Neuropharmacology
April 3, 2014
David Martin, Danuta Marona‐lewicka, D. E. Nichols et al.
Chronic administration of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) every other day to rats results in a variety of abnormal behaviors. These build over the 90 day course of treatment and can persist at full strength for at least several months after cessation of treatment. The behaviors are consistent with those observed in animal models of schizophrenia and include hyperactivity, reduced...
Molecular Psychiatry
April 2014
J Iafrati, M J Orejarena, Olivier Lassalle et al.
Defective brain extracellular matrix (ECM) is a factor of vulnerability in various psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, depression and autism. The glycoprotein reelin is an essential building block of the brain ECM that modulates neuronal development and participates to the functions of adult central synapses. The reelin gene (RELN) is a strong candidate in psychiatric diseases of early...
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
March 12, 2014
Š. Kubík, Helena Buchtová, K. Valeš et al.
Flexible behavior in dynamic, real-world environments requires more than static spatial learning and memory. Discordant and unstable cues must be organized in coherent subsets to give rise to meaningful spatial representations. We model this form of cognitive coordination on a rotating arena – Carousel where arena- and room-bound spatial cues are dissociated. Hippocampal neuronal ensemble...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
2014
Willoughby B. Britton, Jared R. Lindahl, B Rael Cahn et al.
Buddhist meditation practices have become a topic of widespread interest in both science and medicine. Traditional Buddhist formulations describe meditation as a state of relaxed alertness that must guard against both excessive hyperarousal (restlessness) and excessive hypoarousal (drowsiness, sleep). Modern applications of meditation have emphasized the hypoarousing and relaxing effects...
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
2014
Natalie T Y Leung, Mandy M Lo, Tatia M C Lee
Affective dysregulation is at the root of many psychopathologies, including stress induced disorders, anxiety disorders, and depression. The root of these disorders appears to be an attenuated, top-down cognitive control from the prefrontal cortices over the maladaptive subcortical emotional processing. A form of mental training, long-term meditation practice can trigger meditation-specific...
Frontiers in Psychology
2014
Jared R. Lindahl, Christopher T. Kaplan, Evan M. Winget et al.
123 citations
The scientific study of Buddhist meditation has proceeded without much attention to Buddhist literature that details the range of psychological and physiological changes thought to occur during meditation. This paper presents reports of various meditation-induced light experiences derived from American Buddhist practitioners. The reports of light experiences are classified into two main types:...
Cell
November 21, 2013
Rongqing Chen, Jian Zhang, Ni Fan et al.
Marijuana has been used for thousands of years as a treatment for medical conditions. However, untoward side effects limit its medical value. Here, we show that synaptic and cognitive impairments following repeated exposure to Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC) are associated with the induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an inducible enzyme that converts arachidonic acid to prostanoids in...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
October 14, 2013
Caroline A Browne, Irwin Lucki
Newer antidepressants are needed for the many individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) that do not respond adequately to treatment and because of a delay of weeks before the emergence of therapeutic effects. Recent evidence from clinical trials shows that the NMDA antagonist ketamine is a revolutionary novel antidepressant because it acts rapidly and is effective for treatment-resistant...
PLoS One
August 28, 2013
Fabio Ferrarelli, Richard Smith, Daniela Dentico et al.
125 citations
Over the past several years meditation practice has gained increasing attention as a non-pharmacological intervention to provide health related benefits, from promoting general wellness to alleviating the symptoms of a variety of medical conditions. However, the effects of meditation training on brain activity still need to be fully characterized. Sleep provides a unique approach to explore the...
August 9, 2013
James Fadiman, Andrew Kornfeld
This chapter considers how psychedelic substances affect consciousness, using the lens of a transpersonal approach to psychology. Transpersonal psychology's point of view is especially suitable to grapple with this question due not only to its continuing interest in altered states of consciousness, but also to its long-standing relationship with psychedelic research. Mainstream psychology has...