Bufotenin (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimetyltryptamine) is a tryptamine alkaloid widely spread among anuran families as a component of their chemical defense system, acting as a potent hallucinogenic factor, showing similar activity to LSD upon interaction with the 5HT2 human receptor. This work demonstrates the presence of bufotenin in the skin secretion of three arboreal amphibian species of the...
Few studies have examined the effects of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-(n)-propylthiophenethylamine (2C-T-7) in vivo. 2C-T-7 was tested in a drug-elicited head twitch assay in mice and in several drug discrimination assays in rats; 2C-T-7 was compared to the phenylisopropylamine hallucinogen R(-)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl)-2aminopropane (DOM) in both assays, with or without pretreatment with the...
Previous investigations in our laboratory have found that the stimulus effects of the hallucinogenic serotonergic agonists DOM and LSD are potentiated by phencyclidine [PCP], a non-competitive NMDA antagonist. Also suggestive of behaviorally significant serotonergic/glutamatergic interactions is our finding that stimulus control by both PCP and LSD is partially antagonized by the mGlu2/3...
Absorption represents a disposition to experience altered states of consciousness characterized by intensively focused attention. It is correlated with hypnotic susceptibility and includes phenomena ranging from vivid perceptions and imaginations to mystical experiences. Based on the assumption that drug-induced and naturally occurring mystical experiences share common neural mechanisms, we...
Drug and substance abuse is a major problem in North America. Health care providers who care for patients who abuse drugs and other substances need to have a clear understanding of the health, societal, and economic impact of this problem and an intimate knowledge of the agents of abuse to ensure adequate treatment. Pagliaros' Comprehensive Guide to Drugs and Substances of Abuse was written to...
Binocular rivalry occurs when different images are presented simultaneously to corresponding points within the left and right eyes. Under these conditions, the observer's perception will alternate between the two perceptual alternatives. Motivated by the reported link between the rate of perceptual alternations, symptoms of psychosis and an incidental observation that the rhythmicity of...
Abstract The term synesthesia (Greek; syn = together, aesthesia = sensation) has been used to describe a wide variety of phenomena. Most commonly, it is used to denote a condition in which stimulation in one sensory modality also gives rise to an experience in a different modality. However, conditions involving different qualities within one modality (e.g., when the sight of letter shapes...
The present study investigated characteristics of recreational drug users, especially 'ecstasy' (MDMA) users, in 254 undergraduates. All participants completed a drug history questionnaire (DHQ), the impulsiveness venturesomeness and empathy questionnaire, a novel risk-taking task (Bets16), and 59 also completed the tri-dimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ). DHQ responses allocated...
This preliminary descriptive study was designed to assess the reasons, primary contexts, and consequences (physical, psychological, lifestyle) of club drug use in a sample of young adults in a mid-size U.S. city. Fifty young adults (18 to 30 years old) reported on their use of club drugs (Ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, Rohypnol, methamphetamine, LSD) in face-to-face interviews that included...
Recreational Ecstasy/MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) users often take a variety of psychoactive drugs, but there is little empirical data on how these drug consumption patterns change with greater experience of Ecstasy. The aim of this study was to compare the polydrug usage patterns reported by non-Ecstasy users, novice Ecstasy users, moderate Ecstasy users, and heavy Ecstasy users....