Acute Effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Healthy Subjects Yasmin Schmid, Florian Enzler, Peter Gasser, Eric Grouzmann, Katrin H. Preller, Franz X. Vollenweider, Rudolf Brenneisen, Felix Müller, Stefan Borgwardt, and Matthias E. Liechti Biological Psychiatry, 2014, Vol. 78, 8, 544-553 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.11.015 ABSTRACT BACKGROUND : After no research in humans for .40 years, there is renewed interest in using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in clinical psychiatric research and practice. There are no modern studies on the subjective and autonomic effects of LSD, and its endocrine effects are unknown. In animals, LSD disrupts prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response, and patients with schizophrenia exhibit similar [...]
Lire la suitePsilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences : immediate and persisting dose-related effects Roland R. Griffiths, Matthew W. Johnson, William A. Richards, Brian D. Richards, Una McCann, Robert Jesse Psychopharmacology, 2011 DOI 10.1007/s00213-011-2358-5 Abstract Rationale : This dose-effect study extends previous observations showing that psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior. Objectives : This double-blind study evaluated psilocybin (0, 5, 10, 20, 30 mg/70 kg, p.o.) administered under supportive conditions. Methods : Participants were 18 adults (17 hallucinogennaïve). Five 8-h sessions were conducted individually for each participant at 1-month intervals. Participants were randomized to receive the four active doses in either ascending or [...]
Lire la suiteThe administration of psilocybin to healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-functional magnetic resonnance imaging environment : a preliminary investigation of tolerability Robin L. Carhart-Harris et al., Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2010, 1-6 DOI: 10.1177/0269881110367445 Abstract This study sought to assess the tolerability of intravenously administered psilocybin in healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-magnetic resonance imaging environment as a preliminary stage to a controlled investigation using functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore the effects of psilocybin on cerebral blood flow and activity. The present pilot study demonstrated that up to 2 mg of psilocybin delivered as a slow intravenous injection produces short-lived but typical drug effects that [...]
Lire la suiteImplications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin R. L. Carhart-Harris, R. Leech, T. M. Williams, D. Erritzoe, N. Abbasi, T. Bargiotas, P. Hobden, D. J. Sharp, J. Evans, A. Feilding, R. G. Wise and D. J. Nutt British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012, 200, 238-244. Doi : 10.1192/bjp.bp.111.103309 Background Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic drug that has a history of use in psychotherapy. One of the rationales for its use was that it aids emotional insight by lowering psychological defences. Aims To test the hypothesis that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions by comparing subjective and neural responses to positive [...]
Lire la suiteFunctional Connectivity Measures After Psilocybin Inform a Novel Hypothesis of Early Psychosis Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Robert Leech, David Erritzoe, Tim M. Williams, James M. Stone, John Evans, David J. Sharp, Amanda Feilding, Richard G. Wise, and David J. Nutt Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2012, Volume 39, Issue 6, November 2013, Pages 1343–1351 doi : 10.1093/schbul/sbs117 Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic and a candidate drug model of psychosis. This study measured the effects of psilocybin on resting-state network and thalamo-cortical functional connectivity (FC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Fifteen healthy volunteers received intravenous infusions of psilocybin and placebo in 2 task-free resting-state scans. Primary analyses focused on [...]
Lire la suiteNeural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybine Robin L. Carhart-Harris, David Erritzoe, Tim Williams, James M. Stone, Laurence J. Reed, Alessandro Colasanti, Robin J. Tyacke, Robert Leech, Andrea L. Malizia, Kevin Murphy, Peter Hobden, John Evans, Amanda Feilding, Richard G. Wise, and David J. Nutt PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2012, 109, (6), 2138-2143. doi:10.1073/pnas.1119598109 www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1119598109/-/DCSupplemental. Abstract Psychedelic drugs have a long history of use in healing ceremonies, but despite renewed interest in their therapeutic potential, we continue to know very little about howthey work in the brain. Here we used psilocybin, a classic [...]
Lire la suiteFrom experimental psychosis to resolving traumatic pasts - Psychedelic Research in Communist Czechoslovakia, 1954‑1974 De la psychose expérimentale à la guérison des traumatismes du passé : la recherche psychédélique en Tchécoslovaquie communiste, 1954‑1974 Sarah Marks Cahiers du monde russe, 2015, 56, 1, 53-75. DOI: 10.4000/monderusse.8165 The mid‑twentieth century saw an abundance of new theories of human behaviour and mental disorder, many of which were inspired by new developments in broader scientific fields, from cybernetics and genetics, to pharmaceuticals and new technologies of psychological testing1. There is a developing historical literature on the development of psychiatry in Western Europe and North America, yet we know little [...]
Lire la suiteFlashback : Psychiatric Experimentation With LSD in Historical Perspective Erika Dyck Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 2005, Vol 50, No 7, 381-388. Doi : 10.1177/070674370505000703 In the popular mind, d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) research in psychiatry has long been associated with the CIA-funded experiments conducted by Ewen Cameron at the Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec. Despite this reputation, a host of medical researchers in the post–World War II era explored LSD for its potential therapeutic value. Some of the most widespread trials in the Western world occurred in Saskatchewan, under the direction of psychiatrists Humphry Osmond (in Weyburn) and Abram Hoffer (in Saskatoon). These [...]
Lire la suitePilot Study of Psilocybin Treatment for Anxiety in Patients With Advanced-Stage Cancer Charles S. Grob, Alicia L. Danforth, Gurpreet S. Chopra, Marycie Hagerty, Charles R. McKay, Adam L. Halberstadt, George R. Greer Archive of General Psychiatry, 2010, 68, (1), 71–78 doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.116 Context : Researchers conducted extensive investigations of hallucinogens in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, however, political and cultural pressures forced the cessation of all projects. This investigation reexamines a potentially promising clinical application of hallucinogens in the treatment of anxiety reactive to advanced-stage cancer. Objective : To explore the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in patients with advanced-stage cancer and [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelic therapy for smoking cessation : Qualitative analysis of participant accounts Tehseen Noorani, Albert Garcia-Romeu, Thomas C. Swift, Roland R. Griffiths and Matthew W. Johnson Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2018, 1 –14 https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881118780 Abstract Background : Recent pilot trials suggest feasibility and potential efficacy of psychedelic-facilitated addiction treatment interventions. Fifteen participants completed a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation pilot study between 2009 and 2015. Aims : The aims of this study were as follows: (1) to identify perceived mechanisms of change leading to smoking cessation in the pilot study; (2) to identify key themes in participant experiences and long-term outcomes to better understand the therapeutic process. Methods : Participants were [...]
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