Flashbacks and schizophrenia

AbstractThree cases of schizophrenia (DSM-III-R) (l), whilst responding to treatment, exhibit a group of symptoms which had the essential features of “flashbacks”, as described in relation to psychedelic drugs, though there was no evidence of psychedelic drug misuse. Symptoms were characterised by memory flashes of the original psychotic experience, followed immediately by very brief re-experiencing of earlier symptoms, including visual perceptual changes in clear consciousness and full insight. Symptoms were less clear, less severe, but more distressing, than the original episodes. Symptoms were triggered by stress/anxiety, and relieved by an anxiolytic. The association of flashbacks with schizophrenia is discussed.

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Cross-Sectional Associations Between Lifetime Use of Psychedelic Drugs and Psychometric Measures During the COVID-19 Confinement: A Transcultural Study

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.687546 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Dóra Révész ◽

Genís Ona ◽

Giordano N. Rossi ◽

Juliana M. Rocha ◽

Rafael G. dos Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Drug Users ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Effective Measure ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Prospective Longitudinal ◽

The Impact

Background: One of the main public health strategies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic consisted of implementing strict lockdowns to stop the transmission of the virus. Despite being an effective measure, the confinement and the associated social isolation create a stressful, potentially lengthy situations that has been proven to have several psychological consequences. Given the potential benefits that certain psychedelic drugs have shown for the treatment of psychological disorders, this study aimed to assess the impact of lifetime psychedelic drug use on mental health in relation to the first strict lockdown adopted by various countries (April-July 2020).Methods: Subjects completed an online survey that inquired about sociodemographic factors, activities, and lifestyle factors during confinement, as well as health and mental health related factors. Subjects were asked about their lifetime use of psychedelic drugs (MDMA, ayahuasca, psilocybin-containing mushrooms, LSD, peyote, San Pedro, Bufo alvarius or 5-MeO-DMT, and others), being classified as regular users (more than once per 6 months), occasional users, or non-users. The survey included psychometric tests used to assess psychological distress, peritraumatic stress, social support, psychopathological symptoms, and personality. Linear regressions were performed with psychedelic drug users as the independent variable and psychometric factors as the outcomes, while correcting for age, gender, language, religion, spirituality, and use of non-psychedelic drugs.Results: The study included 2,974 English, Portuguese, and Spanish speakers (497 regular users of psychedelic drugs, 606 occasional users, and 1,968 non-users). On average, respondents were 36 years old and 70% were female. Psychedelic drug users, especially regular ones, reported less psychological distress, less peritraumatic stress, and more social support. Regarding personality measures, psychedelic drug users scored higher on the novelty-seeking and self-transcendence scales, and lower on cooperativeness.Conclusion: Our findings showed that regular users of psychedelic drugs had less psychological stress and some personality differences when compared to occasional users and non-users. This suggests that either the use of psychedelics might be a protective factor itself or people with certain previous traits are more prone to frequently using psychedelic drugs. Future prospective longitudinal research should investigate the underlying processes observed in this study to develop consistent hypotheses.

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Genetic deletion of β-arrestin 2 modulates LSD-stimulated behaviors in mice

10.21203/rs.3.rs-544199/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ramona M. Rodriguiz ◽

Vineet Nadkarni ◽

Christopher R. Means ◽

Vladimir M. Pogorelov ◽

Yi-Ting Chiu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Serotonin Receptor ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Nicotine Abuse ◽

Head Twitches ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Motor Activities ◽

Drug Actions ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Genetic Deletion ◽

Anxiety Depression

Abstract Recent evidence suggests that psychedelic drugs can exert beneficial effects on anxiety, depression, and ethanol and nicotine abuse in humans. However, their hallucinogenic side-effects often preclude their clinical use. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a prototypical hallucinogen and its psychedelic actions are exerted through the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (5-HT2AR). 5-HT2AR activation stimulates Gq- and β-arrestin- (βArr) mediated signaling. To separate these signaling modalities, we have used βArr1 and βArr2 mice. We find that LSD stimulates motor activities to similar extents in WT and βArr1-KO mice, with non-significant effects in βArr2-KOs. LSD robustly stimulates many surrogates of psychedelic drug actions including head twitches, grooming, retrograde walking, and nose-poking in WT and βArr1-KO animals. By contrast, LSD slightly stimulates head twitches in βArr2-KO mice, without effects on other surrogates. The 5-HT2AR antagonist MDL100907 (MDL) blocks these LSD effects. LSD also disrupts prepulse inhibition (PPI) in WT and βArr1-KOs; PPI is unaffected in βArr2-KOs. MDL restores PPI in WT mice, but this antagonist is without effect and haloperidol is required in βArr1-KOs. Collectively, these results reveal that LSD’s psychedelic drug-like actions appear to require βArr2.

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Psychedelic drug research will increase globally

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db260709 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Drug Research ◽

The United States ◽

Drug Laws ◽

Content Type ◽

Limited Impact ◽

Controlled Drugs ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Biotechnology Companies ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Recreational Use

Significance Government authorities, including in the United States, are speeding up licensing for clinical trials of these controlled drugs. Substantial philanthropic funding supports psychedelic medicine and campaigns for regulated use of these drugs, including for treatment of PTSD, chronic depression and addiction. Impacts Biotechnology companies expect psychedelic therapies to become mainstream over the next decade. Relaxation of drug laws could trigger increased investment in research and development. Legal production of psychedelic drugs will have a limited impact on criminal production, which is driven by demand for recreational use.

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Improved colour blindness symptoms associated with recreational psychedelic use: Results from the Global Drug Survey 2017

Drug Science Policy and Law ◽

10.1177/2050324520942345 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 205032452094234

Author(s):

JEC Anthony ◽

A Winstock ◽

JA Ferris ◽

DJ Nutt

Keyword(s):

Preliminary Data ◽

Lysergic Acid ◽

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ◽

Colour Perception ◽

Neural Connections ◽

Drug Ingestion ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Colour Blindness

It is well documented that psychedelic drugs can have a profound effect on colour perception. After previous research involving psychedelic drug ingestion, several participants had written to the authors describing how symptoms of their colour blindness had improved. The Global Drugs Survey runs the world’s largest annual online drug survey. In the Global Drugs Survey 2017, participants reporting the use of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin in the last 12 months were asked, We have received reports from some people with colour-blindness that this improves after they use psychedelics. If you have experienced such an effect can you please describe it in the box below, say what drug you took and how long the effect lasted. We received 47 responses that could be usefully categorised of which 23 described improved colour blindness. Commonly cited drugs were LSD and psilocybin; however, several other psychedelic compounds were also listed. Some respondents cited that the changes in colour blindness persisted, from a period of several days to years. Improved colour blindness may be a result of new photisms experienced in the psychedelic state aligning with pre-existing concepts of colour to be ascribed a label. Connections between visual and linguistic cortical areas may be enhanced due to disorder in the brain’s neural connections induced by psychedelics allowing these new photisms and concepts to become linked. This paper provides preliminary data regarding improved colour blindness accompanying recreational psychedelic use which may be further investigated in future iterations of the Global Drugs Survey or in a stand-alone Global Drugs Survey-managed psychedelics survey.

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Pharmacologic analysis of non-synonymous coding 5-HT2A SNPs reveals alterations psychedelic drug potencies and efficacies

10.1101/2021.12.09.472000 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gavin Schmitz ◽

Jeffrey DiBerto ◽

Manish Jain ◽

Bryan L Roth

Keyword(s):

Random Sequence ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Synonymous Snps ◽

Sequence Variations ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

In Vitro Pharmacology ◽

Drug Actions ◽

Psychedelic Drug

Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) signaling is essential for the actions of classical psychedelic drugs. In this study, we examined whether random sequence variations in the gene (single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) encoding the 5-HT2AR affect the signaling of four commonly used psychedelic drugs. We examined the in vitro pharmacology of seven non-synonymous SNPs, which give rise to S12N, T25N, D48N, I197V, A230T, A447V, and H452Y variant 5-HT2A serotonin receptors. We found that these non-synonymous SNPs exert statistically significant, although modest, effects on the efficacy and potency of four therapeutically relevant hallucinogens. Significantly, the in vitro pharmacological effects of the SNPs drug actions at 5-HT2AR are drug specific.

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An Analysis of Risk Reduction among Organized Groups That Promote Marijuana and Psychedelic Drugs

Journal of Drug Issues ◽

10.1177/002204269502500308 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 629-647 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Shepherd M. Jenks

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Law Enforcement ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Drug Users ◽

The United States ◽

Accurate Information ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

The Many ◽

Psychological Risks

This article offers an ethnographic perspective on risk reduction among the many groups in the United States that are devoted to the promotion of marijuana and psychedelic drugs. These groups as a whole do not advocate the indiscriminate use of these substances, but instead offer marijuana and psychedelic drug users social support, and accurate information on how to use these drugs responsibly. A key finding of this study is that not only do these groups attempt to reduce the physical and psychological risks associated with drug use, but also reduce what they believe to be the greater risks associated with draconian laws against drugs, overzealous law enforcement practices, and mainstream views about marijuana and psychedelic drugs that are based on misinformation and prejudice.

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LSD-stimulated behaviors in mice require β-arrestin 2 but not β-arrestin 1

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-96736-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ramona M. Rodriguiz ◽

Vineet Nadkarni ◽

Christopher R. Means ◽

Vladimir M. Pogorelov ◽

Yi-Ting Chiu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Serotonin Receptor ◽

Lysergic Acid ◽

Clinical Use ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Nicotine Abuse ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Motor Activities ◽

Drug Actions ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Anxiety Depression

AbstractRecent evidence suggests that psychedelic drugs can exert beneficial effects on anxiety, depression, and ethanol and nicotine abuse in humans. However, their hallucinogenic side-effects often preclude their clinical use. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a prototypical hallucinogen and its psychedelic actions are exerted through the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (5-HT2AR). 5-HT2AR activation stimulates Gq- and β-arrestin- (βArr) mediated signaling. To separate these signaling modalities, we have used βArr1 and βArr2 mice. We find that LSD stimulates motor activities to similar extents in WT and βArr1-KO mice, without effects in βArr2-KOs. LSD robustly stimulates many surrogates of psychedelic drug actions including head twitches, grooming, retrograde walking, and nose-poking in WT and βArr1-KO animals. By contrast, in βArr2-KO mice head twitch responses are low with LSD and this psychedelic is without effects on other surrogates. The 5-HT2AR antagonist MDL100907 (MDL) blocks the LSD effects. LSD also disrupts prepulse inhibition (PPI) in WT and βArr1-KOs, but not in βArr2-KOs. MDL restores LSD-mediated disruption of PPI in WT mice; haloperidol is required for normalization of PPI in βArr1-KOs. Collectively, these results reveal that LSD’s psychedelic drug-like actions appear to require βArr2.

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Psychedelic resting-state neuroimaging: a review and perspective on balancing replication and novel analyses

10.31234/osf.io/64kyg ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Drummond E-Wen McCulloch ◽

Gitte Moos Knudsen ◽

Patrick MacDonald Fisher

Keyword(s):

Brain Imaging ◽

Resting State ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Clinical Effects ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Analysis Strategy ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Imaging Strategy ◽

Psychiatric Conditions

Clinical research into classical psychedelic drugs including psilocybin, LSD and N,N-DMT (ayahuasca)is expanding rapidly and clinical trials across a range of psychiatric conditions have shown promisingefficacy, with larger trials ongoing. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) hasemerged as a commonly used brain imaging strategy to identify associated neural mechanisms in bothclinical and healthy populations. To date, 37 research articles have been published analysing restingstate fMRI data from 16 unique datasets involving the administration of a psychedelic drug. Thisprovides a promising foundation for resolving imaging markers of the perceptual and clinical effects ofpsychedelics.Here we review the existing psychedelic resting-state fMRI literature through a lens that brings attentionto emerging variation in core methodological decisions. We find that across the existing literature, notwo studies employ the same data processing and analysis strategy. Two datasets are the foundation ofmore than half of the published literature and individual terms such as “entropy” are being used torepresent distinct metrics across studies. In light of these characteristics, we offer suggestions for futurestudies that we hope encourages coherence in the field. As a budding field of interest, psychedelicresting-state imaging requires the development of novel models, hypotheses and quantification methodsthat will expand our understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating the intriguing acute perceptualand lasting clinical effects of psychedelics. Our review of the existing literature suggests that thepsychedelic resting-state brain imaging field is at a crossroads at which it must also consider the criticalimportance of consistency and replication to effectively converge on stable representations of the neuraleffects of psychedelics.

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LSD’s effects are differentially modulated in arrestin knockout mice

10.1101/2021.02.04.429772 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ramona M. Rodriguiz ◽

Vineet Nadkarni ◽

Christopher R. Means ◽

Yi-Ting Chiu ◽

Bryan L. Roth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Serotonin Receptor ◽

Temperature Response ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Nicotine Abuse ◽

Head Twitches ◽

Way 100635 ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Motor Activities ◽

Drug Actions ◽

Psychedelic Drug

ABSTRACTRecent evidence suggests that psychedelic drugs can exert beneficial effects on anxiety, depression, and ethanol and nicotine abuse in humans. However, the hallucinogenic side-effects of psychedelics often preclude their clinical use. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a prototypical hallucinogen and its psychedelic actions are exerted through the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (5-HT2AR). 5-HT2AR activation stimulates Gq- and β-arrestin-(βArr) mediated signaling. To separate effects of these signaling modes, we have used βArr1 and βArr2 mice. We find that LSD stimulates motor activities to similar extents in WT and βArr1-KO mice, with non-significant effects in βArr2-KOs. LSD robustly stimulates many surrogates of psychedelic drug actions including head twitches, grooming, retrograde walking, and nose poking in WT and βArr1-KO animals. In contrast, LSD only slightly stimulates head twitches in βArr2-KO mice, without effects on retrograde walking or nose poking. The 5-HT2AR antagonist MDL100907 (MDL) blocks these LSD effects. LSD also disrupts prepulse inhibition (PPI) in WT and βArr1-KOs; PPI is unaffected in βArr2-KOs. MDL restores PPI in WT mice, but this antagonist is without effect and haloperidol is required in βArr1-KOs. LSD produces a biphasic body-temperature response in WT mice, a monophasic response in βArr1-KOs, and is without effect in βArr2 mutants. Both MDL and the 5-HT1AR antagonist, WAY 100635 (WAY), block the effects of LSD on body temperatures in WT mice, whereas WAY is effective in βArr1-KOs. Collectively, these results reveal that LSD produces diverse behavioral effects through βArr1 and βArr2, and that LSD’s psychedelic drug-like actions appear to require βArr2.

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Marihuana—A Psychedelic Drug?

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1974.34.1.47 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 47-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

E. Robert Sinnett ◽

Karen S. Wampler ◽

William M. Harvey

Keyword(s):

Discriminant Function ◽

Drug Users ◽

Linear Discriminant Function ◽

Correct Classification ◽

Drug Experience ◽

Linear Discriminant ◽

Non Linear ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Psychedelic Drug ◽

Hypnotic Drugs

Dimensions of the drug experience derived from judgments by experienced drug users were combined to separate marihuana and psychedelic drugs into two classes. The marihuana substances were judged as calming as opposed to exciting, relatively safer, and less potent than psychedelic drugs. In this study and others it seems that marihuana may be more similar to sedative, depressant, and hypnotic drugs than to psychedelic drugs. Some superiority in correct classification was found for a non-linear discriminant function over a linear discriminant function.

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