime como fonte de conhecimento. Parte-se da crítica pós-colonial à monocultura do saber, reconhecendo a multiplicidade de formas de se produzir conhecimento no mundo. Os dados aqui apresentados são...