Neurology Bulletin
December 24, 2022
Vladimir D. Mendelevich, Veronika N. Konovalova, Galya M. Galiullina et al.
The article describes the case of Daria D., 23 years old, who has been using various drugs (LSD, marijuana, mephedrone) for a number of years and independently abandoned using drags with the transition to the use of microdoses of red fly agaric (Amanita Muskaria). Her mental and addictive status is analyzed. It is concluded that, despite the systematic use of drugs, there are no grounds for...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
December 15, 2022
Michael J. Cunningham, Hailey A. Bock, Inis C. Serrano et al.
65 citations
Ariadne is a non-hallucinogenic analog in the phenylalkylamine chemical class of psychedelics that is closely related to an established synthetic hallucinogen, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methyl-amphetamine (DOM), differing only by one methylene group in the α-position to the amine. Ariadne has been tested in humans including clinical trials at Bristol-Myers Company that indicate a lack of hallucinogenic...
Neuropharmacology
December 15, 2022
David J Heal, Jane Gosden, Sharon L. Smith et al.
18 citations
Research on classical psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD and DMT) and entactogen, MDMA, has produced a renaissance in the search for more effective drugs to treat psychiatric, neurological and various peripheral disorders. Psychedelics and entactogens act though interaction with 5-HT2A and other serotonergic receptors and/or monoamine reuptake transporters. 5-HT, which serves as a neurotransmitter...
Forensic Science International
December 1, 2022
Luiz Ferreira Neves Junior, André Luis Fabris, Ingrid Lopes Barbosa et al.
10 citations
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a John Lennon song that was a hit in the 1960s, was born amidst a social context enlightened by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In Brazil, both the drug and the song were very popular at the time, although it gradually mitigated. Nevertheless, while the song remains out of the spotlight, LSD derivatives are currently gaining attention with the rising of the new...
Psychopharmacology
December 1, 2022
Ido Hartogsohn, Rotem Petranker
22 citations
The use of psychedelics for medical and recreational purposes is rising. Contextual factors such as expectancy, intention, and sensory and social environment (set and setting) are widely recognized as moderating the effects of these substances. Nevertheless, clinical trials of microdosing - the ingestion of small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics - rarely report their set and setting....
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 4, 2022
Aaron Klaiber, Friederike Holze, Ioanna Istampoulouoglou et al.
100 citations
Abstract Background Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is currently being investigated in psychedelic-assisted therapy. LSD has a long duration of acute action of 8–11 hours. It produces its acute psychedelic effects via stimulation of the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (HT2A) receptor. Administration of the 5-HT2A antagonist ketanserin before LSD almost fully blocks the acute subjective...
New England Journal of Medicine
November 2, 2022
Bertha K. Madras
36 citations
Depression ranks first among psychiatric disorders that dominate the global burden of disease, posing a substantial personal strain and economic drain on nations.1 At least 30 drugs are Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved to treat depression,2 yet a systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 antidepressants concluded that although they were more effective than placebo in adults with...
Cureus
October 31, 2022
Arafath Mohamed, Shehla Touheed, Muzammil Ahmed et al.
11 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant public health concern for which existing therapies are only marginally effective. Indisputably, the primary line of treatment for PTSD is psychotherapy, according to current treatment guidelines. However, PTSD continues to be a chronic condition even after psychotherapy, with high psychiatric and medical illness rates. There is a dire need...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
October 21, 2022
James J Gattuso, Daniel Perkins, Simon Ruffell et al.
233 citations
Abstract Psychedelics are a unique class of drug that commonly produce vivid hallucinations as well as profound psychological and mystical experiences. A grouping of interconnected brain regions characterized by increased temporal coherence at rest have been termed the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN has been the focus of numerous studies assessing its role in self-referencing, mind...
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
October 14, 2022
Alison Knopf
The beneficial effects of psilocybin‐assisted psychotherapy on alcohol use disorder (AUD) are significant, based on a study published in JAMA Psychiatry last month. In general, psychedelic medications have been a focus of research, but less is known about psilocybin, and it has been 40 years since the studies with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) provided double the remissions as comparison...
Neuropharmacology
October 14, 2022
Ian G Campbell, Ioanna A. Vamvakopoulou, Kelly A.d. Narine et al.
97 citations
The pharmacological mechanisms of mescaline are similar to those of other classical psychedelics, like psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Mescaline appears to be safe to consume, with most intoxications being mild and easily treatable. Improvement in mental well-being and its ability to overcome alcoholism render mescaline potentially beneficial in clinical settings. This article...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
October 11, 2022
Jeremy Weleff, Teddy J. Akiki, Brian S. Barnett
11 citations
Following a decades long period of investigational dormancy, there is renewed interest in employing psychedelics as psychiatric treatments. The academic journals, institutions, and countries that have helped sustain clinical psychedelic research and the evolution of the literature on clinical studies of psychedelics have only recently begun to be investigated. To expand upon this work, we...
Neuron
October 5, 2022
Can Cao, Ximena Barros-Álvarez, Shicheng Zhang et al.
158 citations
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) 5-HT2-family receptors represent essential targets for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and all other psychedelic drugs. Although the primary psychedelic drug effects are mediated by the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (HTR2A), the 5-HT2B serotonin receptor (HTR2B) has been used as a model receptor to study the activation mechanisms of psychedelic drugs due to...
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
October 5, 2022
Annie M. Mccartney, Hugh McGovern, Alexander de Foe
33 citations
Research on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances is expanding. A limitation within this field is the unpredictability of individual responses to psychedelics. Better understanding of factors predicting psychedelic experience is essential to clinical progress and wider harm reduction frameworks. Ketamine, MDMA, LSD and psilocybin were selected for comparison due to their promising...
Nature Communications
October 3, 2022
S Parker Singleton, Andrea I. Luppi, Robin Carhart-Harris et al.
156 citations
Psychedelics including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin temporarily alter subjective experience through their neurochemical effects. Serotonin 2a (5-HT2a) receptor agonism by these compounds is associated with more diverse (entropic) brain activity. We postulate that this increase in entropy may arise in part from a flattening of the brain's control energy landscape, which can be...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
October 3, 2022
Jordi Camarasa, Pol Puigseslloses, Edurne Urquizu et al.
5 citations
The utility of classical drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders (e.g., antidepressants, anxiolytics) is often limited by issues of lack of efficacy, delayed onset of action or side effects. Psychoactive substances have a long history of being used as tools to alter consciousness and as a gateway to approach the unknown and the divinities. These substances were initially obtained from plants...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
October 1, 2022
Otto Simonsson, Simon B. Goldberg, Richard Chambers et al.
16 citations
Previous studies have reported links between classic psychedelic use and seizures, but little remains known about prevalence and potential risk factors of classic psychedelic-related seizures. Using a sample representative of the US adult population with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity (N = 2822), this study examined the prevalence and potential risk factors of classic psychedelic-related...
Journal of Pain
October 1, 2022
Robert H. Dworkin, Brian T Anderson, Nick Andrews et al.
22 citations
Psychedelic substances have played important roles in diverse cultures, and ingesting various plant preparations to evoke altered states of consciousness has been described throughout recorded history. Accounts of the subjective effects of psychedelics typically focus on spiritual and mystical-type experiences, including feelings of unity, sacredness, and transcendence. Over the past 2 decades,...
Transcultural Psychiatry
October 1, 2022
Gabriella Gobbi, Antonio Inserra, Kyle T. Greenway et al.
9 citations
Psychedelics have been already used by human societies for more than 3000 years, mostly in religious and healing context. The renewed interest in the potential application of psychedelic compounds as novel therapeutics has led to promising preliminary evidence of clinical benefit in some psychiatric disorders. Despite these promising results, the potential for large-scale clinical application...
Transcultural Psychiatry
October 1, 2022
Alice Wong, Amir Raz
10 citations
Microdosing—the intermittent ingestion of minute, sub-hallucinogenic amounts of psychedelic substances, repeatedly and over time—has become a widespread, albeit largely understudied, phenomenon. Regulations around using psychedelics at any dose—micro, mini, macro, or mega—pose all sorts of difficulties for those who wish to systematically study the effects of Schedule I drugs, especially in the...