Drug and Alcohol Dependence
June 1, 2012
Matthew W Johnson, R Andrew Sewell, Roland R. Griffiths
121 citations
Psilocybin is a well-characterized classic hallucinogen (psychedelic) with a long history of religious use by indigenous cultures, and nonmedical use in modern societies. Although psilocybin is structurally related to migraine medications, and case studies suggest that psilocybin may be efficacious in treatment of cluster headache, little is known about the relationship between psilocybin and...
Biological Psychiatry
May 9, 2012
Michael Kometer, André Schmidt, Rosilla Bachmann et al.
300 citations
BackgroundSerotonin (5-HT) 1A and 2A receptors have been associated with dysfunctional emotional processing biases in mood disorders. These receptors further predominantly mediate the subjective and behavioral effects of psilocybin and might be important for its recently suggested antidepressive effects. However, the effect of psilocybin on emotional processing biases and the specific...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2012
Evan J. Kyzar, Christopher Collins, Jeremy Green et al.
1 citation
Mescaline, phencyclidine (PCP) and psilocybin are potent hallucinogenic drugs strongly affecting both human and animal behavior. However, these compounds have not been previously investigated in zebrafish (Danio rerio), rapidly gaining popularity as a model in psychopharmacology research. Here, we examine the effects of mescaline, PCP and psilocybin in multiple behavioral paradigms. Mescaline...
PLoS One
February 17, 2012
Erich Studerus, Alex Gamma, Michael Kometer et al.
372 citations
Responses to hallucinogenic drugs, such as psilocybin, are believed to be critically dependent on the user's personality, current mood state, drug pre-experiences, expectancies, and social and environmental variables. However, little is known about the order of importance of these variables and their effect sizes in comparison to drug dose. Hence, this study investigated the effects of 24...
February 2, 2012
Donald G. Barceloux
3 citations
This chapter contains sections titled: History Botantical Description Identifying Characteristics Exposure Dose Effect Toxicokinetics Histopathology and Pathophysiology Clinical Response Diagnostic Testing Treatment References
The British Journal of Psychiatry
January 27, 2012
Robin Carhart-Harris, Robert Leech, Tom A. Williams et al.
241 citations
Background Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic drug that has a history of use in psychotherapy. One of the rationales for its use was that it aids emotional insight by lowering psychological defences. Aims To test the hypothesis that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions by comparing subjective and neural responses to positive autobiographical memories under psilocybin...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
January 23, 2012
Alessandro Colasanti, Robin J. Tyacke, Robert Leech et al.
1,191 citations
Psychedelic drugs have a long history of use in healing ceremonies, but despite renewed interest in their therapeutic potential, we continue to know very little about how they work in the brain. Here we used psilocybin, a classic psychedelic found in magic mushrooms, and a task-free functional MRI (fMRI) protocol designed to capture the transition from normal waking consciousness to the...
Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
2012
Erich Studerus
6 citations
Since the early 1990s, hallucinogenic drugs, such as psilocybin, have been increasingly used to investigate the neuronal basis of altered states of consciousness and psychosis. Furthermore, renewed interest has emerged in using these drugs as an adjunct to psychotherapy. Nevertheless, the therapeutic and experimental use of these substances is still controversial due to fears of potential harm....
Psychopharmacology
December 1, 2011
Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W Johnson, William A Richards et al.
938 citations
This dose-effect study extends previous observations showing that psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior. This double-blind study evaluated psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg, p.o.) administered under supportive conditions. Participants were 18 adults (17 hallucinogen-naïve). Five 8-h sessions were conducted...
Neuropsychopharmacology
September 28, 2011
Boris B. Quednow, Michael Kometer, Mark A. Geyer et al.
241 citations
The serotonin-2A receptor (5-HT(2A)R) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related inhibitory gating and behavioral inhibition deficits of schizophrenia patients. The hallucinogen psilocybin disrupts automatic forms of sensorimotor gating and response inhibition in humans, but it is unclear so far whether the 5-HT(2A)R or 5-HT(1A)R agonist properties of its bioactive...