Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medications
March 1, 2023
Daniel Perkins, Simon Ruffell, Jerome Sarris
Abstract Ayahuasca is a psychedelic plant brew originating in the Amazon basin. It is typically made from two basic components: the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), containing various harmala alkaloids, and the leaves of a plant containing the potent psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), such as the chacruna plant (Psychotria viridis). Evidence suggests the brew has been used for at least...
Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medications
March 1, 2023
Mihai Avram, Felix Müller, Stefan Borgwardt
1 citation
Abstract Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent perception-altering chemical. Since the discovery of its effects almost eighty years ago, LSD has been revered and demonized. Before its ban in the late 1960s, LSD was used to model aspects of psychosis and treat distinct mental disorders such as alcohol addiction and anxiety. The new wave of research on psychedelics as potential treatments...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2023
Takesha Cooper, Michael David Seigler, Stephen M Stahl
18 citations
Numerous new agents with rapid onset antidepressant effects are entering clinical trials and clinical practice. Studies focus on either first-line treatment of major depressive disorder or on patients whose major depressive disorder is resistant to prior antidepressant drugs. Novel agents target three very different central nervous system sites: as antagonists of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)...
Psychedelics as Psychiatric Medications
March 1, 2023
Deborah C. Mash
1 citation
Abstract Ibogaine has been used as a botanical preparation from the root bark of Tabernanthe iboga for over one hundred years, both as a crude preparation and as semisynthetic ibogaine. Extracts derived from this plant have a long history of traditional medicinal and ceremonial use in Western Africa. Ibogaine is a polypharmacology drug that acts on several neurotransmitter systems, including...
Behavioural Brain Research
February 25, 2023
Brianna F Roberts, Alexia L Zylko, Courtney E Waters et al.
13 citations
Psilocybin and its active metabolite psilocin are hallucinogenic serotonergic agonists with high affinity for several serotonin receptors. In addition to underlying the hallucinogenic effects of these compounds, serotonin receptor activation also has important effects on decision-making and goal-directed behaviors. The impact of psilocybin and psilocin on these cognitive systems, however,...
Neuropsychopharmacology
February 20, 2023
Gabriela Garza, Bita Moghaddam, Alejandro Torrado Pacheco et al.
69 citations
Abstract Psilocybin has been shown to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety when combined with psychotherapy or other clinician-guided interventions. To understand the neural basis for this pattern of clinical efficacy, experimental and conceptual approaches that are different than traditional laboratory models of anxiety and depression are needed. A potential novel mechanism is that acute...
Psychedelic Medicine
February 16, 2023
Zachary Skiles, Noa Eaton, Lisa Fredenburg et al.
49 citations
Background: An emerging controversy in psychedelic therapy regards the appropriateness or necessity of psychedelic therapists having personal experience using psychedelics themselves. Although there are a number of potential advantages and disadvantages to personal use among psychedelic therapists, no studies to date have measured their use or other aspects of their training. Materials and...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
February 2023
Ellen Scotton, Pedro Lenz Casa, Fernanda Pessi De Abreu et al.
Approximately two-thirds of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail to respond to conventional antidepressants, suggesting that additional mechanisms are involved in the MDD pathophysiology. In this scenario, the glutamatergic system represents a promising therapeutic target for treatment-resistant depression. To our knowledge, this is the first study using semantic approach with...
Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology
February 1, 2023
Daniel Rødbro Burmester, Martin Korsbak Madsen, Attila Szabo et al.
24 citations
Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic that has gained prominent attention recently as a potential therapeutic for neuropsychiatric disorders including Major Depressive Disorder. Pre-clinical and initial studies in humans suggest that serotonin 2A receptor agonists, including serotonergic psychedelics, have anti-inflammatory effects. This may contribute to its therapeutic effects as previous...
Advances in Research
January 30, 2023
Jennings Hernandez
Roughly over 700 million individuals suffer from a mental illness globally. In the United States alone, over 45 million individuals are afflicted with a mental disorder at any given point in their lives. It is because of this that new methods of current therapies should be considered. To date, major depression disorder (MAD), anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are treated with...