OPEN Foundation

Floris Wolswijk

Modulation of Social Cognition via Hallucinogens and "Entactogens".

December 3, 2019 / Ayahuasca, LSD, MDMA, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / ,

Abstract

Social cognition is a fundamental ability in human everyday lives. Deficits in social functioning also represent a core aspect of many psychiatric disorders. Yet, despite its significance, deficits in social cognition skills are insufficiently targeted by current treatments. Hallucinogens and entactogens have been shown to have the potential to modulate social processing. This article reviews the literature on the influence of hallucinogens and entactogens on social processing in controlled experimental studies in humans and elucidates the underlying neurobiological and neuropharmacological mechanisms. Furthermore, it identifies current knowledge gaps and derives implications for hallucinogen-assisted treatment approaches as well as the development of novel medication for trans-diagnostic impairments in social cognition.

Preller, K. H., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2019). Modulation of Social Cognition via Hallucinogens and “Entactogens”. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10., https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00881
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Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory

July 11, 2019 / Ayahuasca, Cacti / Mescaline, DMT, Iboga / Ibogaine, Ketamine, LSD, MDMA, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Mystical experiences, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Salvia / Salvinorin A / By

Abstract

Background: Psychedelic therapy is gaining recognition and the nature of the psychedelic experience itself has been found to mediate subsequent long-term psychological changes. Much emphasis has been placed on the occurrence of mystical-type experiences in determining long-term responses to psychedelics yet here we demonstrate the importance of another component, namely: emotional breakthrough.
Methods: Three hundred and seventy-nine participants completed online surveys before and after a planned psychedelic experience. Items pertaining to emotional breakthrough were completed one day after the psychedelic experience, as were items comprising the already validated Mystical Experience Questionnaire and the Challenging Experience Questionnaire. Emotional breakthrough, Mystical Experience Questionnaire and Challenging Experience Questionnaire scores were used to predict changes in well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale) in a subsample of 75 participants with low well-being baseline scores (⩽45).
Results: Factor analyses revealed six emotional breakthrough items with high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.932) and supported our prior hypothesis that emotional breakthrough is a distinct component of the psychedelic experience. Emotional breakthrough scores behaved dose-dependently, and were higher if the psychedelic was taken with therapeutic planning and intent. Emotional breakthrough, Mystical Experience Questionnaire and Challenging Experience Questionnaire scores combined, significantly predicted subsequent changes in well-being (r=0.45, p=0.0005, n=75), with each scale contributing significant predictive value. Emotional breakthrough and Mystical Experience Questionnaire scores predicted increases in well-being and Challenging Experience Questionnaire scores predicted less increases.
Conclusions: Here we validate a six-item ‘Emotional Breakthrough Inventory’. Emotional breakthrough is an important and distinct component of the acute psychedelic experience that appears to be a key mediator of subsequent longer-term psychological changes. Implications for psychedelic therapy are discussed.

Keywords: Psychedelics; catharsis; emotion; therapy.
Roseman, L., Haijen, E., Idialu-Ikato, K., Kaelen, M., Watts, R., & Carhart-Harris, R. (2019). Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: validation of the emotional breakthrough inventory. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 33(9), 1076-1087., https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881119855974
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Collective self-experimentation in patient-led research: How online health communities foster innovation

June 11, 2019 / Cluster headache, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Publications, Sociology / By / ,

Abstract

Researchers across academia, government, and private industry increasingly value patient-led research for its ability to produce quick results from large samples of the population. This study examines the role played by self-experimentation in the production of health data collected in these projects. We ask: How does the collaborative context of online health communities, with their ability to facilitate far-reaching collaborations over time and space, transform the practice and epistemological foundations of engaging in n = 1 experimentation? We draw from a digital ethnography of an online patient-led research movement, in which participants engage in self-experiments to develop a protocol for using psilocybe-containing mushrooms as a treatment for cluster headache, an excruciating neurological disease for which there is little medical research and huge unmet treatment need. We find that the collectivizing features of the internet have collectivized self-experimentation. Group dynamics shape everything in “collective self-experimentation,” from individual choices of intervention, reporting of outcomes, data analysis, determinations of efficacy, to embodiment. This study raises important questions about the role that individuals play in the creation of medical knowledge and the data that informs crowdsourced research.

Kempner, J., & Bailey, J. (2019). Collective self-experimentation in patient-led research: How online health communities foster innovation. Social Science & Medicine, 112366. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112366
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'Never drop without your significant other, cause that way lies ruin': The boundary work of couples who use MDMA together.

June 3, 2019 / MDMA, Other subjects, Papers, Personal development, Phenomenology, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications / By / , ,

Abstract

MDMA has a variety of pro-social effects, such as increased friendliness and heightened empathy, yet there is a distinct lack of research examining how these effects might intertwine with a romantic relationship. This article seeks to compensate for this absence and explore heterosexual couples’ use of MDMA through the lens of the boundaries they construct around these experiences. Three couple interviews, two diary interviews and eight written diaries about couples’ MDMA practices were analysed. Douglas’ (2001) and Stenner’s (2013) work around order, disorder and what lies at the threshold between the two are employed here. This conceptual approach allows us to see what happens at the border of MDMA experiences as crucial to their constitution. Two main themes are identified in the data. First, MDMA use was boundaried from daily life both temporally and corporeally: the drug was tied to particular times in people’s lives as well as the performance of rituals which engaged the material world and reenchanted everyday spaces and selves. Secondly, other people are excluded from MDMA experiences to varying degrees in order to preserve the emotionally intense space for the couple alone. This paper claims that MDMA use forms part of a spectrum of relationship ‘work’ practices; a unique kind of ‘date night’ that revitalises couples’ connection. Hence, MDMA should be recognised as transforming couple as well as individual practices. Finally, it is suggested that harm reduction initiatives could distinguish more ‘messy’ forms of emotional harm and engage with users’ language of ‘specialness’ to limit negative impacts of MDMA use.
Anderson, K., Reavey, P., & Boden, Z. (2019). ‘Never drop without your significant other, cause that way lies ruin’: The boundary work of couples who use MDMA together. International Journal of Drug Policy, 71, 10-18., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.05.004
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Survey of subjective "God encounter experiences": Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT.

April 23, 2019 / Ayahuasca, Consciousness, DMT, LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Mystical experiences, Papers, Personal development, Phenomenology, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Spirituality / By / , , , ,

Abstract

Naturally occurring and psychedelic drug-occasioned experiences interpreted as personal encounters with God are well described but have not been systematically compared. In this study, five groups of individuals participated in an online survey with detailed questions characterizing the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes attributed to their single most memorable God encounter experience (n = 809 Non-Drug, 1184 psilocybin, 1251 lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 435 ayahuasca, and 606 N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)). Analyses of differences in experiences were adjusted statistically for demographic differences between groups. The Non-Drug Group was most likely to choose “God” as the best descriptor of that which was encountered while the psychedelic groups were most likely to choose “Ultimate Reality.” Although there were some other differences between non-drug and the combined psychedelic group, as well as between the four psychedelic groups, the similarities among these groups were most striking. Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing. The encounter experience fulfilled a priori criteria for being a complete mystical experience in approximately half of the participants. More than two-thirds of those who identified as atheist before the experience no longer identified as atheist afterwards. These experiences were rated as among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes in life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning attributed to these experiences. Among the four groups of psychedelic users, the psilocybin and LSD groups were most similar and the ayahuasca group tended to have the highest rates of endorsing positive features and enduring consequences of the experience. Future exploration of predisposing factors and phenomenological and neural correlates of such experiences may provide new insights into religious and spiritual beliefs that have been integral to shaping human culture since time immemorial.
Griffiths, R. R., Hurwitz, E. S., Davis, A. K., Johnson, M. W., & Jesse, R. (2019). Survey of subjective” God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT. PloS one, 14(4), e0214377., https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214377
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Symposium: Opening Up – Shaping the future: therapeutic applications of MDMA

April 16, 2019 / Events / By

This symposium discusses research into the therapeutic use of MDMA, both historically and presently. In the period following its rediscovery in the 1970s, MDMA soon gained a reputation as a powerful adjunct for psychotherapy. In 1985 in the US (and 1988 in the Netherlands), MDMA was scheduled as a controlled substance, effectively stemming all research and most therapeutic use.
Since the mid 2000s, research and clinical interest into the therapeutic potential of MDMA has increased significantly and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy is on track to become a licensed treatment in several years. What do we know about the therapeutic use of this substance? Who may benefit from treatment, and what would such treatment look like? How can MDMA-assisted psychotherapy be integrated into mental health care? These questions, and others, will be addressed by several international experts in the field.
 
Date & time: Tuesday 7 May 2019, 16:00 – 21:00
Location: OBA Oosterdok, Theaterzaal, Oosterdokskade 143, 1011 DL Amsterdam
This event is hosted by the OPEN Foundation, the Amsterdam Psychedelic Research Association (APRA), MAPS Europe, the Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (LUMC), and Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group.

Speakers:

  • Prof. Gemma Blok, PhD, professor of Modern History, Open Universiteit – Legal therapeutic use of MDMA in the 70s and 80s
  • Torsten Passie, MD, PhD, professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School – Observations on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in clinical practice
  • Rick Doblin, PhD, founder and executive director of MAPS – Positioning MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in mainstream health care
  • Tijmen Bostoen, MD, psychiatrist specialised in trauma treatment – Therapeutic applications of MDMA for the treatment of PTSD
  • Prof. Eric Vermetten, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical-Biological and Psychiatric Aspects of Psychotrauma, Universiteit Leiden – Educating and training licensed MDMA therapists
  • Discussion with Rick Doblin and Torsten Passie on the past and future of MDMA

A buffet dinner with sandwiches, fruit, and soft drinks is included in the ticket price.
Tickets: ticketkantoor.nl

Symposium: Psychedelics and science – An interdisciplinary approach

March 13, 2019 / Events / By

At this symposium, experts from a variety of disciplines within medicine, the social sciences and the humanities, come together to discuss the scientific study of psychedelics. This symposium, intended for scientists and scholars, intends to lay the foundation for an interdisciplinary network of academics interested in this topic, and to connect more effectively with international research in this area. It is organized by the KNAW (the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences) and the OPEN Foundation.
Date & time: Monday 25 March 2019, 4pm-9pm
Location: OBA Oosterdok, Theaterzaal, Oosterdokskade 143, 1011 DL Amsterdam
For more information: Website KNAW

Speakers:

  • Gemma Blok, professor of Modern History, Open Universiteit – Legal use of MDMA in the 70s and 80s
  • Joost Breeksema, director of  OPEN Foundation – Psychedelics: an introduction
  • Wim van den Brink, Emeritus Professor of Addiction Care, Amsterdam UMC, AMC, Universiteit van Amsterdam – Psychedelics and psychiatry
  • Michiel van Elk, Assistant Professor in Social Psychology, Universiteit van Amsterdam – Recent (neuro)scientific research into psychedelics
  • Wouter Hanegraaff, Professor in History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, Universiteit van Amsterdam – Psychedelics in Western culture
  • Toine Pieters, professor in History of Pharmacy, Universiteit Utrecht – LSD and the pharmacological machine of promises
  • Eric Vermetten, Professor of Medical-Biological and Psychiatric Aspects of Psychotrauma, Universiteit Leiden – Psychedelics in Psychotraumatology

This meeting is convened by Patricia Pisters, Professor of Media Studies, Universiteit van Amsterdam.
This programme is co-organized by the OPEN Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to stimulating and promoting scientific research into psychedelics since 2007.
Access is free, registration is required.

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) impairs the extinction and reconsolidation of fear memory in rats

December 4, 2018 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Clinical trials have demonstrated that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) paired with psychotherapy is more effective at reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) than psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy, alone or in combination. The processes through which MDMA acts to enhance psychotherapy are not well understood. Given that fear memories contribute to PTSD symptomology, MDMA could augment psychotherapy by targeting fear memories. The current studies investigated the effects of a single administration of MDMA on extinction and reconsolidation of cued and contextual fear memory in adult, male Long-Evans rats. Rats were exposed to contextual or auditory fear conditioning followed by systemic administration of saline or varying doses of MDMA (between 1 and 10 mg/kg) either 30 min before fear extinction training or immediately after brief fear memory retrieval (i.e. during the reconsolidation phase). MDMA administered prior to fear extinction training failed to enhance fear extinction memory, and in fact impaired drug-free cued fear extinction recall without impacting later fear relapse. MDMA administered during the reconsolidation phase, but not outside of the reconsolidation phase, produced a delayed and persistent reduction in conditioned fear. These findings are consistent with a general memory-disrupting effect of MDMA and suggest that MDMA could augment psychotherapy by modifying fear memories during reconsolidation without necessarily enhancing their extinction.

Hake, H. S., Davis, J. K., Wood, R. R., Tanner, M. K., Loetz, E. C., Sanchez, A., … & Greenwood, B. N. (2019). 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) impairs the extinction and reconsolidation of fear memory in rats. Physiology & behavior, 199, 343-350., 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.12.007
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Current perspectives on psychedelic therapy: use of serotonergic hallucinogens in clinical interventions

November 13, 2018 / History, LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Neuroscience, Other subjects, Other substances, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Safety / By / ,

Abstract

Humans have used serotonergic hallucinogens (i.e. psychedelics) for spiritual, ceremonial, and recreational purposes for thousands of years, but their administration as part of a structured therapeutic intervention is still a relatively novel practice within Western medical and psychological frameworks. In the mid-20th century, considerable advances were made in developing therapeutic approaches integrating administration of low (psycholytic) and high (psychedelic) doses of serotonergic hallucinogens for treatment of a variety of conditions, often incorporating psychoanalytic concepts prevalent at that time. This work contributed seminal insights regarding how these substances may be employed with efficacy and safety in targeted therapeutic interventions, including the importance of optimizing set (frame of mind) and setting (therapeutic environment). More recently, clinical and pharmacological research has revisited the effects and therapeutic potential of psychedelics utilizing a variety of approaches. The current article provides an overview of past and present models of psychedelic therapy, and discusses important considerations for future interventions incorporating the use of psychedelics in research and clinical practice.

Garcia-Romeu, A., & Richards, W. A. (2018). Current perspectives on psychedelic therapy: use of serotonergic hallucinogens in clinical interventions. International Review of Psychiatry, 30(4), 291-316., 10.1080/09540261.2018.1486289.
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Neuroimaging of chronic MDMA ("ecstasy") effects: A meta-analysis

November 12, 2018 / MDMA, Neuroscience, Other subjects, Papers, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

In this meta-analysis, we aimed to assess the evidence from neuroimaging studies for chronic alterations in the brains of MDMA users. The databases PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for studies published from inception to August 24, 2018, without any language restriction. Sixteen independent studies comprising 356 MDMA users and 311 controls were included. Of these, five studies investigated frontal and occipital N-acetylaspartate/creatine and myo-inositol/creatine ratios, three studies assessed basal ganglia blood flow and ten studies investigated serotonin transporter (SERT) density in various regions. We found significantly decreased SERT density in eight of 13 investigated regions. Meta-regression indicated a positive association with abstinence, but none with lifetime episodes of use. Therefore, other variables (such as doses taken per occasion) might be more important determinants. Positive associations between time of abstinence and SERT density might indicate that these alterations are reversible to some extent. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between user and control groups in terms of neurochemical ratios in the frontal and occipital lobes and blood flow in the basal ganglia. Overall, MDMA user groups showed heavy use patterns and study quality was poor.

Müller, F., Brändle, R., Liechti, M. E., & Borgwardt, S. (2018). Neuroimaging of chronic MDMA (“ecstasy”) effects: A meta-analysis of the literature. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews., 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.11.004
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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