Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 10, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
8 citations
A survey of 517 Brazilian adults found that people who never or almost never used psychedelics reported higher death anxiety than those who had used them. The study also validated the Death Anxiety Scale in Brazil. Death transcendence—especially creative and religious forms—consistently explained variations in death anxiety across all models. A negative relationship emerged between death anxiety and mystical and religious factors of death transcendence. The authors interpret that psychedelics themselves do not directly reduce death anxiety; rather, they may facilitate experiences of transcending death—the sense of continuity beyond physical death, whether spiritual or symbolic—which in turn helps lower death anxiety.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2025
Ana Cláudia Mesquita Garcia, Lucas Oliveira Maia, Everson Meireles et al.
3 citations
The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a valid and reliable tool for Brazilian samples, measuring two factors: religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). The RWB factor showed superior psychometric performance, including better group differentiation and internal consistency. A U-shaped association emerged between psychedelic use and spiritual well-being: people who never used psychedelics reported the highest RWB and EWB scores, followed by frequent users, while occasional users scored lower. This pattern highlights the need for more research on the complex relationship between psychedelics and spiritual well-being.
Revista Neurociências
September 30, 2014
Janille Santos Corrêa, Vanessa Almeida Amorin, Denismar Alves Nogueira et al.
2 citations
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive tea made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis and used in religious contexts, was tested for its effect on the number of neuronal cell bodies in the mouse cerebral cortex. Fifteen mice were divided into three groups: a control group given saline for 15 days, a group given a single dose of ayahuasca extract, and a group given the extract daily for 15 consecutive days (dose 30 mg/ml). Alkaloids were confirmed in the tea. Image analysis showed no difference in the quantity of cortical neuronal cell bodies between the control group and either experimental group. The tea, at the dose and duration used, caused no quantitative change in neuronal cell bodies in the mouse cerebral cortex.
Revista Neurociências
September 1, 2014
Janille Santos Corrêa, Vanessa Almeida Amorin, Denismar Alves Nogueira et al.
2 citations
In mice, daily administration of ayahuasca extract for 15 days did not alter the number of neuron cell bodies in limbic, sensory, or motor areas of the cerebral cortex compared to a control group. A single dose also produced no change. The study counted neuron cell bodies in three groups of five mice each: one control group given saline, one given a single 30 mg/ml dose of ayahuasca extract, and one given the same dose daily for 15 days. The authors conclude that, at this dose and duration, ayahuasca does not affect neuron cell body counts in the examined cortical regions.