scholarly journals Neural and subjective effects of inhaled DMT in natural settings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Pallavicini ◽  
Federico Cavanna ◽  
Federico Zamberlan ◽  
Laura Alethia de la Fuente ◽  
Yonatan Sanz Perl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Global Synchrony ◽  
Gamma Power ◽  
Signal Complexity ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
Subjective Reports

AbstractBackgroundN,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a short acting psychedelic tryptamine found naturally in many plants and animals. Few studies to date addressed the neural and psychological effects of DMT alone, either administered intravenously or inhaled in freebase form, and none conducted in natural settings.AimsOur primary aim was to study the acute effects of inhaled DMT in natural settings, focusing on questions tuned to the advantages of conducting field research, including the effects of contextual factors (i.e. “set” and “setting”), the possibility of studying a comparatively large number of subjects, and the relaxed mental state of participants consuming DMT in familiar and comfortable settings.MethodsWe combined state-of-the-art wireless electroencephalography (EEG) with psychometric questionnaires to study the neural and subjective effects of naturalistic DMT use in 35 healthy and experienced participants.ResultsWe observed that DMT significantly decreased the power of alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillations throughout all scalp locations, while simultaneously increasing power of delta (1-4 Hz) and gamma (30-40 Hz) oscillations. Gamma power increases correlated with subjective reports indicative of mystical-type experiences. DMT also increased/decreased global synchrony and metastability in the gamma/alpha band, and resulted in widespread increases in signal complexity.ConclusionsOur results are consistent with previous studies of psychedelic action in the human brain, while at the same time suggesting potential EEG markers of mystical-type experiences in natural settings, thus highlighting the importance of investigating these compounds in the contexts where they are naturally consumed.

Neural and subjective effects of inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine in natural settings

2021 ◽  
pp. 026988112098138
Author(s):  
Carla Pallavicini ◽  
Federico Cavanna ◽  
Federico Zamberlan ◽  
Laura A de la Fuente ◽  
Yayla Ilksoy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Global Synchrony ◽  
Gamma Power ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
Subjective Reports

Background: N,N-dimethyltryptamine is a short-acting psychedelic tryptamine found naturally in many plants and animals. Few studies to date have addressed the neural and psychological effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine alone, either administered intravenously or inhaled in freebase form, and none have been conducted in natural settings. Aims: Our primary aim was to study the acute effects of inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine in natural settings, focusing on questions tuned to the advantages of conducting field research, including the effects of contextual factors (i.e. “set“ and “setting“), the possibility of studying a comparatively large number of subjects, and the relaxed mental state of participants consuming N,N-dimethyltryptamine in familiar and comfortable settings. Methods: We combined state-of-the-art wireless electroencephalography with psychometric questionnaires to study the neural and subjective effects of naturalistic N,N-dimethyltryptamine use in 35 healthy and experienced participants. Results: We observed that N,N-dimethyltryptamine significantly decreased the power of alpha (8–12 Hz) oscillations throughout all scalp locations, while simultaneously increasing power of delta (1–4 Hz) and gamma (30–40 Hz) oscillations. Gamma power increases correlated with subjective reports indicative of some features of mystical-type experiences. N,N-dimethyltryptamine also increased global synchrony and metastability in the gamma band while decreasing those measures in the alpha band. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with previous studies of psychedelic action in the human brain, while at the same time the results suggest potential electroencephalography markers of mystical-type experiences in natural settings, thus highlighting the importance of investigating these compounds in the contexts where they are naturally consumed.

scholarly journals Professionally successful adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Compensation strategies and subjective effects of pharmacological treatment

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Palmini
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Subjective Effect ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Excessive Daytime Somnolence ◽  
Independent Life ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Successful Adults ◽  
Subjective Reports ◽  
Do So

Abstract Although as a group, adult patients with ADHD have difficulties in social functioning due to inattention and executive dysfunction, some strive and succeed in living a productive, independent life. Purpose: To report on professionally successful adults with ADHD and analyze their main symptoms, compensation strategies and the subjective effect of methylphenidate on their functioning. Methods: The main symptoms of five patients with ADHD who are University educated and financially independent are reported. These patients were selected from a personally followed cohort of adults with ADHD. All were diagnosed according to DSM-IV adapted criteria (K-SADS E, version 6.0) and completed the Portuguese translated version of the ADHD adult self-reporting scale (ASRS). Results: Main reported symptoms included difficulties with attention, tendency to procrastinate and to 'shuffle' priorities, excessive daytime somnolence, memory difficulties and impulsiveness. Compensation strategies revolve around conscious, 'energy demanding' and time consuming efforts to control and circumvent symptomatic behavioral tendencies. They feel methylphenidate helps by alleviating the need to constantly apply compensation strategies for socially disabling symptoms. In sum, they achieve the same results in a more natural, less effortful fashion. Conclusions: Adults with ADHD may succeed professionally despite significant symptoms of inattention and executive dysfunction. They do so by appropriately using effortful strategies of compensation, the need for which is alleviated by the use of methylphenidate. These subjective reports require confirmation in prospective studies on larger series of patients.

Technological innovation and the future of predictive model of pandemics (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Dupont
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Sir Model ◽  
Rapid Progress ◽  
Compartmental Modelling ◽  
Research Interview ◽  
Modelling Techniques

BACKGROUND As of October 2020, the COVID-19 death toll has reached over one million with 38 million confirmed cases globally. This pandemic is shaking the foundations of economies and reminding us the fragility of our system. Epidemics have affected societies since biblical times, but the recent acceleration in science and technology, as well as global cooperation, has provided scientists and mathematicians new resources, they can use to anticipate how a pandemic will spread with mathematical modelling. Compartmental modelling techniques, such as the SIR model, have been well-established for more than a century and have proven efficient and reliable in helping governments decide what strategies to use to fight pandemics. OBJECTIVE State of the art report on predictive models and technology METHODS Field research, Interview, RESULTS More recently, digitalisation and rapid progress in fields such as Machine Learning, IoT and big data have brought new perspectives to predictive models that improve their ability to predict how a pandemic will unfold and therefore which actions should be taken to eradicate the disease. This report will first review how pandemic modelling works. CONCLUSIONS It will then discuss the benefits and limitations of those models before outlining how new initiatives in several fields of technology are being used to fight the virus that causes COVID-19.

scholarly journals Acute and subacute psychoactive effects of Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Maki Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): retrospective reports

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Torsten Schmidt ◽  
Simon Reiche ◽  
Caroline L. C. Hage ◽  
Felix Bermpohl ◽  
Tomislav Majić
Keyword(s):  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mystical Experience ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Altered States Of Consciousness ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
States Of Consciousness ◽  
Experience Questionnaire

AbstractKambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) contains a plethora of bioactive peptides and was originally used by indigenous communities from the Amazon basin as medicine for improving hunting capacities. In the last 20 years, Kambô has spread to Western urban healing circles. To date it is still controversial whether the acute effects of Kambô include alterations of consciousness similar to known psychoactive substance like serotonergic psychedelics. Here we retrospectively assessed psychological effects of Kambô in a sample of anonymous users (n = 22, mean age: 39 years, ± 8.5; 45.5% female), administering standardized questionnaires for the assessment of altered states of consciousness (ASC), including the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) for acute effects and the Persisting Effects Questionnaire (PEQ) and a scale assessing connectedness for subacute effects. The intensity of retrospectively reported acute psychological effects remained on a mild to moderate level, with no psychedelic-type distortions of perception or thinking. Conversely, persisting effects were predominantly described as positive and pleasant, revealing high scores on measures of personal and spiritual significance.

scholarly journals Imagining ‘Atlanta’: The Cultural Politics and Poetics of Experimental Medicine in East Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Denielle Elliott
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Experimental Medicine ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Global Science ◽  
Rural Town ◽  
The Social

In East Africa there is a field research station that locals call ‘Atlanta.’ It sits on the outskirts of a rural town, near Lake Victoria, equipped with ‘state-of-the-art’ biotechnological and entomological equipment for monitoring and exploring malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, rotavirus, and other tropical diseases. Drawn from ethnographic fieldwork with clinical trials in East Africa, this paper considers the stories people tell about the landscapes and spaces of experimental medicine to explore the uneven movement of knowledge, scientific practices, and scientists in global medicine. I begin this analytical journey at ‘Atlanta’ to consider what local idioms about such places might tell us about the encounters and travels of science and scientists in East Africa. Last, I draw attention to the social and material effects of global science projects on the lives and landscapes of East Africa.

scholarly journals Acute effects of MDMA on trust, cooperative behaviour and empathy: A double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment

2020 ◽  
pp. 026988112092667
Author(s):  
Anna Borissova ◽  
Bart Ferguson ◽  
Matthew B Wall ◽  
Celia JA Morgan ◽  
Robin L Carhart-Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Controlled Experiment ◽  
Prosocial Behaviour ◽  
Cooperative Behaviour ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Bayesian Analyses

Background: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is being actively researched as an adjunct to psychotherapy. It may be beneficial to trust, empathy and cooperative behaviour due to its acute prosocial effects. Aim: To test (a) the acute effects of MDMA on measures of empathy, trust and cooperative behaviour, and (b) subacute changes in mood three days after MDMA administration. Methods: Twenty-five participants ( n=7 female), participated in this double-blind, repeated-measures, placebo-controlled experiment. Participants attended two acute sessions, one week apart. Each acute session was followed by a subacute session three days later. Participants received placebo (100 mg ascorbic acid) during one acute session, and MDMA (100 mg MDMA-HCl) at the other, with order counterbalanced. Participants completed the following tasks assessing prosocial behaviour: a trust investment task, a trustworthy face rating task, an empathic stories task, a public project game, a dictator game and an ultimatum game. Participants reported subjective effects. Blood was taken pre-drug, 2 and 4 hours post-drug, and tested for plasma MDMA levels. Results: MDMA acutely increased self-reported ‘closeness to others’ and ‘euphoria’ and increased plasma concentrations of MDMA. MDMA did not significantly change task-based empathy, trust or cooperative behaviour. Using Bayesian analyses, we found evidence that MDMA and placebo did not differ in their effects on empathy and cooperative behaviour. MDMA did not significantly change subacute mood and this was supported by our Bayesian analyses. Conclusion: Despite augmentation in plasma MDMA levels and subjective drug effects, we found no increase in prosocial behaviour in a laboratory setting.

scholarly journals The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1379-1390 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Carhart-Harris ◽  
M. Kaelen ◽  
M. Bolstridge ◽  
T. M. Williams ◽  
L. T. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Lysergic Acid ◽  
Psychological Effects ◽  
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Life Orientation Test ◽  
Neo Personality Inventory ◽  
Within Subjects

BackgroundLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent serotonergic hallucinogen or psychedelic that modulates consciousness in a marked and novel way. This study sought to examine the acute and mid-term psychological effects of LSD in a controlled study.MethodA total of 20 healthy volunteers participated in this within-subjects study. Participants received LSD (75 µg, intravenously) on one occasion and placebo (saline, intravenously) on another, in a balanced order, with at least 2 weeks separating sessions. Acute subjective effects were measured using the Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire and the Psychotomimetic States Inventory (PSI). A measure of optimism (the Revised Life Orientation Test), the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and the Peter's Delusions Inventory were issued at baseline and 2 weeks after each session.ResultsLSD produced robust psychological effects; including heightened mood but also high scores on the PSI, an index of psychosis-like symptoms. Increased optimism and trait openness were observed 2 weeks after LSD (and not placebo) and there were no changes in delusional thinking.ConclusionsThe present findings reinforce the view that psychedelics elicit psychosis-like symptoms acutely yet improve psychological wellbeing in the mid to long term. It is proposed that acute alterations in mood are secondary to a more fundamental modulation in the quality of cognition, and that increased cognitive flexibility subsequent to serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) stimulation promotes emotional lability during intoxication and leaves a residue of ‘loosened cognition’ in the mid to long term that is conducive to improved psychological wellbeing.

Mephedrone and 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine: Comparative psychobiological effects as reported by recreational polydrug users

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1313-1320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis Jones ◽  
Phil Reed ◽  
Andrew Parrott
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Average Amount ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Nasal Irritation

Aims: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of mephedrone and 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), as reported by young recreational polydrug users. Methods: 152 MDMA users and 81 mephedrone users were recruited through snowballing on social network sites. They completed a standard online questionnaire for either mephedrone or MDMA. The questions covered the average amount taken per session, the longest duration of usage in the last 12-months, subjective effects while on-drug, and recovery effects in the days afterwards. Results: Mephedrone users reported a significantly longer maximum session of use than MDMA users. Mephedrone users also reported a significantly greater average amount used per session. The majority of on-drug subjective ratings did not differ between drugs, with similar increases in entactogenic effects. Although mephedrone users did report significantly more frequent issues with sleeping, anger and anxiety. In relation to recovery, mephedrone users reported more frequent craving, nasal irritation, paranoia, and relationship difficulties. Mephedrone users also rated general recovery effects as more severe over the seven-day period following use, taking more days to feel normal. Conclusions: The acute effects of MDMA and mephedrone were broadly similar. However, the recovery period for mephedrone was more enduring, possibly due to the longer duration of acute session usage.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document