Case Reports in Neurological Medicine
January 1, 2017
Ahmed Al-Imam
18 citations
An 18-year-old white female from Australasia had persistently dilated pupils in both eyes, causing discomfort and burning in sunlight, though her pupillary light reflex remained normal. She used psychedelic substances including LSD, NBOMe, psilocybin, and DMT. Extensive medical, neurological, and radiological exams—including EEG and MRI of the head and neck—found no physical or anatomical cause. She had chronic endogenous depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, treated with citalopram and Ritalin. No family history of similar conditions existed.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
May 29, 2022
Ahmed Al-Imam, Marek A Motyka, Zuzanna Witulska et al.
7 citations
Psychedelics induce altered consciousness via the 5-HT2A receptor. Online searches in Poland for twenty psychedelics from 2017 to 2022 were analyzed using Google Trends data. Holt–Winters exponential smoothing revealed that twelve (60%) of the substances had significant seasonal patterns: psilocybin and ayahuasca showed annual seasonality, four substances (LSD, AL-LAD, DXM, DOB) had half-yearly seasonality, and six (cannabis, dronabinol, ergine, NBOMe, phencyclidine, salvinorin A) followed a quarterly pattern. The pandemic led to a significant positive change in search trends for psilocybin, ergine, and DXM. These spatiotemporal patterns may aid health authorities in monitoring and preventing addictions.
Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)
June 2, 2023
Ahmed Al-Imam, Marek A Motyka, Beata Hoffmann et al.
6 citations
Online searches for DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and the Colorado River toad increased significantly from 2012 to 2022, with the strongest upward trend for 5-MeO-DMT. Geographic interest in DMT was highest in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Far East Asia; 5-MeO-DMT searches prevailed in Western Europe, Indo-China, and Australasia; and toad-related searches originated from the Americas, Australia, India, the Philippines, and Europe. The literature review covers DMT's shamanic history, present-day illicit use, and experimental trials for neurotic disorders, suggesting potential medical uses if legal status changes.
Modern Applied Science
February 13, 2019
Ahmed Al-Imam, Faris Lami
3 citations
An analysis of comments from a Facebook population of psychedelic users explored preferences for substances to take before death. Most users recommended DMT for a final journey, while others suggested LSD, psilocybin, NBOMe compounds, or opiates. Inferential models indicated that tendencies for a pre-mortem psychedelic trip were not affected by social relations, ethnicity, nationality, age, or sex, but appeared based on individualistic build-up. Religious affiliations and cultural norms were potential confounding variables needing further study. The authors call for future studies to use automated data science and machine learning for real-time statistical inference on big data to benefit public health.
Drug safety
May 1, 2025
Ahmed Al-Imam, Riccardo Lora, Marek A Motyka et al.
1 citation
Natural language processing of 2188 user reports from the Erowid forum reveals distinct emotional and thematic patterns in experiences with psilocybin mushrooms versus LSD. The BERT model classified most experiences as negative, especially for psilocybin mushrooms, while VADER indicated more positive experiences for mushroom users. RoBERTa, which achieved the highest accuracy, predominantly classified experiences as negative or neutral. Lexicon analysis showed psilocybin reports emphasize introspection and time dilation, whereas LSD reports highlight memory issues and cognitive disorientation. These analyses can inform harm reduction and policy-making.
Global Journal of Health Science
September 18, 2017
Ahmed Al-Imam
1 citation
An 18-year-old Caucasian woman from New Zealand presented with persistently dilated pupils in both eyes, causing discomfort and oversensitivity to sunlight, although her pupillary light reflex remained intact. She had used psychedelic substances including LSD, NBOMe, psilocybin, and DMT. Medical, neurological, and radiological examinations, including EEG and MRI of the head and neck, found no abnormalities. She had chronic endogenous depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, treated with citalopram and Ritalin. No family history or congenital condition was present. Collateral analyses using Google Trends data explored geographic patterns related to psychedelic substances.