May 8, 2017
Robert W. Kentridge, Berit Brogaard
2 citations
This chapter considers some implications of broad principles of the neural architecture and neural coding of information in the visual system. J. H Reynolds and R. Desimone suggest that attentional shrinkage of receptive fields around attended objects serves to solve the binding problem. Attention serves to optimise the veridicality of responses of cells involved in coding complex properties of...
Neuropsychopharmacology
April 26, 2017
Robin Carhart-Harris, Guy M. Goodwin
680 citations
Plant-based psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have an ancient history of medicinal use. After the first English language report on LSD in 1950, psychedelics enjoyed a short-lived relationship with psychology and psychiatry. Used most notably as aids to psychotherapy for the treatment of mood disorders and alcohol dependence, drugs such as LSD showed initial therapeutic promise before...
University of Illinois Press eBooks
April 20, 2017
Stephen Siff
This chapter analyzes how the new salience of hallucinogenic drugs inspired a media interest in Indian drug rituals. Indian practices that were previously described as backward and superstitious were seemingly rehabilitated in 1950s news coverage to align with contemporary theories about the drugs. Of particular interest was the “discovery” of hallucinogenic mushrooms by an amateur scientist...
Journal of Food and Drug Analysis
April 18, 2017
Ling‐yi Feng, Altansuvd Battulga, Eunyoung Han et al.
86 citations
Plant-based drugs of abuse are as old as recorded human history. Although traditional addictive substances, such as opium, cannabis and coca, have been controlled by the United Nations anti-drug conventions, many, if not most, natural plants with addictive or abuse liability remain elusive. Therefore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned the emerging threat from new...
Drug and Alcohol Review
April 10, 2017
Stephen Bright, M.l. Williams, David Caldicott
5 citations
As recently noted by Strauss, Bright and Williams 1, while much of the Western world has been experiencing a renaissance in research into ‘psychedelic science’ over the past decade 2, there has been no such research conducted in Australia. In Europe and the USA, studies have been conducted into lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that have improved our understanding of brain function 3 and reduced...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2017
Thomas W. Flanagan, Melaine N. Sebastian, Charles D. Nichols
2 citations
Only recently has the full therapeutic value of serotonin [5‐hydroxytryptophan (5‐HT)] receptor activation begun to be explored. Currently there are two 5‐HT 2A receptor agonists in human clinical trials for the treatment of depression and obesity. An exciting new therapeutic avenue in which 5‐HT 2A agonists might be employed is the modulation of inflammation in allergic airways disease. Our...
Spiral (Imperial College London)
April 1, 2017
Mendel Kaelen
10 citations
This research investigated how psychedelics and music work together in the brain and modulate subjective experience. Chapter 1 highlighted the prominent role of music in psychedelic therapy in the 1950s and 1960s, and how music continues to be used in modern psychotherapeutic trials with psychedelics. Although ‘psychedelic therapy’ shows promising findings for mental health care, little is...
Swiss Archives of Neurology Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
March 29, 2017
Michael Ljuslin, Amandine Schaller
4 citations
Terreau de la découverte du LSD et de la synthèse de la psilocybine, la Suisse saura-t-elle jouer un rôle dans la redécouverte du potentiel thérapeutique des substances psychédéliques?Réémergence de la médecine psychédélique
Medical Hypotheses
March 2017
R D Idell, G Florova, A A Komissarov et al.
Current understanding of the neurobiology of depression has grown over the past few years beyond the traditional monoamine theory of depression to include chronic stress, inflammation and disrupted synaptic plasticity. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a key factor that not only promotes fibrinolysis via the activation of plasminogen, but also contributes to regulation of synaptic...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
February 23, 2017
Rafael G. Dos Santos, José Carlos Bouso, Jaime E. C. Hallak
167 citations
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogen brew traditionally used for ritual and therapeutic purposes in Northwestern Amazon. It is rich in the tryptamine hallucinogens dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which acts as a serotonin 5-HT 2A agonist. This mechanism of action is similar to other compounds such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin. The controlled use of LSD and psilocybin in experimental...