Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings (SSAs) are subjective experiences characterised by a sud- den sense of direct contact, union or merging with a perceived ultimate reality, the universe, or the divine. These profound transformative experiences have scarcely been researched, de- spite extensive anecdotal evidence suggesting their potential to catalyse drastic,...
Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings (SSAs) are subjective experiences characterised by a sud- den sense of direct contact, union or merging with a perceived ultimate reality, the universe, or the divine. These profound transformative experiences have scarcely been researched, de- spite extensive anecdotal evidence suggesting their potential to catalyse drastic,...
Psychedelics are a hallucinogenic class of psychoactive drugs with the primary effect of activating non-ordinary states of consciousness. Due to the positive preliminary findings of these drugs in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, the number of registered clinical studies has risen significantly. In this paper, clinical studies registered on clinicaltr...
Altered waking states of consciousness and its underlying functional organization have gained increasing interest in recent years, i.e. in identifying the neural basis of consciousness. To overcome fundamental shortcomings of current methods to objectively assess the level of consciousness, the investigators propose here to apply a novel and empirically vali...
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and psilocybin (the active substance in "magic mushrooms") are widely used for recreational purposes. Both substances are also increasingly used in psychiatric and psychological research to induce and investigate alterations in waking consciousness and associated brain functions (functional brain imaging, "model psychosis"). ...
Several measures have been designed to assess subjective experiences induced by psychedelic substances and other mind-altering drugs or non-pharmacological methods. Recently, two self-report questionnaires have been introduced to measure acute adverse effects following psilocybin ingestion and the phenomenon of ego-dissolution associated with psychedelic use...
Several measures have been designed to assess subjective experiences induced by psychedelic substances and other mind-altering drugs or non-pharmacological methods. Recently, two self-report questionnaires have been introduced to measure acute adverse effects following psilocybin ingestion and the phenomenon of ego-dissolution associated with psychedelic use...
Depression is a widespread and devastating mental illness and the search for rapid-acting antidepressants remains critical. There is now exciting evidence that the psychedelic compound psilocybin produces not only powerful alterations of consciousness, but also rapid and persistent antidepressant effects. How psilocybin exerts its therapeutic actions is not ...
BackgroundPsilocybin is the psychoactive component in Psilocybe mushrooms ('magic mushrooms'). Whether and how the quality of the psilocybin-induced experience might mediate beneficial health outcomes is currently under investigation, for example, in therapeutic applications. However, to date, no meta-analysis has investigated the dose-dependency of subjecti...
This review illustrates the relevance of shamanism and its evolution under effects of psilocybin as a framework for identifying evolved aspects of psychedelic set and setting. Effects of 5HT2 psychedelics on serotonin, stress adaptation, visual systems and personality illustrate adaptive mechanisms through which psychedelics could have enhanced hominin evolu...
Serotonergic psychedelic drugs, such as psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), profoundly alter the quality of consciousness through mechanisms which are incompletely understood. Growing evidence suggests that a single psychedelic experience can positively impact long-term psychological well-being, with relevance for the treatment of psychiatric disord...
The emerging novel therapeutic psilocybin produces psychedelic effects via engagement of cerebral serotonergic targets by psilocin (active metabolite). The serotonin 2A receptor critically mediates these effects by altering distributed neural processes that manifest as increased entropy, reduced functional connectivity (FC) within discrete brain networks (i....
Psilocybin is a classic serotonergic hallucinogen acting on the 5-HT2A receptor. It is used recreationally and in psychiatric research. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like escitalopram are first-line treatments for depression. They inhibit the serotonin transporter (SERT). This might cause a possible downregulation of postsynaptic 5-HT recep...
The past decade has seen a renaissance of research interest into the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds. In 2019, Oakland and Denver became the first two jurisdictions in the United States to decriminalize the possession of psychedelic-containing organisms. As research and public policy continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly plausible ...
Importance: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a substantial public health burden, but current treatments have limited effectiveness and adherence. Recent evidence suggests that 1 or 2 administrations of psilocybin with psychological support produces antidepressant effects in patients with cancer and in those with treatment-resistant depression. Objective: T...
The primary objective of this double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study is to assess the efficacy of psilocybin administration (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), a serotonergic psychoactive agent, on psychosocial distress, with the specific primary outcome variable being anxiety associated with cancer. Secondary outcome measures will look at the ef...
BACKGROUND: Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic with psychoactive effects mediated by serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) activation. It produces an acute psychedelic altered state of consciousness with a unique phenomenology that can be temporally characterized by three intensity phases: onset of psychoactive effect, a peak plateau and return to normal con...
## Aim Investigate accounts from breath-holding freedivers about high efficiency in coping with adversity and pain, immediately quitting addictions, attaining harmonious meaningful life, becoming perspicacious and compassionate, getting spontaneous religious experience. ## Findings Full Mystical Experience is confirmed to happen in freediving, i.e. it is the...
Psilocybin is the active component of magic mushrooms and is well known for its psychoactive properties. Different questionnaires have been developed to systematically quantify altered states of consciousness induced by psychoactive drugs. The aim of this study was to obtain the dose-response relationships of the subjective experiences induced by psilocybin ...
RationaleIs it possible to have a psychedelic experience from a placebo alone? Most psychedelic studies find few effects in the placebo control group, yet these effects may have been obscured by the study design, setting, or analysis decisions.ObjectiveWe examined individual variation in placebo effects in a naturalistic environment resembling a typical psyc...
