Though there was initial interest in the use of psychedelic drugs for psychiatric treatment, bad outcomes and subsequent passage of the Substance Act of 1970, which placed psychedelic drugs in the Schedule I category, significantly limited potential progress. More recently, however, there has been renewal in interest and promise of psychedelic research. The ...
One among four people in the world are affected by mental or neurological illness at some point of their lives. An estimated number of 450 million people suffers from neurological disorders of one or the other type making mental disorders as the leading cause for disability across the globe. Under psychosis and depression maintenance therapy drug acting on D...
Background and aims Given the enormous global burden of depressive illness, there is an urgent need to develop novel and more effective treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD). Recent findings have suggested that psychedelic drugs may have a role in the treatment of depressive symptoms, and a number of groups are in the process of developing protocols...
Parkinson's disease is often characterised by movement symptoms such as rigidity and bradykinesia, however, there are a number of non-motor symptoms that can have a significant impact on quality of life. One of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease is visual hallucinations (where someone sees things that don't exist outside their mind).. ...
In light of new historical evidence regarding ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson’s correspondence with art historian Erwin Panofsky, this article provides an in-depth analysis of the presence of entheogenic mushroom images in Christian art within the context of the controversy between Wasson and philologist John Marco Allegro over the identification of a Garde...
This introduction to the special issue reviews research that supports the hypothesis that psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, were central features in the development of religion. The greater response of the human serotonergic system to psychedelics than is the case for chimpanzees’ serotonergic receptors indicates that these substances were environmental...
OBJECTIVE: Psilocybin is a serotonin receptor agonist with a therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant depression and other psychiatric illnesses. We investigated whether the administration of psilocybin had an antidepressant-like effect in a rat model of depression. METHODS: Using the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat model of depression, we assessed th...
The West African iboga plant has been used for centuries by the Bwiti and Mbiri tribes to induce hallucinations during religious ceremonies. Ibogaine, the principal alkaloid responsible for iboga's psychedelic properties, was isolated and sold as an antidepressant in France for decades before its adverse effects precipitated its removal from the market. An i...
Clinical research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is rapidly advancing in the USA, with two drugs, psilocybin and MDMA, progressing through a structure of FDA-approved trials on a trajectory toward Drug Enforcement Agency rescheduling for therapeutic use. Researcher's and clinician's personal use of psychedelics was cited as a potential confound in psy...
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT)2A receptor agonists have recently emerged as promising new treatment options for a variety of disorders. The recent success of these agonists, also known as psychedelics, like psilocybin for the treatment of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and addiction, has ushered in a renaissance in the way t...
Background and objectives: Considering the increasing prevalence of depression, many studies are launched to investigate new antidepressant treatments. The present research has shown how psilocybin as an active compound of Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer extract (PCE) can change the parameters related to depression and anxiety in animal models. Both seroto...
Because of the ethical and regulatory hurdles associated with human studies, much of what is known about the psychopharmacology of hallucinogens has been derived from animal models. However, developing reliable animal models has proven to be a challenging task due to the complexity and variability of hallucinogen effects in humans. This chapter focuses on th...
Psychedelics (serotonergic hallucinogens) are powerful psychoactive substances that alter perception and mood and affect numerous cognitive processes. They are generally considered physiologically safe and do not lead to dependence or addiction. Their origin predates written history, and they were employed by early cultures in many sociocultural and ritual c...
After decades of sociopolitical obstacles, the field of psychiatry is experiencing a revived interest in the use of hallucinogenic agents to treat brain disorders. Along with the use of ketamine for depression, recent pilot studies have highlighted the efficacy of classic serotonergic hallucinogens, such as lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin, in treat...
The involvement of the serotonin system in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia has been elucidated by experiments with hallucinogens. Application of a hallucinogen to humans leads to changes in perception, cognition, emotions, and induction of psychotic-like symptoms that resemble symptoms of schizophrenia. In rodent studies, their acute administration affe...
This presentation will discuss Stan Grof’s impact on the resurgent field of psychedelic research, particularly in regard to the development of the psilocybin treatment of advanced-cancer anxiety studies that were conducted in the early 2000s. After decades of repression, we are on the threshold of demonstrating that the field Stan and his colleagues courageo...
Since 1990, FDA has been willing to approve research with psychedelic drugs. Currently Phase II studies have been conducted or are underway for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), LSD, psilocybin or MDMA for end-of-life anxiety, MDMA for autistic adults with social anxiety, psilocybin for addiction, psilocybin as an adjunct ...
Pharmacological models of psychosis bring a unique tool for studying brain disconnection in humans as well as in animals. Even though several electrophysiological biomarkers have been already described in schizophrenia, little is known about EEG biomarkers in pharmacological models of psychosis and about the translational validity of these data. Studies on E...
Recent clinical trials suggest that 3 single biological treatments have effects that persist. Based on research showing that the muscles involved in facial expressions can feed back to influence mood, a single trial diminishing glabella frown lines with botulinum toxin demonstrated a significant antidepressant effect for 16 weeks. Based primarily on research...
