Science

Drug mortality risk chart… true comparisons on drugs and harm

Perhaps the most important conclusion which can be drawn from the present analysis is that most kinds of illicit drug use are nowhere near as lethal as would be assumed from reading mass media reports or heeding government warnings, and that two of our three legal psychoactive drugs, alcohol and tobacco, are far more likely…

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Psychedelic research raises new questions for mental health

Indigenous use of psychedelic plants may have played a significant role in developing and maintaining spiritual, animistic, and religious beliefs; during the countercultural movement in the ’60s, the popularity of LSD may have been a significant catalyst in the proposed transformation of society’s norms and values. These examples appear to suggest that psychedelics may profoundly affect…

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A new mechanism of psychedelic action in the brain has been discovered

A new paper has turned science’s understanding of how psychedelics affect the brain upside down by solving a longstanding molecular mystery in the field.   Psychedelics are thought to produce their effects by activating the serotonin (5-HT)2A receptor class. These receptors are present on the surface of neurons throughout the brain. The answer may have been found by looking…

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The microbiome and psychedelics: it’s not all in your head

Dr. John Kelly of Trinity College in Ireland suggests interventions to the microbiome could be used as preparation and integration phases of psychedelic journeys. The theoretical framework he presents even hints the microbiome’s established effects on mood might only be part of the story, [saying,] “It is conceivable that certain gut microbiota configurations and associated…

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…new… study analysis

2023 is shaping up to be an especially active year for psychedelics policy changes in legislatures across the [United States]… …[according to] the findings of [an] analysis published in an American Medical Association journal [in December 2022]. That study concluded that a majority of states will legalize psychedelics by 2037, based on statistical modeling of…

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Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers

Patients characterized by stress-related disorders such as depression display elevated circulating concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and a hyperactive HPA axis. Psychedelics are demonstrating promising results in treatment of such disorders… Psilocybin immediately reduced concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), while other inflammatory markers (interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and C-reactive protein (CRP)) remained…

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The rebirth of psychedelic…

From what researchers have seen so far, however, there has not been compelling evidence that these drugs can work without the holistic process of preparation, “trip” and integration. …many researchers are excited to get their hands on a new set of tools to help treat mental disorders that have long resisted conventional forms of treatment……

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Do different psilocybe mushrooms produce different effects…

…the idea that certain mushroom species/strains/cultivars might elicit distinct types of experience isn’t entirely unreasonable, since a handful of different potentially psychoactive tryptophan-derived tryptamines have been detected in Psilocybe and related mushroom genera… given that different species possess different alkaloid fingerprints, is it plausible that different mushrooms might reliably produce distinct psychedelic effects… Variations in precursors and activity of…

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Magic mushroom… ameliorates some cognitive deficits in autistic…

Microdoses of psilocybin… have been found to normalize certain elements of cognitive performance in young rats with autism. And while it’s far too early to say if the drug produces the same benefits in humans with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the fact that larger doses of psilocybin were less effective in rats does at least lend some credibility…

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