The scientific reason people in crisis benefit from ayahuasca
More than 150 studies on ayahuasca now appear on PubMed, the federal database of peer-reviewed research.
People generally know serotonin as a neurotransmitter that regulates emotions and serves as a mood stabilizer. Serotonin transporters are proteins that aid in the facilitation of serotonin throughout the nervous system, and what McKenna and his team discovered in the existing scientific literature was that deficiencies of this protein were associated with various “pathologies,” including “certain kinds of alcoholism, alcoholism associated with violent or homicidal behaviors, suicidal behaviors, binge eating, and other disorders.” “It’s almost too neat, but there it is,” [Dennis] McKenna said at the symposium. “It suggested that maybe ayahuasca could actually reverse these deficits—actually raise the expression of the serotonin transporters—and that might be therapeutic.” That might help explain why many members of the UDV who participated in the study, as well as many ayahuasca users throughout the world, often seek out the psychoactive plants during times of crisis.
Original Article (High Times):
The scientific reason people in crisis benefit from ayahuasca
Artwork Fair Use: The International Observatory on Mental Health Systems