Set and setting, psychedelics and the placebo response: An extra-pharmacological perspective on psychopharmacology

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Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance.

R R Griffiths, W A Richards, U McCann … (2006)

Although psilocybin has been used for centuries for religious purposes, little is known scientifically about its acute and persisting effects. This double-blind study evaluated the acute and longer-term psychological effects of a high dose of psilocybin relative to a comparison compound administered under comfortable, supportive conditions. The participants were hallucinogen-naïve adults reporting regular participation in religious or spiritual activities. Two or three sessions were conducted at 2-month intervals. Thirty volunteers received orally administered psilocybin (30 mg/70 kg) and methylphenidate hydrochloride (40 mg/70 kg) in counterbalanced order. To obscure the study design, six additional volunteers received methylphenidate in the first two sessions and unblinded psilocybin in a third session. The 8-h sessions were conducted individually. Volunteers were encouraged to close their eyes and direct their attention inward. Study monitors rated volunteers' behavior during sessions. Volunteers completed questionnaires assessing drug effects and mystical experience immediately after and 2 months after sessions. Community observers rated changes in the volunteer's attitudes and behavior. Psilocybin produced a range of acute perceptual changes, subjective experiences, and labile moods including anxiety. Psilocybin also increased measures of mystical experience. At 2 months, the volunteers rated the psilocybin experience as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance and attributed to the experience sustained positive changes in attitudes and behavior consistent with changes rated by community observers. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences. The ability to occasion such experiences prospectively will allow rigorous scientific investigations of their causes and consequences.

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Expectation and dopamine release: mechanism of the placebo effect in Parkinson's disease.

V. Sossi, John Ruth, A. Stoessl … (2001)

The power of placebos has long been recognized for improving numerous medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Little is known, however, about the mechanism underlying the placebo effect. Using the ability of endogenous dopamine to compete for [11C]raclopride binding as measured by positron emission tomography, we provide in vivo evidence for substantial release of endogenous dopamine in the striatum of PD patients in response to placebo. Our findings indicate that the placebo effect in PD is powerful and is mediated through activation of the damaged nigrostriatal dopamine system.

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LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: a qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects.

Peter Gasser, Katharina Kirchner, Torsten Passie (2014)

A recently published study showed the safety and efficacy of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Participants of this study were included in a prospective follow-up.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Journal of Psychopharmacology

Abbreviated Title: Journal of Psychopharmacology

Publisher: SAGE Publications

ISSN (Print): 0269-8811

ISSN (Electronic): 1461-7285

Publication date Created: November 18 2016

Publication date (Print): November 18 2016

Volume: 30

Issue: 12

Pages: 1259-1267

Article

DOI: 10.1177/0269881116677852

PubMed ID: 27852960

SO-VID: 3b0a1765-ec6c-410b-af6c-801b2afea96b

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Set and setting, psychedelics and the placebo response: An extra-pharmacological perspective on psychopharmacology

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Abstract

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Most cited references 72

Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance.

Expectation and dopamine release: mechanism of the placebo effect in Parkinson's disease.

LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: a qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects.

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Cited by 172

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