Psychopharmacology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Despite suggestive early findings on the therapeutic use of hallucinogens in the treatment of substance use disorders, rigorous follow-up has not been conducted. To determine the safety and feasibility of psilocybin as an adjunct to tobacco smoking cessation treatment we conducted an open-label pilot study administering moderate (20 mg/70 kg) and high (30 mg/70 kg) doses of psilocybin within a structured 15-week smoking cessation treatment protocol. Participants were 15 psychiatrically healthy nicotine-dependent smokers (10 males; mean age of 51 years), with a mean of six previous lifetime quit attempts, and smoking a mean of 19 cigarettes per day for a mean of 31 years at intake. Biomarkers assessing smoking status, and self-report measures of smoking behavior demonstrated that 12 of 15 participants (80%) showed seven-day point prevalence abstinence at 6-month follow-up. The observed smoking cessation rate substantially exceeds rates commonly reported for other behavioral and/or ph...

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- Psychopharmacology, Psychedelics, Treatment Outcome, Humans
- by Roland Griffiths
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- Psychopharmacology, Applied Animal Behavior, Papio, Animals

Parkinson's disease (PD) has a progressive course and is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Although no neuroprotective treatments for PD have been found to date, the endocannabinoid system has emerged as a promising target. From a sample of 119 patients consecutively evaluated in a specialized movement disorders outpatient clinic, we selected 21 PD patients without dementia or comorbid psychiatric conditions. Participants were assigned to three groups of seven subjects each who were treated with placebo, cannabidiol (CBD) 75 mg/day or CBD 300 mg/day. One week before the trial and in the last week of treatment participants were assessed in respect to (i) motor and general symptoms score (UPDRS); (ii) well-being and quality of life (PDQ-39); and (iii) possible neuroprotective effects (BDNF and H(1)-MRS). We found no statistically significant differences in UPDRS scores, plasma BDNF levels or H(1)-MRS measures. However, the groups treated with placebo and C...

- by Marcos Hortes N. Chagas
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- Psychopharmacology, Quality of life, Treatment Outcome, Creatine
- by Jerome Schofferman
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- Psychopharmacology, Chronic Pain, Spine, Treatment Outcome

Hendricks, P., Copes, H., Family, N., Williams, L. T J., Luke, D., & Raz, S. (2022). Perceptions of safety, subjective effects, and beliefs about the clinical utility of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in healthy participants within a... more

- by David Luke and +1
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- Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry, Creativity

Michael, P., Luke, D., & Robinson, O. (2021). An encounter with the other: A thematic and content analysis of DMT experiences from a naturalistic field study. Frontiers in Psychology: Consciousness Research, 12, 720717. Doi:... more

- by David Luke and +1
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- Psychology, Ontology, Psychopharmacology, Transpersonal Psychology

Maladaptive daydreaming is a proposed disorder characterized by excessive daydreaming that causes subjective distress and/or interferes with function. The daydreaming involves complex inner worlds, characters, and plots that are understood by the person as fantasy, and the daydreaming may occupy many hours per day. The disorder has good reliability and validity in studies using a structured interview and a self-report measure developed for it. To date, no information on the responses of maladaptive daydreamers to either recreational or prescription drugs has been available. The authors obtained survey data from 202 participants who completed the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale-16. The results indicated that this population has tried many different recreational drugs and has been prescribed many different psychotropic medications. Most of the participants reported little to no effect of drugs or medications on daydreaming, although tentative recommendations can be made in favor of prescribing antidepressants and against the use of marijuana for individuals with maladaptive daydreaming.

- by Eli Somer and +1
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- Psychopharmacology, Psychiatric medications, Daydreaming, Maladaptive Daydreaming

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).

- by David Luke
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- Religion, Psychology, Parapsychology, Psychiatry

The highly psychoactive molecule N,N -dimethyltryptamine (or simply DMT), is found naturally occurring in the brains of humans, mammals, and some other animals, as well as in a broad range of species of the plant kingdom. Although speculative, neurochemical research suggests that DMT may be made in the pineal gland, and it is hypothesised that, as much as melatonin helps activate sleep cycles, DMT activates dreaming, and may also be implicated in other natural visionary states such as mystical experience, near-death experience (NDE), spontaneous psi and psychosis. Amazonian shamans have made use of this chemical for its visionary properties for thousands of years, most likely, and take it as part of a decoction frequently called ayahuasca, which translates from Quechua as “vine of the spirits” or “vine of the dead”. The psychedelic brew is taken because it gives rise to extraordinary mental phenomena that have shamanic and supposed healing qualities, such as synaesthesia, ostensible extra-dimensional percepts, out-of-body experiences, psi experiences and perhaps most commonly, encounters with discarnate entities. When described by independent and seemingly naïve DMT participants the entities encountered tend to vary in detail but often belong to one of a very few similar types, with similar behavioural characteristics. For instance, mischievous shapeshifting elves, preying mantis alien brain surgeons and jewel-encrusted reptilian beings, who all seem to appear with baffling predictability. This opens up a wealth of questions as to the reality (i.e., the ontology) of these entities. The discussion of the phenomenology and ontology of these entities mixes research from parapsychology, ethnobotany and psychopharmacology – the fruits of science – with the foamy custard of folklore, anthropology, mythology, cultural studies and related disciplines. Hopefully however, given the varied readership of this journal, it won’t prove to be a trifle too interdisciplinary.

- by David Luke
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- Neuroscience, Psychology, Parapsychology, Ontology

The present series of experiments had two main objectives: The first was to determine the conditions under which self-injection of the benzodiazepine diazepam would be optimal; the second was to identify neurochemical substrates which underlie the maintenance of diazepam selfadministration. Data from the first experiment indicated that rats maintained on an FI-1 (Fixed Interval of 1 min) schedule of food delivery self-injected significantly more diazepam than rats not maintained on this schedule. Results from the second experiment demonstrated that the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788, and the GABA antagonist bicuculline, significantly reduced diazepam self-administration, but the opiate antagonist naloxone was without effect. Data from the third experiment showed that the dopamine antagonist haloperidol also significantly reduced the rate of diazepam self-injection. Thus, these findings indicate that the acquisition of diazepam self-injection occurs under an FI-1 schedule of food delivery, which has been shown to be middly stressful, while its maintenance depends upon the functional integrity of benzodiazepine and GABA receptors and upon the activity of deopaminergic pathways.

- by Rudy Pilotto
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- Psychopharmacology, Dopamine, Animals, Male
- by Glacus Brito
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- Psychopharmacology, Culture, Brazil, Serotonin
- by Sarah J Cullum
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- Psychopharmacology, Dementia, Literature Review, Humans
- by Wim Riedel
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- Psychopharmacology, Spatial Memory, Episodic Memory, Affect
- by Ranjith Dharmaratne
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- Psychopharmacology, Animal Behavior, Phytotherapy, Animals
- by Ovidio Brignoli
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- Primary Care, Epidemiology, Psychopharmacology, Primary Health Care
- by Michael Knable
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- Psychopharmacology, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Behavioral Medicine
- by Paul F Brain
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- Psychopharmacology, Sequence Analysis, Behavioural Analysis Tools, Dendrograms

Triadimefon is a triazole fungicide that produces hyperactivity in both mice and rats similar to that seen following administration of compounds with catecholaminergic activity (e.g., d-amphetamine). To determine whether the triadimefon-induced hyperactivity is due to an action on CNS catecholaminergic systems, we evaluated the effects of combined treatment of triadimefon with either the tyrosine hydroxlase inhibitor d,l-a-methyl-p-tyrosine methyl ester HCl

- by Kevin Crofton
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- Psychopharmacology, Behavior, Pesticide, Pesticides
- by gambesco franchi
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- Anxiety Disorders, Psychopharmacology, Treatment Outcome, Appetite
- by JUAN FELIPE AVENDAÑO HERRERA
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- Psychopharmacology, Applied Animal Behavior, In Vitro, Brain
- by James McGaugh
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- Art, Psychopharmacology, Sex, Medicine
- by Harbans Lal
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- Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Depression, Schizophrenia
- by Lisa Cosgrove
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- Psychopharmacology
- by Thane Dykstra
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- Psychopharmacology, Food Consumption, Nicotine, Animals
- by Simona Cabib
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- Psychopharmacology, Memory Consolidation, Memory, Dopamine
- by Mounira Banasr and +1
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- Psychopharmacology, Animal Behavior, Depression, Neurogenesis
- by Ivan Barisic
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- Psychopharmacology, Humans, Major Depressive Disorder, Female
- by David Manier
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- Psychiatry, Psychopharmacology, Stress, Anxiety

Physical activity, and specifically exercise, has shown promise as an intervention for drug addiction; however, the exercise conditions that produce the most efficacious response, as well as its underlying mechanism, are unknown. In this study, we examined the dose-dependent effects of wheel running, an animal model of exercise, during abstinence on subsequent cocaine-seeking and associated changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) exon IV expression, a marker of epigenetic regulation implicated in cocaine relapse and known to be regulated by exercise. Cocaine-seeking was assessed under a within-session extinction/cue-induced reinstatement procedure following extended access cocaine or saline self-administration (24-h/day, 4 discrete trials/h, 10 days, 1.5 mg/kg/infusion) and a 14-day abstinence period. During abstinence, rats had either locked or unlocked running wheel access for 1, 2, or 6 h/day. Bdnf exon IV expression was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cocaine-seeking was highest under the locked wheel condition, and wheel running dose dependently attenuated this effect. Cocaine increased Bdnf exon IV expression, and wheel running dose dependently attenuated this increase, with complete blockade in rats given 6-h/day access. Notably, the efficacy of exercise was inversely associated with Bdnf exon IV expression, and both its efficacy and its effects on Bdnf exon IV expression were mimicked by treatment during abstinence with sodium butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor that, like exercise, modulates gene transcription, including Bdnf exon IV expression. Taken together, these results indicate that the efficacy of exercise is dose dependent and likely mediated through epigenetic regulation of PFC Bdnf.

- by Wendy Lynch
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- Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Running, Exercise therapy
- by Andrew Krystal
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- Psychopharmacology, Bipolar Disorder, Treatment Outcome, Case Report
- by samuel gunawan
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- Genetics, Zoology, Psychopharmacology, Molecular Biology

Rationale Mescaline is a nonselective serotonin receptor agonist. It has relatively delayed onset of action and prolonged duration. Mescaline attenuates various behavioral parameters in rats; however, no information is available about its pharmacokinetics in rats and its relation to the behavioral changes produced by the drug. Objectives The present study evaluates the spontaneous locomotor activity and sensorimotor gating in relation to mescaline

- by Tomas Palenicek
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- Psychopharmacology, Behavior, Pharmacokinetics, Startle Reflex
- by Con Stough
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- Psychopharmacology, Depression, Cognition, Working Memory
- by Cathy Montgomery
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- Psychopharmacology, Face recognition (Psychology), Memory, Humans
- by Joseph Moerschbaecher
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- Psychopharmacology, Drug interactions, Learning, Female

ADHD is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and disinhibition, including the inability to screen out distracting stimuli. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle indexes a related gating process and is enhanced during attended compared to ignored stimuli. We predicted that PPI during attended stimuli would be enhanced by the stimulant methylphenidate (MPH) and that this effect would be moderated by baseline PPI. Children with ADHD (n=36) completed a baseline day and a randomized, double-blind medication trial (placebo vs. sustained release MPH). Bilateral startle eyeblink EMG was measured during a tone discrimination task. MPH enhanced PPI during attended, but not during ignored stimuli. Extending findings that pretreatment functioning moderates stimulant effects on PPI, this effect tended to be inversely related to baseline PPI. These data fit with the clinical literature on ADHD and the hypothesis that MPH enhances interference control for important environmental stimuli.

- by Luigi Agnati
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- Neuropsychology, Electrophysiology, Psychopharmacology, Carbon Dioxide
- by Noboru Hiroi
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- Psychopharmacology, Nucleus Accumbens, Dopamine, Vitamin D receptor

Background: Psychomotor agitation can be associated with a wide

- by Cybelli Morello Labate and +3
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- Psychopharmacology, Emergency psychiatry
- by Peter Rogers
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- Psychopharmacology, Cognition, Adolescent, Affect

Bipolar duygudurum bozukluğunda eşik altı belirtilerin fark edilmemesinin bazı vakaların tanı ve tedavisini güçleştirdiği gözlenmektedir. Bu yelpazede yer alan hastaların işlevsellik düzeyinde önemli bozulmalar olduğu, hastanın hastalığı kabul sürecinin ve tedavi uyumunun bozulduğu düşünülmektedir. Bu yazıda bipolar yelpaze kavramı içinde değerlendirilen bir vakanın tanı ve tedavi süreci anlatılacaktır.
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It has been reported that the correct diagnosis and treatment are delayed when subsyndromal bipolar mood disorder symptoms are overlooked. Patients in this spectrum are also reported to have a dimished level of functioning, and these patients also fail to accept their diagnosis, and therefore there is a low level of treatment adherence. This case report focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of a patient in the bipolar spectrum.

- by levent turhan and +2
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- Psychopharmacology, Bipolar Disorder, Case Study Research, Bipolar Spectrum

BACKGROUND:
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors take several weeks to achieve their full antidepressant effects. Post-synaptic 5-HT2A receptor activation is thought to be involved in this delayed therapeutic effect. Pipamperone acts as a highly selective 5-HT2A/D4 antagonist when administered in low doses. The purpose of this study was to compare citalopram 40 mg once daily plus pipamperone 5 mg twice daily (PipCit) versus citalopram plus placebo twice daily for magnitude and onset of therapeutic effect.
METHOD:
An 8-week, randomized, double-blind study in patients with major depressive disorder was carried out.
RESULTS:
The study population comprised 165 patients (citalopram and placebo, n=82; PipCit, n=83) with a mean baseline Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 32.6 (s.d.=5.5). In the first 4 weeks, more citalopram and placebo than PipCit patients discontinued treatment (18% v. 4%, respectively, p=0.003). PipCit patients had significantly greater improvement in MADRS score at week 1 [observed cases (OC), p=0.021; last observation carried forward (LOCF), p=0.007] and week 4 (LOCF, p=0.025) but not at week 8 compared with citalopram and placebo patients. Significant differences in MADRS scores favoured PipCit in reduced sleep, reduced appetite, concentration difficulties and pessimistic thoughts. Mean Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scores were significantly improved after 1 week of PipCit compared with citalopram and placebo (OC and LOCF, p=0.002).
CONCLUSIONS:
Although the MADRS score from baseline to 8 weeks did not differ between groups, PipCit provided superior antidepressant effects and fewer discontinuations compared with citalopram and placebo during the first 4 weeks of treatment, especially in the first week.

- by Thomas E. Schlaepfer
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- Psychopharmacology, Depression, Major Depressive Disorder

Whether the result of violence, war, or disaster, the intrusive memories that haunt people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cannot always be healed through psychotherapy or current medications. Now research on the biological basis of memory offers the hope of new drug treatments that may be able to lessen the disabling fear associated with traumatic memories and perhaps even fundamentally alter them. Neuroscientists Jacek Dębiec, M.D., Ph.D., and Margaret Altemus, M.D., argue that this possibility raises profound ethical and philosophical questions that must be examined even as researchers work to relieve the suffering of PTSD.

- by Jacek Debiec
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- Psychopharmacology, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), PTSD, Memory
- by Daniel Roche
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- Psychopharmacology, Family history, Humans, Female
- by Gregory Fahy
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- Management, Ecological Engineering, Optical Engineering, Biochemistry

- by Vitor Tumas
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- Psychopharmacology, Quality of life, Treatment Outcome, Creatine
- by Katherine Aitchison
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- Pharmacology, Psychopharmacology, Risk assessment, Humans