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Lezing Amsterdam: Psychedelica als medicijn?

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De VSPVU organiseert samen met Stichting OPEN een lezing over het geneeskrachtige potentieel van psychedelica, op maandag 3 februari aan de VU in Amsterdam. Kunnen ibogaïne en andere stoffen helpen om van een zware verslaving of andere problemen af te komen?

Joost Breeksema, voorzitter van Stichting OPEN, opent de lezing met een overzicht van recent en historisch onderzoek naar de psychotherapeutische toepassingen van psychedelica. Daarna gaan Maarten Belgers en Thomas Knuijver, beiden verslavingsarts bij Iriszorg, dieper in op ibogaïne en hun onderzoek hiernaar. Wat is de wetenschappelijke kennis over ibogaïne tot nu toe, waarom willen zij dit middel onderzoeken, en hoe ziet dit onderzoek eruit?

Meld je hier alvast aan op het Facebook event.

Praktische informatie:

Waar: Vrije Universiteit. Van der Boechorststraat 7, Amsterdam.

Wanneer: Maandag 03 februari 2014. Van 16:00 tot 18:00 uur.

Prijs: Leden VSPVU €3,-. Overig: €4,50

Kaartverkoop in de VSPVU-kamer en aan de deur (alleen contact geld). Er zijn 150 plaatsen beschikbaar. We verwachten een grote opkomst dus wacht niet te lang met een kaartje kopen.

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Lecture VU Amsterdam: Psychedelica als medicijn?

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OPEN organizes a lecture about the potential medicinal and therapeutic values of psychedelic substances at the VU University on Monday February 3rd. Can ibogaine or other substances help to get rid of an addiction or psychological disorders?

Joost Breeksema, the president of OPEN, will open this lecture with an overview of recent and historical research into the therapeutic applications of psychedelics. After that, Maarten Belgers and Thomas Knuijver, both physicians specialized in addiction, will talk about ibogaine and their research into this substance. What is the scientific knowledge about ibogaine until now, why do they want to research this substance, and what does this study look like? There are only 150 seats available, so if you want to ensure yourself of a ticket please arrive early. Ticket sales will start at 15:30.

Practical information:

Where: Vrije Universiteit. Van der Boechorststraat 7, Amsterdam.

When: Monday February 3rd 2014. From 16:00 until 18:00.

Price: Members VSPVU: €3 / Others: €4,50

Please note that this lecture will be in Dutch.

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The Effects of Acutely Administered 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine on Spontaneous Brain Function in Healthy Volunteers Measured with Arterial Spin Labelling and Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Resting-State Functional Connectivity

/ MDMA, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychology, Publications / / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Background
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a potent monoamine releaser that produces an acute euphoria in most individuals.

Methods
MDMA was orally administered to 25 physically and mentally healthy individuals in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced-order study. Arterial spin labelling (ASL) and seed-based resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) were used to produce spatial maps displaying changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and RSFC after MDMA. Participants underwent two ASL and two BOLD scans in a 90 minute scanning session and the MDMA and placebo study days were separated by one week.

Results
MDMA produced marked increases in positive mood. Only decreased CBF was observed after MDMA and this was localised to the right medial temporal lobe (MTL), thalamus, inferior visual cortex and the somatosensory cortex. Decreased CBF in the right amygdala and hippocampus correlated with ratings of the intensity of MDMA’s global subjective effects. The RSFC results complemented the CBF results, with decreases in RSFC between midline cortical regions, the medial prefrontal cortex and MTL regions, and increases between the amygdala and hippocampus. There were trend-level correlations between these effects and ratings of intense and positive subjective effects.

Conclusions
The MTLs appear to be specifically implicated in the mechanism of action of MDMA but further work is required to elucidate how the drug’s characteristic subjective effects arise from its modulation of spontaneous brain activity.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., Murphy, K., Leech, R., Erritzoe, D., Wall, M. B., Ferguson, B., … Nutt, D. J. (2014). The Effects of Acutely Administered 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine on Spontaneous Brain Function in Healthy Volunteers Measured with Arterial Spin Labelling and Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Resting-State Functional Connectivity. Biological Psychiatry. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.12.015
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Hallucinogen use predicts reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders under community corrections supervision

/ LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / / , , , ,

Abstract

Hallucinogen-based interventions may benefit substance use populations, but contemporary data informing the impact of hallucinogens on addictive behavior are scarce. Given that many individuals in the criminal justice system engage in problematic patterns of substance use, hallucinogen treatments also may benefit criminal justice populations. However, the relationship between hallucinogen use and criminal recidivism is unknown. In this longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between naturalistic hallucinogen use and recidivism among individuals under community corrections supervision with a history of substance involvement (n=25,622). We found that hallucinogen use predicted a reduced likelihood of supervision failure (e.g. noncompliance with legal requirements including alcohol and other drug use) while controlling for an array of potential confounding factors (odds ratio (OR)=0.60 (0.46, 0.79)). Our results suggest that hallucinogens may promote alcohol and other drug abstinence and prosocial behavior in a population with high rates of recidivism.

Hendricks, P. S., Clark, C. B., Johnson, M. W., Fontaine, K. R. & Cropsey, K. L. (2014). Hallucinogen use predicts reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders under community corrections supervision. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28(1), 62-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881113513851
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Labate & Coutinho – "My Grandfather Served Ayahuasca to Mestre Irineu": Reflections on the Entrance of Indigenous Peoples into the Urban Circuit of Ayahuasca Consumption in Brazil

/ Anthropology & Sociology, Ayahuasca, Biology & Ethnobotany, Papers, Publications / / ,

Ayahuasca-Liane, D., & Peyote-Kaktus, D. (2014). Zeitschrift für Medizinethnologie• Journal of Medical Anthropology. Curare, 37(2014), 3.
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Peyote as Medicin: an Examination of Therapeutic Factors that Contribute to Healing

/ Anthropology & Sociology, Biology & Ethnobotany, Mescaline / Cacti, Papers, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / /

Abstract

The therapeutic value of particular “hallucinogenic” plants is recognized by various cultures throughout the globe, with evidence suggesting that the medical and ritual use of these plants may date back several millennia in some instances. Peyote, a psychoactive cactus, is considered a medicine by many Native Americans, and has been hailed as a cure for alcoholism despite having no “scientifically” accepted medical use. The notion that hallucinogenic compounds may have therapeutic applications, however, is increasingly supported by scientific research. Despite the heavy focus of allopathic medicine on pharmacology, the therapeutic value of peyote must be understood in holistic terms. By uniting Gordon Claridge’s work on the Total Drug Effect with the work of Daniel E. Moerman and Wayne B. Jonas on the Meaning Response, and with Toksoz Karasu’s Agents of Therapeutic Change, a therapeutic model emerges that can explain how the symbolic, ritual, and community components of the peyote ceremony combine with peyote’s distinctive pharmacological properties to produce a unique and efficacious healing experience.

Ayahuasca-Liane, D., & Peyote-Kaktus, D. (2014). Zeitschrift für Medizinethnologie• Journal of Medical Anthropology. Curare, 37(2014), 3.
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IJTS Special Topic Section: Ketamine ● The Transformative Power of Ketamine: Psychedelic States and a Personal History of Transformation

/ Ketamine, Papers, Psychology, Publications / /

Abstract

A discussion of the nature of transformation and its relationship to psychedelic experiences— particularly ketamine experiences—is presented and discussed along with a schema for thinking about types of states that may be encountered and transformations that may occur related to psychedelic use and practice. This is followed by a longitudinal historical approach for portraying and examining personal transformation along with a proposed instrument— The Transformational Codex—for cataloging that history and the elements that compose it.

Wolfson, P. E. (2014). The Transformative Power of Ketamine: Psychedelic States and a Personal History of Transformation. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(2).
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IJTS Special Topic Section: Ketamine ● Ketamine (IM) Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): A Model for Informed Consent

/ Ketamine, Papers, Psychiatry & Medicine, Publications / /

Abstract

Informed consent is important for every medical intervention, and the unique nature of ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) calls for a particularly thoughtful and detailed informed consent document. The following is an informed consent form developed for the author’s use in his own private practice. No representations are made concerning its adequacy or appropriateness for use by other practitioners, or in any other contexts; author, editors, and publisher disclaim liability for any use of or reliance on this document. However, as a document created by a psychiatrist with experience in KAP, this form may serve to illustrate the range of issues that an informed consent document might address.

Wolfson, P. E. (2015). Ketamine (IM) Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): A Model for Informed Consent. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies.
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IJTS Special Topic Section: Ketamine ● Ethnographic Accounts of Ketamine Explorations in Psychedelic Culture

/ Humanities & Art, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / / , ,

Abstract

Off-label use of ketamine as a mind-altering substance did not begin in the laboratory, but in the psychedelic culture that grew out of the 1960s counterculture movement. Whatever the risks and limitations of such experimentation, without them the remarkable therapeutic effects of the drug might well have gone unnoticed, and unresearched. The following personal accounts—both inspiring and cautionary—offer glimpses into the cultural contexts that found ketamine to be much more than a reliable anesthetic.

Ring, K., Metzner, R., & Wolfson, P. E. (2014). Ethnographic Accounts of Ketamine Explorations in Psychedelic Culture. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 33(2).
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IJTS Special Topic Section: Ketamine ● Psychedelic Experiential Pharmacology: Pioneering Clinical Explorations with Salvador Roquet

/ Humanities & Art, LSD, MDMA, Papers, Psychiatry & Medicine, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / /

Abstract

Richard Yensen was a research fellow at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center from 1972 to 1976. He studied psychedelic psychotherapy with Stanislav Grof, M.D. and other senior staff. During this time he treated patients with substance abuse disorders, cancer, neurosis, and other health professionals seeking a training experience. Dr. Yensen did his Ph.D. dissertation on the use of MDA in psychotherapy with neurotic outpatients and conducted his research at the MPRC. Through many years of experience in governmentsanctioned psychedelic research, he has evolved a non-drug shamanistic psychotherapy called Perceptual Affective Therapy. In the 1990’s Richard was co-holder of IND 3250, an investigational new drug permit issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to study LSD and psychotherapy until 2006. He is currently a licensed psychologist in California and director of the Orenda Institute in Vancouver and Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada and president of the Salvador Roquet Psychosynthesis Association. He has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore.

Wolfson, P. E. (2015). Psychedelic Experiential Pharmacology: Pioneering Clinical Explorations with Salvador Roquet. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies.
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Embrace Pleasure: Supporting Sexual Flourishing Through Psychedelic Experience - October 14

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