From The Guardian: “UK regulators have given the go-ahead for the first clinical trial of the use of the psychedelic drug dimethyltriptamine (DMT) to treat depression. The trial will initially give the drug – known as the “spirit molecule” for the powerful hallucinogenic trips it induces – to healthy individuals, but it is expected to be followed by a second trial in patients with depression, where DMT will be given alongside psychotherapy…”
Read More“Mini-brains" grown in the lab have proven to be useful models of the real thing, giving researchers an accurate neuroscience platform without testing on animals. Now, a team of scientists from Brazil have doped the mini-brains with a form of the psychedelic drug DMT, to study the effects on neural pathways….”
Read MoreFrom Forbes.com: “This isn’t the psychedelic you remember from college. It isn’t an eight-hour marathon experience tripping through the woods like Alice. It’s fast-acting, short-duration — sometimes lasting as briefly as seven minutes — and is a rocket-ship ride into the center of the cosmos. In a recent European study, after one single use, the substance 5-MeO-DMT was shown to produce sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life, and easing of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)…”
Read More“Psychedelics have been a mainstay for a millennia and appreciated in the counter-culture for decades. In 2020, whether consuming, investing, or both, mushrooms are having a moment…”
Read More“One could say that all software impacts our consciousness in some way, from grandma’s dopamine-fueled enjoyment of a casino game to the banal ubiquity of spreadsheet programs at shitty office jobs everywhere, to the way that weaponized Facebook ads affected elections in 30 countries. But thanks to Elon Musk and other pioneers in brain-computer or brain-machine interfaces (known as BMI), software, in conjunction with brain-implanted hardware, will soon have the power to impact our psyche directly, at the level of our neurons…”
Read More“I recently had a chance to have a conversation with a woman who is leading the scientific pathway to researching the mysterious compound DMT… Dr. Jimo Borjigin from the University of Michigan. Dr. Borjigin received her PhD from John’s Hopkins University and has published ground-breaking research regarding increased brain oscillatory speeds & coherence following cardiac arrest, the neurochemical fluctuations following asphyxia-based cardiac arrest, the discovery of DMT production in the pineal gland of live rats, and now the most recent study that has observed comparable levels of DMT to common neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) in the brain…”
Read More“For four consecutive nights, a group of 78 of us here at a retreat center in Costa Rica [Rhythmia] have been drinking a foul-tasting, molasses-like tea containing ayahuasca, a plant concoction that contains the natural hallucinogen known as DMT. We’re part of a wave of Westerners seeking out ayahuasca as a tool for psychological healing, personal growth, or expanding consciousness…”
Read More“This was the third World Ayahuasca Conference held in Girona, Spain last June, which brought together 1400 people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, disciplines, and traditions. Three days of fascinating, moving presentations, invocations, conversations, and declarations towards a common vision of a sustainable future for plants, people and the planet…”
Read More“Ross and Dwyer are at the centre of the country's first clinical trial of psychedelic drugs for treating severe depression in the terminally ill. Within a month, they will begin recruiting 40 depressed and incurable patients in an attempt to relieve their distress with a novel treatment: between one and two 25-milligram doses of synthetic psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient found in "magic mushrooms", accompanied by intensive psychotherapy sessions…”
Read More“A new systematic review states that serotonergic hallucinogens help users recognize emotions in facial expressions. Sufferers of anxiety and depression often only read negative emotions in other people's faces, adding to their malaise. While more research is needed, psychedelics could prove to be a powerful agent in battling mental health disorders…”
Read MoreDr. Peter Sjostedt-H, on psychedelics and the nature of human consciousness (via Filter Mag): “Within human consciousness we can distinguish various modes, such as sense perception, emotion, thought, imagination, memory, intentionality, alertness, etc. But even such prosaic human consciousness can be radically altered through chemical means, thus enabling a more comprehensive understanding of what consciousness is, what it can be…”
Read More“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) filed legislation on Friday to remove a legal barrier that scientists say makes it unnecessarily difficult for them to study the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA. Psilocybin, the active component of so-called "magic mushrooms," and MDMA, commonly referred to as "ecstasy," have "shown promise in end of life therapy and treating PTSD," a summary of Ocasio-Cortez's proposal says...”
Read More“The irony. The generation who brought psychedelic drugs to the attention of the world, may just be the ones who use them as medicine to treat anxiety and depression or simply to face death. But while researchers around the world are looking at some formerly illicit drugs in a new way, they’re doing it with caution...”
Read More“As a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police, Matt Chorny regularly responded to car accidents. He often dealt with victims and family members throughout the entire process, from the crash to the morgue. Over time, such incidents took an emotional toll. These days, he’s coping with the help of a surprising source — ayahuasca…”
Read More“After Denver paved the way by decriminalizing mushrooms, a major city in California is moving on other psychedelics like ayahuasca, ibogaine, and mescaline cacti. Now Oakland is calling for decriminalization of other psychedelics like mescaline cacti, ayahuasca and ibogaine…”
Read More“A total of five religious groups now are allowed to use the hallucinogenic in their ceremonies. Thanks to Health Canada, some folks in Quebec and Ontario are one step closer to finding god, as three more exemptions have been granted to religious groups to allow them to import ayahuasca, a powerful and controversial hallucinogenic, according to a report by Global News.”…
Read More“The first formal centre for psychedelic research in the world will launch at Imperial College London today. Funded by more than £3 million from five founding donors, the new Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research will build on over a decade of pioneering work in this area carried out at Imperial, including a clinical trial that has kick-started global efforts to develop psilocybin therapy into a licensed treatment for depression…”
Read MoreWade Davis tells Reality Sandwich about how the use of ayahuasca among more modern, urban circles is not necessarily illegitimate, and poses challenges that must be discussed. He hopes to spark that conversation at the World Ayahuasca Conference this spring, where he’ll be giving the opening keynote speech. He spoke to Reality Sandwich about some of the central themes he’ll address and what he’s thinking about most now with regards to the popularization of ayahuasca around the globe…
Read More“People who experiment with microdosing claim that it can help a person to think more creatively, feel less anxious, and sharpen focus. But despite plenty of anecdotal evidence and Silicon Valley’s ample claims that these positive effects are real, scientists still can’t definitively say that microdosing actually works. Bringing us closer to a clear answer is a new study showing that microdosing can indeed have beneficial effects — but not without potential downsides…”
Read More“A new study – “Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports” – has set out to quantify the possible links by comparing a bunch of NDE accounts (625) with a huge number of ‘trip reports’ (more than 15,000) “spanning experiences with 165 psychoactive substances of ten different pharmacological classes”…”
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