European PsychiatryApril 1, 2025E. E. Morales Castellano, P. Rivero Rodríguez, Marina Martínez Grimal et al.
Introduction The relationship between psychosis and ayahuasca use is a topic of considerable interest and debate in the scientific and medical community. Ayahuasca is traditionally used in shamanic ceremonies in the Amazon, composed mainly of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the leaves of Psychotria viridis, which contain DMT (dimethyltryptamine), a powerful hallucinogen. Ayahuasca induces...
The phenomenology of depression is characterized by a wide array of emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms that significantly disrupt an individual's life. Societal changes, driven by technological advancements, economic pressures, environmental concerns including climate change, and shifting cultural norms, have influenced how depression manifests and is understood. These developments...
Improving prognostication in patients with a prolonged disorder of consciousness (pDoC) is among the most challenging issues in neurorehabilitation. The aim of this Italian multisite prospective longitudinal study was to identify valuable predictors of the complete recovery of consciousness (emergence from Minimally Conscious State, eMCS) at 3 months (T1) from the admission in intensive...
American pragmatism is traditionally described as a logico-philosophical movement that arose in opposition to the theological and metaphysical assumptions of the early American idealists. Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930) challenges this narrative in two central ways: she presents pragmatism as encompassing psychological, logical, and metaphysical doctrines, and she characterizes "metaphysical...
Visual alterations under classic psychedelics can include rich phenomenological accounts of eyes-closed imagery. Preclinical evidence suggests agonism of the 5-HT2A receptor may reduce synaptic gain to produce psychedelic-induced imagery. However, this has not been investigated in humans. To infer the directed connectivity changes to visual connectivity underlying psychedelic visual imagery in...
Ketamine, in doses suitable to induce anaesthesia in humans, gives rise to a unique state of unresponsiveness accompanied by vivid experiences and sensations, making it possible to disentangle the correlated but distinct concepts of conscious awareness and behavioural responsiveness. This distinction is often overlooked in the study of consciousness. The mathematical framework of connectome...
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a classic serotonergic psychedelic that induces a profoundly altered conscious state. In conjunction with psychological support, it is currently being explored as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder and depression. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a brain region that is known to be involved in mood regulation and disorders; hypofunction...
Introduction. Burnout syndrome (BS) is one of the most pressing challenges in modern medicine, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine, where the burden on the healthcare system has significantly increased. This condition not only deteriorates mental and physical health, reducing the quality of life for both patients and medical professionals, but also induces additional stress in...
Dissociative identity disorder is the most complex, severe, and chronic condition within the category of dissociative disorders. The core issue in dissociative identity disorder involves significant divisions and discontinuities in an individual's memory, behavior, emotions, consciousness, and identity, which typically function as a cohesive whole. These dissociative experiences lead to...
The experience of being possessed by an invisible and outside spirit seems archaic and outdated to many people today. However, the scientific and medical field of psychiatry contains diagnoses that classify this experience as a form of psychopathology, most notably Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Moreover, indigenous peoples and researchers have detailed many accounts of how the...