Human Brain Mapping
October 21, 2019
Bhim M. Adhikari, Juergen Dukart, Joerg F. Hipp et al.
24 citations
Ketamine, given at subanesthetic doses to healthy volunteers, produces psychosis-like symptoms and reduces functional connectivity in the salience network, auditory network, and default mode network (DMN). Midazolam, a sedative, only reduces DMN connectivity. The pattern of connectivity deficits caused by ketamine positively correlates with the pattern seen in schizophrenia, whereas midazolam's effects do not. After subtracting midazolam's effects, the remaining ketamine-specific disconnectivity pattern still correlates with schizophrenia deficits. This suggests that ketamine's psychosis-like effects have a brain functional basis that overlaps with schizophrenia-related connectivity disruptions.
April 8, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Greg J. Siegle et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation practices, which have been adapted into manualized interventions for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, show therapeutic promise, but their neuroscientific basis remains unclear. Current neuroimaging studies rely on small, heterogeneous datasets that vary in practice types, participant experience, clinical targets, and imaging methods, limiting generalizability and replicability. To address this, the ENIGMA-Meditation consortium was formed as a global collaboration to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and rigorously characterize the neural mechanisms underlying meditation's effects on psychological and cognitive attributes, advancing the field of contemplative neuroscience.
Psychedelic Medicine
January 18, 2026
Anthony L. Back, Bonnie A. Mcgregor, Leslie Lazar Thorn et al.
1 citation
A group retreat model of psilocybin therapy for people with metastatic cancer and anxiety or depression was safe and well tolerated. Fifty-two participants attended a 3-day retreat with 25 mg psilocybin, supported by virtual and in-person sessions. No episodes of unattended distress occurred during the psilocybin sessions. Anxiety and depression symptoms, measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, decreased by an average of 7.3 points from baseline to 28 days after the retreat, a statistically significant reduction. The findings suggest that a group configuration of eight participants with four core facilitators can be safe for future studies in people with serious medical illness.