Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which is characterised by cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioural changes. Patients suffering from dementia often experience emotional distress, sadness and depression which also impacts the wellbeing of their caregivers. Recent research has explored the potential of psychedelics, such as psilocybin...
The study hypothesis is that the antidepressant effect of psilocybin is mediated by a normalization of the functioning of the positive valence system. Depressive states, especially moderate to severe depressions that associate a certain level of anhedonia, produce an overvaluation of the cost of efforts and an infra-evaluation of the possible rewards derived...
Objective: Hallucinogen-persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is a rare condition characterized by the re-experiencing of one or more perceptual symptoms that an individual experienced while intoxicated with a hallucinogenic substance when the individual is sober. While there are several case reports of HPPD in adult patients, there is a scarcity of document...
Psychedelics, derived from the Greek words "psyche" (soul) and "deloun" (revealing), are substances historically and currently considered "soul-revealing". Also termed hallucinogens due to their impact on sensory perception, they are further categorized into hallucinogens, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and mescaline; entactogens or em...
Treatment resistant depression (TRD) is frequently encountered in clinical practice. The lack of response of the condition to conventional medications and augmentation strategies has spawned the search for novel treatment approaches. Psychedelic medications used in conjunction with intensive psychotherapy, so-called psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), ...
Sleep paralysis (SP), an REM parasomnia, can be characterized as one of the symptoms of narcolepsy. The SP phenomenon involves regaining meta-consciousness by the dreamer during REM, when the physiological atonia of skeletal muscles is accompanied by visual and auditory hallucinations that are perceived as vivid and distressing nightmares. Sensory impression...
Perception of visual contrast depends on the surrounding spatial context. Typically, the salience of a central target is reduced by a high contrast surrounding stimulus, an effect known as surround suppression. Although this phenomenon is well-studied, the role of specific neurotransmitter systems during surround suppression in human vision remains unclear. ...
The phenomenology of psychedelic experiences has been a long-standing point of interest to researchers. However, internal experience has been relatively relegated, with much work done on the clinical outcomes of psychedelic therapies. Our reflexive thematic analysis revealed that structurally, people on fora write about their experiences sequentially, consid...
Psychoactive substances are compounds that can influence perception, consciousness, cognition, and emotions. The psychoactive substances caffeine, nicotine, cannabis, and psilocybin all originate from natural sources and can be used without complex processing or synthesis. Their natural availability has contributed to a long-standing history of human use and...
IntroductionNatural hallucinogens derived from fungi and animals have been used for centuries in shamanic, ritualistic, and medicinal practices across diverse cultures. These compounds exhibit a widerange of structures and mechanisms of action, affecting various neurotransmitter systems pathways. Fungal hallucinogens, primarily indole alkaloids like psilocyb...
The prospective pilot study will address the critical need for more precise characterizations of the acute visual effects of the drug psilocybin by measuring the impact of acute psilocybin intoxication on a perceptual task known as visual surround suppression, compared to an active placebo control. The proposed pilot study will address the critical need for ...
Millions worldwide suffer from chronic pain, a complex condition often accompanied by depression and anxiety, highlighting the urgent need for innovative treatments. Classic psychedelics, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), primarily act on serotonin 5-HT2A receptors and have emerged as potential modulato...
Introduction The aesthetic qualities of psychedelic experiences have long been documented, but their specific contribution to therapeutic outcomes remains understudied. Aesthetic experiences may facilitate emotional breakthroughs and cognitive shifts, potentially playing a crucial role in the lasting psychological benefits observed following psychedelic use....
Psychedelic compounds significantly reshape conscious perception, yet the implications of these alterations for complex visual-guided behaviors remain poorly understood. We investigated how psilocybin modulates visual salience processing during natural scene perception. Twenty-three participants completed eye-tracking tasks under self-blinded low and high do...
This thesis explores the psychosocial mechanisms underlying therapeutic responses to psychedelic interventions, advancing an enactive biopsychosocial perspective that foregrounds dynamic and reciprocal causal relationships between biological, psychological, and social processes. While clinical studies increasingly demonstrate the efficacy of serotonergic psy...
BackgroundPsychedelics, particularly psilocin, are increasingly being studied for their mind-altering effects and potential therapeutic applications in psychiatry. Visual hallucinations, especially the illusion of motion in static images, are a hallmark of their action. Despite growing interest, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, as their sy...
Introduction: Considering the increasing evidence supporting psilocybin's efficacy in therapeutic settings, it is essential to deepen our understanding of its subjective meanings and effects to enhance its integration into psychotherapy. Current knowledge is primarily based on psychometric assessments or unstructured personal reports, leaving a gap in the qu...
Psychedelics have shown significant therapeutic benefit for those struggling with their mental health (Luoma et al., 2020). Previous research has suggested that mental health practitioners hold favorable attitudes towards psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) but lack the proper knowledge to counsel clients on the subject (Kucsera et al., 2023). As PAT becomes ...
OBJECTIVE: Psychedelics are able to trigger highly intense and profound alterations in self-consciousness, perception, affective, and cognitive processes. Indeed, recent studies show that ketamine and psilocybin could be used as fast-acting antidepressants. However, the molecular and neurochemical mechanisms of these psychedelics and their actions at the lev...
Obesity is a multifactorial disorder involving a behavioural aetiology in subsets of patients that traditional therapeutic approaches have failed to address. Drawing parallels with addiction, the rewarding aspects of a chronic energy-dense diet can compromise dopaminergic reward circuits, eventually causing individuals to become habitually responsive to food...
