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Humanities & Art

Amanita muscaria (fly agaric): from a shamanistic hallucinogen to the search for acetylcholine

March 1, 2018 / Humanities & Art, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Publications / By / , ,

Abstract

The mushroom Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) is widely distributed throughout continental Europe and the UK. Its common name suggests that it had been used to kill flies, until superseded by arsenic. The bioactive compounds occurring in the mushroom remained a mystery for long periods of time, but eventually four hallucinogens were isolated from the fungus: muscarine, muscimol, muscazone and ibotenic acid. The shamans of Eastern Siberia used the mushroom as an inebriant and a hallucinogen. In 1912, Henry Dale suggested that muscarine (or a closely related substance) was the transmitter at the parasympathetic nerve endings, where it would produce lacrimation, salivation, sweating, bronchoconstriction and increased intestinal motility. He and Otto Loewi eventually isolated the transmitter and showed that it was not muscarine but acetylcholine. The receptor is now known variously as cholinergic or muscarinic. From this basic knowledge, drugs such as pilocarpine (cholinergic) and ipratropium (anticholinergic) have been shown to be of value in glaucoma and diseases of the lungs, respectively.

Lee, M. R., Dukan, E., & Milne, I. (2018). Amanita muscaria (fly agaric): from a shamanistic hallucinogen to the search for acetylcholine. The journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 48(1), 85-91.,  10.4997/JRCPE.2018.119
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Psychedelics: Where we are now, why we got here, what we must do

February 21, 2018 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers, Psychology, Publications / By / ,

Abstract

The purpose of this commentary is to provide an introduction to this special issue of Neuropharmacology with a historical perspective of psychedelic drug research, their use in psychiatric disorders, research-restricting regulatory controls, and their recent emergence as potential breakthrough therapies for several brain-related disorders. It begins with the discovery of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and its promising development as a treatment for several types of mental illnesses during the 1940s. This was followed by its abuse and stigmatization in the 1960s that ultimately led to the placement of LSD and other psychedelic drugs into the most restrictively regulated drug schedule of the United States Controlled Substances Act (Schedule I) in 1970 and its international counterparts. These regulatory controls severely constrained development of psychedelic substances and their potential for clinical research in psychiatric disorders. Despite the limitations, there was continued research into brain mechanisms of action for psychedelic drugs with potential clinical applications which began during the 1990s and early 2000s. Finding pathways to accelerate clinical research in psychedelic drug development is supported by the growing body of research findings that are documented throughout this special issue of Neuropharmacology. Accumulated research to date suggests psychedelic drug assisted psychotherapy may emerge as a potential breakthrough treatment for several types of mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction that are refractory to current evidenced based therapies. This research equally shows promise in advancing the understanding of the brain, brain related functioning, and the consequential effects of untreated brain related diseases that have been implicated in causing and/or exacerbating numerous physical disease state conditions. The authors conclude that more must be done to effectively address mental illnesses and brain related diseases which have become so pervasive, destructive, and whose treatments are becoming increasingly resistant to current evidenced based therapies.
Belouin, S. J., & Henningfield, J. E. (2018). Psychedelics: Where we are now, why we got here, what we must do. Neuropharmacology. 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.02.018
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Regulation of human research with LSD in the United States (1949-1987)

November 17, 2017 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

Human research with hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has been ongoing in the USA since 1949. During the 1960s, LSD was investigated for a variety of psychiatric indications, including the following: as an aid in treatment of schizophrenia; as a means of creating a “model psychosis”; as a direct antidepressant; and as an adjunct to psychotherapy. Studies with all drugs, including LSD, have always been conducted under federal regulatory controls, including the 1938 Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA; which ensured the safety of drugs) and the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendments to the FDCA (which described appropriate scientific methodology and ensured drug efficacy). This paper details how the 1962 Amendments introduced numerous safety and efficacy requirements that must be in satisfied during clinical drug research-and how human studies conducted with LSD in the 1960s struggled with their fulfillment. Information is provided from Senate hearings, case law, and interviews with key investigators. Examples are also drawn from scientific papers and symposia published during and since that period, with a focus on information from clinical studies conducted with LSD by psychiatrist Albert Kurland at the Spring Grove State Hospital, near Baltimore, MD. While Kurland largely conformed with these new regulations, other investigators often fell short of complying with scientific standards and federal requirements. Thus, the human hallucinogen studies of the 1960s are best understood as providing pilot data on safety and efficacy, as well as testable hypotheses for current hallucinogen studies conducted under modern scientific and regulatory standards.
Bonson, K. R. (2017). Regulation of human research with LSD in the United States (1949-1987). Psychopharmacology, 1-14. 10.1007/s00213-017-4777-4
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LSD experiments by the United States Army

July 1, 2017 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers / By /

Abstract

Extensive LSD testing was conducted by the US Army at Edgewood Arsenal and other locations from 1955 to 1967. A number of different reports have been produced describing the health effects of this testing, including the Veterans Health Initiative Report in 2003. By and large, these reports gloss over and minimize the short and long-term side effects and complications of this testing. However, the reports themselves document frequent, severe complications of the LSD. These side effects were regarded by the Army as having been directly caused by the LSD exposure. In view of the current resurgence of interest in hallucinogens within psychiatry, the sanitized version of the effects of LSD exposure on US soldiers needs to be replaced with a more accurate account.
Ross, C. A. (2017). LSD experiments by the United States Army. History of Psychiatry, 0957154X17717678.
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“Too Hot to Handle”: LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies

May 1, 2017 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

In the early 1950s, medical researchers across the United States began investigating the use of the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a facilitating agent in psychotherapy. Despite great promise, crisis struck this young field when, in the early 1960s, the federal government began tightening regulations on LSD—this being a result of public and political anxieties about increasing recreational use of the drug, as well as changing clinical trial standards. Scholars maintain that psychedelic researchers unilaterally responded to the crisis by abandoning the field, fearing that their continued association with the drug would wreak havoc on their careers and personal lives. However, a close examination of the proceedings at the Spring Grove State Hospital, located in Catonsville, Maryland, tells a different story. Drawing on archival material from Purdue’s Psychoactive Substances Research Collection, this thesis explores the Spring Grove research team’s effort to midwife a more favorable view of this defamed drug. In doing so, this analysis provides a new perspective on psychedelic researchers’ response to the LSD crisis.
Haslem, L. N. (2017). ” Too Hot to Handle”: LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies.
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"Too Hot to Handle": LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies

May 1, 2017 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

In the early 1950s, medical researchers across the United States began investigating the use of the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a facilitating agent in psychotherapy. Despite great promise, crisis struck this young field when, in the early 1960s, the federal government began tightening regulations on LSD—this being a result of public and political anxieties about increasing recreational use of the drug, as well as changing clinical trial standards. Scholars maintain that psychedelic researchers unilaterally responded to the crisis by abandoning the field, fearing that their continued association with the drug would wreak havoc on their careers and personal lives. However, a close examination of the proceedings at the Spring Grove State Hospital, located in Catonsville, Maryland, tells a different story. Drawing on archival material from Purdue’s Psychoactive Substances Research Collection, this thesis explores the Spring Grove research team’s effort to midwife a more favorable view of this defamed drug. In doing so, this analysis provides a new perspective on psychedelic researchers’ response to the LSD crisis.
Haslem, L. N. (2017). ” Too Hot to Handle”: LSD, Medical Activism, and the Spring Grove Studies.
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Science, spirituality, and ayahuasca: The problem of consciousness and spiritual ontologies in the academy

September 10, 2024 / Ayahuasca, Humanities & Art, Papers, Publications, Scienitific Discipline / By /

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew from Amazonas, popularized in the last decades in part through transnational religious networks, but also due to interest in exploring spirituality through altered states of consciousness among academic schools and scientific researchers. In this article, the author analyzes the relation between science and religion proposing that the “demarcation problem” between the two arises from the relations among consciousness, intentionality, and spirituality. The analysis starts at the beginning of modern science, continues through the nineteenth century, and then examines the appearance of new schools in psychology and anthropology in the countercultural milieu of the 1960s. The author analyzes the case of ayahuasca against this historical background, first, in the general context of ayahuasca studies in the academic field. Second, he briefly describes three cases from Spain. Finally, he discusses the permeability of science to “spiritual ontologies” from an interdisciplinary perspective, using insights from social and cognitive sciences.

Apud, I. (2017). Science, spirituality, and ayahuasca: The problem of consciousness and spiritual ontologies in the academy. Zygon®, 52(1), 100-123. 10.1111/zygo.12315
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New Studies on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms: History, Diversity, and Applications in Psychiatry

November 1, 2016 / Humanities & Art, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

This paper is a review of the new studies or new explanations of the hallucinogenic mushrooms, regarding their diversity, history, traditions, and problems in their recreational use, new taxonomic studies, and their modern applications in medicine, all of them since the 1970s to the present.

Guzmán, G. (2015). New Studies on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms: History, Diversity, and Applications in Psychiatry. International journal of medicinal mushrooms, 17(11). 10.1615/IntJMedMushrooms.v17.i11.10
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Lysergic Acid Diethylamide and mystical experiences

October 1, 2016 / Humanities & Art, LSD, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

The term psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) was coined by British psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in 1956 to refer to a unique class of mind-altering chemicals with distinctive effects that set them apart from other drugs with hallucinogenic properties. Some psychedelics come from natural sources that have been traditionally featured in religious, ritual, and healing practices of indigenous cultures of the Americas (Anderson, 1980; Hofmann, 1983; Salak, 2007; Smith, 2000); such drugs include mescaline (from peyote and San Pedro cacti), psilocybin and psilocin (from Psilocybe mushrooms), and dimethyltryptamine or DMT (from the leaves of Psychotria viridis). Many other psychedelics have partly or wholly synthetic origins. The most potent psychedelic agent yet discovered is the semisynthetic ergot derivative lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which has distinctive effects at the microscopic dose of 25 μg; a typical psychedelic dose ranges from 50 to 200 μg. There are also a number of purely synthetic psychedelics, many of which are chemically related to both amphetamine and mescaline (Shulgin & Shulgin, 1991). One of the most potent of these is dimethoxymethylamphetamine, or DOM, which was known as “STP” when introduced to the hippie subculture of San Francisco in the late 1960s. More familiar today is methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), which has only mild or partial psychedelic effects as opposed to full psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline; MDMA is thus sometimes described as an “entactogen,” meaning “touch within” (Bravo, 2001; Smith, 2000), as opposed to full psychedelics or “entheogens,” meaning “God within.” A newer, extremely potent synthetic psychedelic, 2-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl] ethanamine (2CI-NBOMe, or “N-Bomb”), was invented in 2003 and is useful as a laboratory tool to map brain serotonin receptors (Ettrup et al., 2010). The threshold dose is several hundred micrograms, making this psychedelic second in potency only to LSD. Media reports indicate that 2CI-NBOMe has been sold to drug users on pieces of blotter paper, like LSD, and often misrepresented as the latter drug. Unfortunately 2CI-NBOMe has a much lower therapeutic index than LSD, hence several highly publicized deaths appear to have been caused by this drug (e.g., Hastings, 2013; Poklis et al., 2014) and, in some cases, possibly misattributed to LSD. Some of the deaths resulted from drug-induced seizures, whereas in other cases the individuals killed themselves accidentally or purposefully in a drug-induced psychotic or delirious state. By contrast, fatal reactions are extremely uncommon with the “classic” psychedelics LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.

Lyvers, M. (2016). Lysergic Acid Diethylamide and mystical experiences. 10.1016/B978-0-12-800212-4.00078-9
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The Entheogen Reformation

October 1, 2016 / Ayahuasca, Humanities & Art, LSD, Mescaline / Cacti, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychology, Publications / By /

Abstract

In addition to promising leads for treating PTSD, addictions, depression, and death anxiety, 21st Century research at medical schools finds that with careful screening, insightful attention to the variables of set, setting, and dosage, psychedelic drug administration often facilitates significant spiritual experiences, meaningfulness, altruism, well-being, and similar prospiritual effects. This article calls for theologians, professors of religious studies, philosophy, sociology, and psychology to update their courses. It challenges leaders of religious organizations, ‘‘How can your institution incorporate these practices and benefit from them?’’

Roberts, T. B. (2016). THE ENTHEOGEN REFORMATION. Association for Transpersonal Psychology, 26.

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