Ayahuasca is a traditional hallucinogenic concoction utilised by indigenous populations in the Amazon Basin for ages in spiritual and therapeutic rituals. The increasing global popularity is attributed to its alleged medicinal and consciousness-expanding properties. The infusion is primarily composed of two key components: the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of Psychotria viridis,...
Suicide is the leading cause of death among adolescents worldwide and has serious implications for socio-economic development. Some studies have found that suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts are more likely to occur in adolescents with depression. In depressed adolescents, cognitive function is often significantly impaired. The cognitive function of depressed adolescents is mainly...
Major depressive disorder, particularly its treatment-resistant form (TRD), poses significant treatment challenges. Ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist, has shown promise in rapidly alleviating depressive symptoms by influencing neuroplasticity and glutamatergic modulation, which are thought to influence brain activity complexity. In this placebo-controlled study, we examined...
Preprints.orgSeptember 29, 2025Jay Toulany, Jasmyn E. A. Cunningham, Abraham Nunes
preprint
Lithium remains the first choice for long-term prophylaxis of mood episodes in bipolar disorder (BD), but only 30% of patients will respond, and there is no reliable method by which to predict treatment response. Ketamine is a rapid antidepressant therapy which ostensibly yields greater results in patients with clinical phenotypes that are classically associated with lithium non-response. Thus,...
Brazilian Journal of ScienceSeptember 29, 2025Pinelopi Vlotinou, Konstantinos Christodoulou, Anna Tsiakiri et al.
Classical psychedelics encompass psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline and are psychoactive substances that primarily function as agonists at the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HT). In the immediate term, they modify perception, cognition, emotional state, social processing, and introspection, leading to a subjective mystical...
Psychedelic compounds are gaining renewed attention across disciplines for their profound psychological and neurobiological effects. Emerging research highlights their efficacy in treating mood disorders, PTSD, and addiction by enhancing neuroplasticity and disrupting maladaptive cognitive patterns. From a psychological standpoint, psychedelics facilitate introspection, emotional processing,...
In recent years, ketamine therapy has become increasingly entangled with psychedelic culture, leading to widespread misinterpretation of its therapeutic mechanism. This manuscript challenges the prevailing narrative that positions ketamine as a consciousness-expanding agent or psychotherapy enhancer, highlighting the discord between this view and ketamine's well-established neurobiological...
Psychedelic drugs show promise in treating a wide range of mental health conditions. These drugs are beneficial in part because they disrupt prior ideas and patterns of behavior and because they increase neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. It is important therefore to consider the causal impact of the social context not just during but also following psychedelic experiences. Modern cultural or...
Although these findings suggest psilocybin is associated with dynamic and temporally distinct neuroplastic changes linked to clinical improvement, several limitations must be acknowledged. Many studies reused overlapping datasets with high exploratory flexibility and risk of bias. The generalizability of results is therefore constrained. Future research should emphasize independent datasets,...
Non-pharmacological therapies play a crucial role in managing non-communicable diseases, providing alternatives to conventional medical treatments.Non-pharmacological therapies include Yoga, which combines physical postures, breath control and meditation to promote both physical and mental wellbeing.However, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of yoga, particularly...