Behavioral profile of constituents in ayahuasca, an Amazonian psychoactive plant mixture
Drug and Alcohol Dependence May 1, 1999 Cory S. Freedland, Robert S. Mansbach 51 citations
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant mixture traditionally used by aboriginal populations for spiritual and medicinal purposes, contains beta-carbolines from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and the hallucinogen N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). In mice, the beta-carboline harmine and B. caapi extract produced similar behavioral effects, especially in open-field tests, and both decreased acoustic startle amplitude without significantly affecting prepulse inhibition. DMT augmented clonic and tonic motor movements and appeared to attenuate the startle-decreasing effects of harmine and B. caapi, though these effects fell just short of significance. The findings suggest that the behavioral effects of B. caapi are largely due to harmine and related beta-carbolines, indicating the vine directly contributes to ayahuasca's unique subjective effects.