"Long-term use of psychedelic drugs is associated with differences in brain structure and ...&q

[murklan]

Perhaps this is no news on the nexus, but I didn't know about the study:

Long-term use of psychedelic drugs is associated with differences in brain structure and personality in humans - PubMed

Psychedelic agents have a long history of use by humans for their capacity to induce profound modifications in perception, emotion and cognitive processes. Despite increasing knowledge of the neural mechanisms involved in the acute effects of these drugs, the impact of sustained psychedelic use...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

2015 Jan 16.
"Long-term use of psychedelic drugs is associated with differences in brain structure and personality in humans "


Wonder how much of that effect is from the Caapi (MAPI/harmalas) or the DMT? Or the combination?

 

[downwardsfromzero]

I read that article fairly recently too.

If the link isn't in this monster of a thread then it was posted somewhere round here before. Unless it came up in my PubMed suggestions :?

Definitely interesting though. The effects of the components of caapi plus DMT are pretty diverse.

 

[murklan]

Wow, yes that was something to dive into. Thanks for that!

Yes I think that the combination of substances and effects makes a big difference.

I want to start a thread discussing experiences of people what has been using DMT and/or harmalas for a longer time. See what or if they have similar physical feelings. I have experienced peculiar feelings in the nerves in my head/skull since starting with DMT/Harmalas. That could be connected with the use.

 

[Voidmatrix]

So, pretty much, we should all SMOALK MOAR. Lol



One love

 

[downwardsfromzero]

So, pretty much, we should all SMOALK MOAR. Lol



One love

Maybe, although there are those of us who might choose to DRIANK(?) MOAR instead. Or as well.

I'd say harmalas have made their contribution to changing how I feel about myself, even if that was on top of more than two decades of varying levels of mushroom use. We'll see if they make me any less of an idiot and I must admit here that there's now no way of knowing how my mind might have shaped up had I not taken what amounts to, when listed, a whole party pack of moooostly psychedelic drewgz thru the ages.

Frankly, I hope this stuff patches up a few of the holes for a while.

 

[Voidmatrix]

So, pretty much, we should all SMOALK MOAR. Lol



One love

Maybe, although there are those of us who might choose to DRIANK(?) MOAR instead. Or as well.

I'd say harmalas have made their contribution to changing how I feel about myself, even if that was on top of more than two decades of varying levels of mushroom use. We'll see if they make me any less of an idiot and I must admit here that there's now no way of knowing how my mind might have shaped up had I not taken what amounts to, when listed, a whole party pack of moooostly psychedelic drewgz thru the ages.

Frankly, I hope this stuff patches up a few of the holes for a while.

How about "ingoast moar?" that way we cover all of our bases lol.

For some knowledge points, a time machine would be required

One love

 

[Matoskah]

It's very logical and indeed interesting; our brains are made to adapt and they do so by creating new patterns. You could compare using drugs to most thing, like learning a language. We familiar ourselves with the substances and we steadily start to adapt to their effects to the point where we feel like we "know them" just like we'd learn and get to know a new language.

In severe cases people can fall into depressions because of changes in our neurotransmitters that causes us to produce less of our own natural product since the body has adapted to a higher than normal level. When we get to hot, we sweat because the body attempts to return to a normal temperature. When we take drugs, we flood our body with higher levels of dopamine etc. which causes a response, the body itself starts to produce less of them.

In my experience all long term use leads up to problems sooner or later. I used to be a avid cannabis user up til one day when I got my first kid and stopped using drugs all together. I had some major mood swings around that time, disturbance in sleep, difficulties falling a sleep etc. I felt great once I got back to my old self and I now treat cannabis like I treat aya/dmt.

With aya/dmt I've never been a long term user but a seasonal one every 3-5th year or so and that works really well. It's a complete reset by the time I delve into the abyss again. It's what works for me and I really enjoy it.

Cannabis was much more habitual because of how good it made me feel in all aspects of life until I started to realize how much it had changed me along the way. When my son was born I knew that I wanted him to know the real me. I didn't want to be the stoner dad.

Food for thought, be safe ,travelers.

 

[murklan]

...
Food for thought, be safe ,travelers.

Thank you, good read. Glad that you shared your experiences.
Stay aware.

 

[ava69]

Long-term use of psychedelic drugs is associated with differences in brain structure and personality in humans
José Carlos Bouso 1, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes 2, Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells 3, Sidarta Ribeiro 2, Rafael Sanches 4, José Alexandre S Crippa 4, Jaime E C Hallak 4, Draulio B de Araujo 2, Jordi Riba 5
Affiliations expand
PMID: 25637267 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.01.008
Abstract
Psychedelic agents have a long history of use by humans for their capacity to induce profound modifications in perception, emotion and cognitive processes. Despite increasing knowledge of the neural mechanisms involved in the acute effects of these drugs, the impact of sustained psychedelic use on the human brain remains largely unknown. Molecular pharmacology studies have shown that psychedelic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT)2A agonists stimulate neurotrophic and transcription factors associated with synaptic plasticity. These data suggest that psychedelics could potentially induce structural changes in brain tissue. Here we looked for differences in cortical thickness (CT) in regular users of psychedelics. We obtained magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of the brains of 22 regular users of ayahuasca (a preparation whose active principle is the psychedelic 5HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)) and 22 controls matched for age, sex, years of education, verbal IQ and fluid IQ. Ayahuasca users showed significant CT differences in midline structures of the brain, with thinning in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a key node of the default mode network. CT values in the PCC were inversely correlated with the intensity and duration of prior use of ayahuasca and with scores on self-transcendence, a personality trait measuring religiousness, transpersonal feelings and spirituality. Although direct causation cannot be established, these data suggest that regular use of psychedelic drugs could potentially lead to structural changes in brain areas supporting attentional processes, self-referential thought, and internal mentation. These changes could underlie the previously reported personality changes in long-term users and highlight the involvement of the PCC in the effects of psychedelics.

Thanks for study Murklan.

 

[ava69]

I was refleting on this study while I was at the waterpark this morning, and I remember in my early 20's when I was a lifeguard on the beach, that I was very introverted, I let the women lifeguards do all the talking, I was a person of few words, always more the observer and reader of people...always a good listener, learned this from the women.

It was not until 10 years later when I began drinking Ayahuasca x twice a month that I became more of an extrovert, and social.

This attached studies also brings up remarkable personality enhancements, besides the normal freedom from depression, drug addiction, and anger issues, and irresponsability issues.

One thing I dislike about all these studies, is they all focus on the 5-ht2a receptor too much, when in actuallity, it's the 3 adrenal receptors that mescaline and DMT all target way stronger. Mescaline does not even target the 5-ht2a at all, despite the false saying on wikipedia.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

One thing I dislike about all these studies, is they all focus on the 5-ht2a receptor too much, when in actuallity, it's the 3 adrenal receptors that mescaline and DMT all target way stronger. Mescaline does not even target the 5-ht2a at all, despite the false saying on wikipedia.

The activity of mescaline at 5-HT2a receptors has at least been inferred from its cross tolerance with both psilocin and LSD-25. This cross-tolerance is occurring because of the down-regulation of the 5-HT2a receptors. I'd still love to see a definitive study of the receptorome profile of mescaline in humans, of course. Some sources even mention activity of mescaline at the imidazoline receptors. It would be a lengthy study, but selective blockade of each of the receptor types in question should be examined for its effect on the mescaline experience. We do know that ketanserin and a spiperone analogue (Ismaiel, A. M., De Los, A. J., Teitler, M., Ingher, S., & Glennon, R. A. (1993). Antagonism of 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl)-2-aminopropane stimulus with a newly identified 5-HT 2 - versus 5-HT 1C -selective antagonist. J Med Chem 36, 2519 – 2525.) selectively block 5-HT2a and abolish stimulus discrimination in rats, though.

When it comes to ayahuasca and brain changes, it should be clear that there's more going on than just 5-HT2a mediated action, I'll agree.

 

[murklan]

I knew this was the right place to post it Great responses, knowledge and curiosity!
The sharing and explorations continues.