Abstract Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with cognitive deficits, oxidative stress and inflammation. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a known neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and psychoplastogen with antidepressant effects. Therefore, we tested the capacity of DMT, the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) harmaline, and “pharmahuasca” (DMT + harmaline) to reduce...
The use of psychedelics is evolving for the treatment of a variety of mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, post‐traumatic stress disorder and other related uses, Financial News Media reported May 25. Some psychedelic drugs are extracted from plants or mushrooms, and some are synthetic (human‐made). These drugs are now considered effective for patients with treatment‐resistant...
Background: In Peruvian Amazonian medicine, plant diets ( dietas ) are a fundamental and highly flexible technique with a variety of uses: from treating and preventing illness, to increasing strength and resilience, to rites of passage, to learning even medicine itself. Many of the plants used in diets are psychoactive; for example, one now well-known plant that can be dieted is Banisteriopsis...
Introduction: Ayahuasca is a traditional psychoactive tea of Amazonian indigenous, used medicinal and spiritual purposes. Wide variation in the concentration of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), Harmaline (HRL), Harmine (HRM) and Tetrahydroharmine (THH) alkaloids in Ayahuasca has been reported worldwide. Objective: To evaluate the causes of variations in alkaloids concentrations of Ayahuasca...
A psychedelic drug is one that “produces thought, mood and perceptual changes otherwise rarely experienced except in dreams, contemplative and religious exaltation, flashes of vivid involuntary memory, and acute psychosis”1. It does so “without causing physical addiction, craving, major physiological disturbances, delirium, disorientation or amnesia”1. The “classic psychedelics” include...
Abstract Serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), or dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as well as psychoactive drugs that trigger phenomenologically- related experiences like 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and ketamine, belong to the most promising treatment approaches in contemporary psychiatry. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is not only a new...
Lucid dreaming (LD) is a fun and interesting activity, but most participants have difficulties in attaining lucidity, retaining it during the dream, concentrating on the needed task and remembering the results. This motivates to search for a new way to enhance lucid dreaming via different induction techniques, including chemicals and electric brain stimulation. However, results are still...
Hallucinogens are a loosely defined group of compounds including LSD, N,N-dimethyltryptamines, mescaline, psilocybin/psilocin, and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methamphetamine (DOM), which can evoke intense visual and emotional experiences. We are witnessing a renaissance of research interest in hallucinogens, driven by increasing awareness of their psychotherapeutic potential. As such, we now present a...
Ayahuasca is a traditional plant decoction containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and various β-carbolines including harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, which has been used ceremonially by Amazonian Indigenous groups for healing and spiritual purposes. Use of the brew has now spread far beyond its original context of consumption to North America, Europe, and Australia in neo-shamanic...
Abstract Background The recognition of emotions in facial expressions (REFE) is a core aspect of social cognition. Previous studies with the serotonergic hallucinogens lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin showed that these drugs reduced the recognition of negative (fear) faces in healthy volunteers. This trial assessed the acute and prolonged effects of a single dose of ayahuasca on the...