iScience
February 2, 2021
Jonathan Smallwood, Adam Turnbull, Hao-ting Wang et al.
130 citations
The landscape of ongoing thought is heterogeneous and shaped by both personal traits and environmental context. Recent work shows that attention and control systems organize experience in response to changing demands, while the default mode network contributes not only to task-negative or episodic content but also to the vividness of experience in both task contexts and spontaneous self-generated states. Multiple neural systems reflect the landscape of ongoing thought, and it is important to distinguish processes that shape how experience unfolds from those that regulate it.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 23, 2023
Anya Ragnhildstveit, Ryan Khan, Paul Seli et al.
17 citations
A single dose of vaporized bufotoxin from the Sonoran Desert Toad, containing an estimated 10-15 mg of 5-MeO-DMT, produced clinically significant improvements in chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD in a 23-year-old female. Next-day effects included marked reductions in hopelessness and suicide risk, with improvements sustained at 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. The subject reported a complete mystical experience, which may underlie the therapeutic activity. No serious adverse events occurred, but acute nausea, overwhelming subjective effects, and late-onset night terrors were reported. Results suggest 5-MeO-DMT is generally tolerable and effective for PTSD, though the findings are non-generalizable and rely on methods not clinically accepted.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
February 5, 2024
Rotem Petranker, Thomas Anderson, Youval Aberman et al.
14 citations
Microdosing, the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics, has become popular, with users reporting benefits like improved mood and creativity. A review of 15 papers published before March 2022 critically analyzed the research practices in this field. The review concludes that it is premature to draw any conclusions about the efficacy or safety of microdosing because the quality of the research is not confirmatory. The authors propose potential causes for this state of the literature and offer suggestions for improvement.
Consciousness and cognition
February 1, 2025
Anusha Garg, Shivang Shelat, Madeleine E Gross et al.
13 citations
Thinking aloud while letting the mind wander does not substantially alter the stream of consciousness compared to thinking silently. In two studies with 111 and 102 participants, people who verbalized their ongoing thoughts showed no significant differences in meta-awareness or how often their topics shifted. Of 21 thought qualities and 18 content topics examined, only three qualities (private thoughts, mind blanking, and session difficulty) and one topic (partner, intimacy, love, and sexual matters) differed between conditions. Cognitive load also did not differ. The findings indicate that the Think Aloud method is a reliable and minimally reactive tool for studying the natural flow of thoughts in task-absent settings.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
February 9, 2023
Anya Ragnhildstveit, Miriam Kaiyo, Matthew Brian Snyder et al.
10 citations
A 28-year-old woman with complex dissociative posttraumatic stress disorder (D-PTSD) underwent ten sessions of cannabis-assisted psychotherapy (CAP) over five months, combined with cognitive behavioral therapy. After treatment, her pathological dissociation score, measured by the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation, dropped by 98.5%, and she no longer met criteria for D-PTSD. She also experienced reduced cognitive distractibility, less emotional suffering, and improved psychosocial functioning. The patient has maintained these gains for over two years. The authors suggest CAP, which produced subjective effects similar to psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine, warrants further research as a potential treatment for D-PTSD.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 16, 2023
M. Brendle, Anya Ragnhildstveit, M. Slayton et al.
7 citations
A review of 56 registered clinical trials on ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression found that research activity increased since 2008, with peaks in 2015 and 2021. Most trials were Phase 2 or 3, examining these drugs as individual or combination treatments. The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale was the most common outcome measure. While large-scale, late-phase trials of esketamine are growing, many trials fail to assess patient characteristics like age, sex, and race that may affect treatment response. Understanding these design gaps can help scientists and funding bodies prioritize high-quality research.
Brain sciences
March 12, 2022
Anya Ragnhildstveit, Matthew Slayton, Laura Kate Jackson et al.
Eating disorders are serious psychiatric conditions with limited treatment options. Ketamine, a drug approved for treatment-resistant depression, is now being investigated for eating disorders. This review examines the evidence for ketamine in treating anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Results are encouraging but limited to case reports on anorexia nervosa. More research is needed to determine ketamine's effectiveness across different eating disorder types, establish safety, and optimize dosing.