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Labyrint TV special about therapy with psychedelics

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Dutch, Events, Interviews, Public Lectures, Publications / By

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Next week on Wetenschap24 Labyrint TV reports on groundbreaking research into the use of psychedelics for the treatment of psychological disorders.

The episode was filmed at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research 2012 and takes you from the first scientific research into psychedelics in the ’50s, the recreational use and the prohibition of these substances, to the recent research into psychedelics as potential tools for psychotherapy. Amongst others, the British psychopharmacologists Robin Carhart–Harris and Matthew Johnson, both speakers at ICPR 2012, will appear in this episode. They will speak about their research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin.

Next Wednesday, December 19th, 8:50pm at Nederland 2.

More information on the Labyrint TV website.

Article in university magazine Folia about psychedelic research

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, Events, Publications / By

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University magazine Folia devoted an article to psychedelic research. The cover is entirely dedicated to the article ‘Trippen op recept’ (Tripping on prescription). Visitors of the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research will recognize the interviewed experts. Ben Sessa talks about his experience in an fMRI scanner when he participated in a study into the effects of psilocybin on the brain. Robin Carhart-Harris, a researchers at Imperial College London, talks about initial findings of this study. Matthew Johnson, psychopharmacologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (United States) is interviewed as well. He talks about his research into the use of psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction.

You can find the Folia magazine at various locations at the University of Amsterdam. You can also find it digitally on the Folia website.

ICPR 2012 draws attention to psychedelic research

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Events, ICPR 2012 Talks, Publications, Research / By

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On October 6 & 7 OPEN’s second international conference took place in Amsterdam: the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. In a sold out Mozeskerk over 400 researchers, students, therapists and scholars gathered to listen and discuss the latest psychedelic research. From brain imaging studies on psilocybin, philosophical discussions on the meaning of altered states of consciousness to a debate on the place of MDMA in psychotherapy, ICPR set the standard for future events.

Research into psychedelics is slowly being taken seriously in the Netherlands. Dutch science program Labyrint recorded interviews and shot the conference for an episode on psychedelic research. Articles on the conference in Dutch national newspapers Volkskrant (6 Oct. ’12) and Parool (13 Oct. ’12) can be clicked and read here (only in Dutch). Photos of the conference can be found here and videos of the conference are being edited and will be put on our website soon.

Study: no adverse effects in long-time ayahuasca users

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Ayahuasca, Publications, Research / By

An investigation into the psychiatric and neuropsychological status of long-term ayahuasca users – conducted by the Human Experimental Neuropsychopharmacology group of Hospital Sant Pau (Barcelona), in cooperation with IDEAA and research centers in Brazil and Spain – found no evidence of adverse psychiatric or neuropsychological effects. The team performed a longitudinal study of ayahuasca users who had been drinking for at least 15 years, at least twice a month.

The Spanish and Brazilian research team, headed by psychologist José Carlos Bouso, evaluated several domains of mental health in 127 long-time ayahuasca users in religious contexts. They compared these participants with 115 non-users. To confirm the reliability of the results, they repeated the tests one year later. Interestingly, the ayahuasca users showed no personality disorders, and had lower psychopathological indices and better cognitive performance in some neuropsychological tests than the non-users. The study concludes that there is “no evidence of psychological maladjustment, mental health deterioration or cognitive impairment in the ayahuasca-using group.” These results are consistent with earlier results obtained by other research groups that had studied smaller samples of users. This is the first study with long-term ayahuasca users that both assessed a sample of this size and replicated the results. The authors indicate that the study sample was composed of people that have been using ayahuasca for many years, which is a clear sign that they tolerate the ayahuasca well. The researchers suggest that future studies should focus specifically on participants that initiate the use of ayahuasca and then stop because of a psychological issue possibly related to its use.

José Carlos Bouso is currently a member of the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS) and will be discussing the results of this study during the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research, to be held in Amsterdam on the 6th and 7th of October 2012.

The scientific article (both abstract and full text) can be found here.

Dutch plans for ibogaine research

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, Dutch, Iboga / Ibogaine, Publications, Research / By

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An article in Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant shows there are plans to study the effectiveness of ibogaine in the treatment of addiction in Nijmegen.

The research team, consisting of addiction doctor Maarten Belgers and psychiatrist Toon van Oosteren, works in cooperation with the Radboud University in Nijmegen – to study whether ibogaine can – under strict medical conditions – be used effectively in the treatment of substance dependence. Despite various studies in animals, there has yet been no clinical study in humans. This study would be the first.

In de Volkskrant, Toon van Oosteren states that the researchers intend to subject ten to fifteen people with substance dependence to a treatment with ibogaine. Presently, the team is looking for ibogaine that is pure enough to comply with the rigorous scientific standards for medicines.

Read the whole article in Dutch here.

LSD effective in the treatment of alcohol addiction

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, LSD, Publications, Research, Substance Use Disorder / By

alcoholismLSD can be effective in the treatment of alcoholism, according to a new study of a Norwegian research team. This study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, shows that administration of LSD in alcoholics can contribute to the success of the treatment.

In this meta-analysis, the results of six randomized clinical trials that were published between 1966 and 1970 were used. In these studies LSD was administered in a total of 325 cases, and a placebo in 211 cases. Of the patients that received LSD 59% percent improved during the treatment, compared to only 38% of the persons receiving a placebo. The researchers conclude that there is evidence for a positive effect of LSD in the treatment of alcoholism.

Psychedelic research in popular literature

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, Other, Publications, Research / By

Kijk2The Dutch KIJK magazine printed an article on research on psychedelics. “Tripping away your problems: a slow revival of drugs as medicine”. Reporter Jop de Vrieze interviewed scientists among whom psychiatrists Andrew Feldmár en Charles Grob. Upon the interviews he based that nowadays psychedelics are a “full grown part of scientific studies”. XTC is therapeutically used for emotional illnesses, psilocybine and LSD with treating life quality in terminal illnesses, ketamine is effective with depression and ibogaine with addictions. These positive effects have been known to scientists for decades, yet only recently has public research slowly been allowed again. Both Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and The OPEN Foundation are brought forth in the article as promoting these studies.

The first part of the article (in Dutch) can be read here.

Ayahuasca scientific literature overview

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Ayahuasca, Background articles, Publications, Research / By

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In response to claims made in 2010 by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) regarding the serious health risks that would entail the use of ayahuasca, psychologist and ayahusaca researcher Jose Carlos Bouso has compiled a document with all the scientific studies into the short, medium and long term effects of ayahuasca. No study supports the claims of the INCB, and some of these studies even indicate a possible therapeutic potential of ayahuasca.

The document was published by the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS), and can be downloaded here.

An honest look at the risks and benefits of MDMA

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, MDMA, Publications, Research, Safety / By

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Addiction, one of the most important peer-reviewed journals on drug use and abuse, has published the results of a study regarding the use of recreational ecstacy use and potential cognitive damage – which turned out to be absent. The study is unique in that it compared ecstacy users with minimal to no other drug use and non-drug users from the same dance scene.

For years it has been assumed that cognitive skills such as learning and memory would be damaged by heavy ecstacy use. But previous studies always used subjects that also used other drugs, so it could not be determined whether the damage was due to ecstacy use or use of other drugs. This study offers a new light on the matter.

The same day, O Magazine published an article on MAPS’ study of the use of MDMA in psychotherapy for people suffering from PTSD. Sarah, who has suffered from PTSD for twenty years, tells the reader about her experiences with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. You can read the full article here.

EARS researcher workgroup

December 6, 2021 / Articles, Background articles, Events, Other subjects, Publications, Research / By

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In April 2011, over 300 people convened at the University of Amsterdam to attend the European Ayahuasca Research Symposium, a half-day seminar co-sponsored by The OPEN Foundation and MAPS.

The Symposium brought together researchers from across Europe who over the last few years have been studying ayahuasca and DMT within the disciplines of anthropology, neuroscience, psychology and religious studies. The next morning, the presenters from the seminar were joined by other European ayahuasca scholars for a closed-door researcher workgroup intended to stimulate future ayahuasca research and possible collaborations in Europe. The workgroup succeeded in building a shared knowledge base of ongoing and planned ayahuasca research, in facilitating discussions on methodology and obtaining institutional approvals for research, and in developing personal and professional contacts among the few ayahuasca researchers currently based in Europe.