OPEN Foundation

Menu

Author name: OPEN Foundation

Psilocybin – Summary of knowledge and new perspectives

/ Anxiety Disorders / PTSD, Depressive Disorders, Headache Pain and Neurological Disorders, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Neuroscience, Papers, Pharmacology & Chemistry, Psychology, Psychotic Disorders, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / / , ,

Abstract

Psilocybin, a psychoactive alkaloid contained in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is nowadays given a lot of attention in the scientific community as a research tool for modeling psychosis as well as due to its potential therapeutic effects. However, it is also a very popular and frequently abused natural hallucinogen. This review summarizes all the past and recent knowledge on psilocybin. It briefly deals with its history, discusses the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and compares its action in humans and animals. It attempts to describe the mechanism of psychedelic effects and objectify its action using modern imaging and psychometric methods. Finally, it describes its therapeutic and abuse potential.

Tylš, F., Páleníček, T., & Horáček, J. (2014). Psilocybin – Summary of knowledge and new perspectives. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 24, 342-365. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.12.006

Link to full text

Psilocybin – Summary of knowledge and new perspectives Read More »

The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca

/ Ayahuasca /

This book presents a series of perspectives on the therapeutic potential of the ritual and clinical use of the Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca in the treatment and management of various diseases and ailments, especially its role in psychological wellbeing and substance dependence. Biomedical and anthropological data on the use of ayahuasca for treating depression, PTSD, and substance dependence in different settings, such as indigenous contexts, neo-shamanic rituals, contemporary therapeutic circles, and in ayahuasca religions, in both South and North America, are presented and critiqued. Though multiple anecdotal reports on the therapeutic use of ayahuasca exist, there has been no systematic and dense reflection on the topic thus far. The book brings the therapeutic use of ayahuasca to a new level of public examination and academic debate. The texts in this volume stimulate discussion on methodological, ethical, and political aspects of research and will enhance the development of this emergent field of studies.

The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca, by Beatriz Caiuby Labate & Clancy Cavnar (Editors), Springer, 226 pages.

Buy this book on bookdepository.com and support the OPEN Foundation

The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca Read More »

Ibogaine: a review

/ Anthropology & Sociology, Biology & Ethnobotany, Iboga / Ibogaine, Papers, Pharmacology & Chemistry, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / /

Publisher Summary

The chapter discusses ibogaine, which is a naturally occurring plant alkaloid with a history of use as a medicinal and ceremonial agent in West Central Africa and has been alleged to be effective in the treatment of drug abuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has given significant support to animal research, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Phase I studies in humans. The chapter discusses the first International Conference on Ibogaine. A major focus of the Conference was the possible mechanism(s) of action of ibogaine. Another important focus of the Conference was to discuss human experience with ibogaine and preclinical and clinical evidence of efficacy and safety. The Conference also featured presentations related to the sociological and anthropological aspects of the sacramental context of the use of iboga in Africa and the distinctive ibogaine subculture of the U.S and Europe. Ibogaine is the most abundant alkaloid in the root bark of the Apocynaceous shrub Tabernanthe iboga, which grows in West Central Africa. The chapter presents a timeline that outlines the historical events relating to the development of ibogaine as a treatment for drug dependence. Ibogaine and serotonin both contain an indole ring in their structure, and ibogaine has been shown to bind to the serotonin transporter and to increase serotonin levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Stereotypy is a methodologic issue that might explain some of the disparate results regarding ibogaine’s interaction with the locomotor response to cocaine.

Alper, K. R. (2001). Ibogaine: a review. The alkaloids: Chemistry and Biology, 56, 1-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0099-9598(01)56005-8
Link to full text

Ibogaine: a review Read More »

Help pay for MDMA PTSD research

/ Anxiety Disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Publications /

Recently, MAPS officially launched an Indiegogo campaign to help complete their crucial study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). OPEN supports MAPS in their efforts to raise both funds and awareness. Money is needed to progress vital research on these substances, while increasing awareness on the human and economic costs of PTSD can show that viable alternatives exist that can transform the lives of PTSD-sufferers.

The first published studies have shown that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be an effective treatment for people who did not respond to conventional therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder. MAPS’ studies are supported by the US government; their ongoing study in military veterans, firefighters, and police officers is halfway complete, and early results are promising. For some recent articles on MDMA-assisted PTSD-treatment, see here, here and here.

Donations will help pay the costs of conducting our ongoing clinical trial, a critical part of our international research program to develop MDMA-assisted psychotherapy into a prescription treatment for PTSD. Visit the Indiegogo page here,

A video-interview with one of the first subjects can be watched here:

Help pay for MDMA PTSD research Read More »

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): Prevalence, user characteristics and abuse liability in a large global sample

/ DMT, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / / , ,

Abstract

This paper presents original research on prevalence, user characteristics and effect profile of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a potent hallucinogenic which acts primarily through the serotonergic system. Data were obtained from the Global Drug Survey (an anonymous online survey of people, many of whom have used drugs) conducted between November and December 2012 with 22,289 responses. Lifetime prevalence of DMT use was 8.9% (n=1980) and past year prevalence use was 5.0% (n=1123). We explored the effect profile of DMT in 472 participants who identified DMT as the last new drug they had tried for the first time and compared it with ratings provided by other respondents on psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD and ketamine. DMT was most often smoked and offered a strong, intense, short-lived psychedelic high with relatively few negative effects or “come down”. It had a larger proportion of new users compared with the other substances (24%), suggesting its popularity may increase. Overall, DMT seems to have a very desirable effect profile indicating a high abuse liability that maybe offset by a low urge to use more.

Winstock, A. R., Kaar, S., & Borschmann, R. (2013). Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): Prevalence, user characteristics and abuse liability in a large global sample. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28(1), 49.54. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881113513852

Link to full text

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT): Prevalence, user characteristics and abuse liability in a large global sample Read More »

Reviewing the ketamine model for schizophrenia

/ Ketamine, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychology, Psychotic Disorders, Publications / / ,

Abstract

The observation that antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), such as phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine, transiently induce symptoms of acute schizophrenia had led to a paradigm shift from dopaminergic to glutamatergic dysfunction in pharmacological models of schizophrenia. The glutamate hypothesis can explain negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia better than the dopamine hypothesis, and has the potential to explain dopamine dysfunction itself. The pharmacological and psychomimetic effects of ketamine, which is safer for human subjects than phencyclidine, are herein reviewed. Ketamine binds to a variety of receptors, but principally acts at the NMDAR, and convergent genetic and molecular evidence point to NMDAR hypofunction in schizophrenia. Furthermore, NMDAR hypofunction can explain connectional and oscillatory abnormalities in schizophrenia in terms of both weakened excitation of inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acidergic (GABAergic) interneurons that synchronize cortical networks and disinhibition of principal cells. Individuals with prenatal NMDAR aberrations might experience the onset of schizophrenia towards the completion of synaptic pruning in adolescence, when network connectivity drops below a critical value. We conclude that ketamine challenge is useful for studying the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms, dopaminergic and GABAergic dysfunction, age of onset, functional dysconnectivity,and abnormal cortical oscillations observed in acute schizophrenia.

Frohlich, J., & van Horn, J. D. (2014). Reviewing the ketamine model for schizophrenia. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28(4), 287-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881113512909
Link to full text

Reviewing the ketamine model for schizophrenia Read More »

Ketamine as the prototype glutamatergic antidepressant: pharmacodynamic actions, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy

/ Depressive Disorders, Ketamine, Papers, Psychology, Publications / / , , , ,

Abstract

The burden of depressive disorders and the frequent inadequacy of their current pharmacological treatments are well established. The anaesthetic and hallucinogenic drug ketamine has provoked much interest over the past decade or so as an extremely rapidly acting antidepressant that does not modify ‘classical’ monoaminergic receptors. Current evidence has shown several ways through which it might exert therapeutic antidepressant actions: blockade of glutamatergic NMDA receptors and relative upregulation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) subtypes may alter cortical connectivity patterns; through intracellular changes in protein expression, including the proteins mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF); and alteration of intracellular signalling cascades. The clinical evidence demonstrates rapid improvements in mood and suicidal thinking in most participants, although study numbers have generally been small and many trials are unblinded and methodologically weak. There is a small body of work to suggest ketamine might also augment electroconvulsive therapy and potentially have a role as a surgical anaesthetic in depressed patients. A major problem is that the effects of ketamine appear temporary, disappearing after days to weeks (although longer benefits have been sustained in some), and attempts to circumvent this through pharmacological augmentation have been disappointing thus far. These exciting data are providing new insights into neurobiological models of depression, and potentially opening up a new class of antidepressants, but there are significant practical and ethical issues about any future mainstream clinical role it might have.

Caddy, C., Giaroli, G., White, T. P., Sukhwinder, S. S. & Tracy, D. K. (2014). Ketamine as the prototype glutamatergic antidepressant: pharmacodynamic actions, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, 4(2), 75-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2045125313507739
Link to full text

Ketamine as the prototype glutamatergic antidepressant: pharmacodynamic actions, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy Read More »

Serotonergic hyperactivity as a potential factor in developmental, acquired and drug-induced synesthesia

/ LSD, Mescaline / Cacti, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychology, Publications / /

Abstract

Though synesthesia research has seen a huge growth in recent decades, and tremendous progress has been made in terms of understanding the mechanism and cause of synesthesia, we are still left mostly in the dark when it comes to the mechanistic commonalities (if any) among developmental, acquired and drug-induced synesthesia. We know that many forms of synesthesia involve aberrant structural or functional brain connectivity. Proposed mechanisms include direct projection and disinhibited feedback mechanisms, in which information from two otherwise structurally or functionally separate brain regions mix. We also know that synesthesia sometimes runs in families. However, it is unclear what causes its onset. Studies of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, LSD and mescaline, reveal that exposure to these drugs can induce synesthesia. One neurotransmitter suspected to be central to the perceptual changes is serotonin. Excessive serotonin in the brain may cause many of the characteristics of psychedelic intoxication. Excessive serotonin levels may also play a role in synesthesia acquired after brain injury. In brain injury sudden cell death floods local brain regions with serotonin and glutamate. This neurotransmitter flooding could perhaps result in unusual feature binding. Finally, developmental synesthesia that occurs in individuals with autism may be a result of alterations in the serotonergic system, leading to a blockage of regular gating mechanisms. I conclude on these grounds that one commonality among at least some cases of acquired, developmental and drug-induced synesthesia may be the presence of excessive levels of serotonin, which increases the excitability and connectedness of sensory brain regions.

Brogaard, B. (2013). Serotonergic hyperactivity as a potential factor in developmental, acquired and drug-induced synesthesia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 1-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00657
Link to full text

Serotonergic hyperactivity as a potential factor in developmental, acquired and drug-induced synesthesia Read More »

Ayahuasca and cancer treatment

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

Abstract

Objectives
Comprehensively review the evidence regarding the use of ayahuasca, an Amerindian medicine traditionally used to treat many different illnesses and diseases, to treat some types of cancer.

Methods
An in-depth review of the literature was conducted using PubMed, books, institutional magazines, conferences and online texts in nonprofessional sources regarding the biomedical knowledge about ayahuasca in general with a specific focus in its possible relations to the treatment of cancer.

Results
At least nine case reports regarding the use of ayahuasca in the treatment of prostate, brain, ovarian, uterine, stomach, breast, and colon cancers were found. Several of these were considered improvements, one case was considered worse, and one case was rated as difficult to evaluate. A theoretical model is presented which explains these effects at the cellular, molecular, and psychosocial levels. Particular attention is given to ayahuasca’s pharmacological effects through the activity of N,N-dimethyltryptamine at intracellular sigma-1 receptors. The effects of other components of ayahuasca, such as harmine, tetrahydroharmine, and harmaline, are also considered.

Conclusion
The proposed model, based on the molecular and cellular biology of ayahuasca’s known active components and the available clinical reports, suggests that these accounts may have consistent biological underpinnings. Further study of ayahuasca’s possible antitumor effects is important because cancer patients continue to seek out this traditional medicine. Consequently, based on the social and anthropological observations of the use of this brew, suggestions are provided for further research into the safety and efficacy of ayahuasca as a possible medicinal aid in the treatment of cancer.

Schenberg, E. E. (2013). Ayahuasca and cancer treatment. SAGE Open Medicine, 1, 1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2050312113508389
Link to full text

Ayahuasca and cancer treatment Read More »

The induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents: a systematic review

/ Ayahuasca, DMT, Iboga / Ibogaine, Ketamine, LSD, MDMA, Mescaline / Cacti, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Salvia / Salvinorin A / / ,

Abstract

Despite the general consensus that synaesthesia emerges at an early developmental stage and is only rarely acquired during adulthood, the transient induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents has been frequently reported in research on different psychoactive substances. Nevertheless, these effects remain poorly understood and have not been systematically incorporated. Here we review the known published studies in which chemical agents were observed to elicit synaesthesia. Across studies there is consistent evidence that serotonin agonists elicit transient experiences of synaesthesia. Despite convergent results across studies, studies investigating the induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents have numerous methodological limitations and little experimental research has been conducted. Cumulatively, these studies implicate the serotonergic system in synaesthesia and have implications for the neurochemical mechanisms underlying this phenomenon but methodological limitations in this research area preclude making firm conclusions regarding whether chemical agents can induce genuine synaesthesia.

Luke, D. P., & Terhune, D. B. (2013). The induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents: a systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00753
Link to full text

The induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents: a systematic review Read More »

Peer Perspectives: How Psychedelics Induce Neuroplasticity - February 26

REGISTER NOW