P.1.e.025 Effects of the Amazonian psychoactive plant beverage ayahuasca on prefrontal and limbic regions during a language task: a fMRI study

Prado, D. Almeida; Pinto, José Roberto Aparecido dos Santos; Crippa, José Alexandre de Souza; Santos, Antônio Carlos dos; Ribeiro, Sidarta; Araújo, Dráulio Barros de; Zuardi, Antônio Waldo; Chaves, Claudia Sousa; Hallak, Jaime Eduardo Cecílio

doi:10.1016/s0924-977x(09)70469-9

Cited by 8 publications

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“…One article [16] evaluated the effects of ayahuasca in patients with major depressive disorder and did not specify previous use by the volunteers. Acute effects were investigated in 8 studies [11][12][13][15][16][17][18][19], subacute effects in 1 study [20], and long-term effects in 2 studies [14,21]. The results found are consistent in demonstrating that there were brain anatomical and functional changes caused by ayahuasca in acute or chronic consumption.…”

Section: Results From Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Results were divided into neuroimaging techniques (SPECT, MRS, MRI, and fMRI). In 10 articles, the volunteers were healthy, with previous experience with ayahuasca [11][12][13][14][15][17][18][19]21] or without previous experience [20]. One article [16] evaluated the effects of ayahuasca in patients with major depressive disorder and did not specify previous use by the volunteers.…”

Section: Results From Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From our previous systematic review [1], six articles met our selection criteria [11][12][13][14][15][16]. We further searched the databases to include studies that were published after our previous review, resulting in 470 articles, of which none were duplicates.…”

Section: Article Screening and Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sample from Almeida Prado et al, 2009 [12], was composed of 10 healthy volunteers (five men and five women). All were ayahuasca users from the União do Vegetal (UDV) church.…”

Section: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri) Acute Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neural Network Modulation of Ayahuasca: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

et al. 2023

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Background: Ayahuasca is a serotoninergic hallucinogen that plays a central role in the Amazonian traditional medicine. Its psychoactive effects are associated with the presence of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO-A). Advances in neuroimaging investigations have provided insight into ayahuasca’s neurobiological mechanisms of action. Methods: Selecting only studies with neuroimaging results related to human ayahuasca consumption, we included six articles from a previous systematic review of serotoninergic hallucinogen neuroimaging studies up to 2016. Furthermore, we updated the data with a new systematic search from 2016 to 2022. We searched the PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS databases using the search terms “(ayahuasca OR DMT) AND (MRI OR fMRI OR PET OR SPECT OR imaging OR neuroimaging)”. Results: Our updated search provided five new articles for a total of 11 included in this review. The results on the Default Mode Network (DMN) are evident and may indicate a path to short term neuromodulation. Acutely, local neural networks appeared to become expanded, while overall brain connectivity declined. On chronic consumers, anatomical changes were reported, most notably related to cingulate cortex. Conclusion: Ayahuasca seems to change acute brain connectivity similarly to other psychedelics. The results are preliminary and further studies are warranted.

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Section: Results From Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Results From Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Article Screening and Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sample from Almeida Prado et al, 2009 [12], was composed of 10 healthy volunteers (five men and five women). All were ayahuasca users from the União do Vegetal (UDV) church.…”

Section: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri) Acute Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neural Network Modulation of Ayahuasca: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

et al. 2023

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“…It is the synergistic interaction of the two plants that make up the ayahuasca brew that confers its complex effects, which include sedation, ideation, space-time scale changes, sharpening of mental images, increased sound perception, dissociative perception, feelings of well-being, and increased interception ( Shanon, 2002 ; Riba et al, 2003 ; de Araujo et al, 2012 ). In humans, the most common effects include sensory, cognitive and affective alterations ( Almeida Prado et al, 2009 ), complex visual occurrences ( de Araujo et al, 2012 ), and even entheogenic experiences ( Shanon, 2003 ). The effects start from 35 to 40 min after ingesting the infusion, reach maximum intensity between 90 and 120 min, and end around 4 h after administration ( Riba et al, 2003 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Changes Over Time Following Ayahuasca Exposure in Zebrafish

Savoldi

Polari

Pinheiro-da-Silva

et al. 2017

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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The combined infusion of Banisteriopsis caapi stem and Psychotria viridis leaves, known as ayahuasca, has been used for centuries by indigenous tribes. The infusion is rich in N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, with properties similar to those of serotonin. Despite substantial progress in the development of new drugs to treat anxiety and depression, current treatments have several limitations. Alternative drugs, such as ayahuasca, may shed light on these disorders. Here, we present time-course behavioral changes induced by ayahuasca in zebrafish, as first step toward establishing an ideal concentration for pre-clinical evaluations. We exposed adult zebrafish to five concentrations of the ayahuasca infusion: 0 (control), 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3 ml/L (n = 14 each group), and behavior was recorded for 60 min. We evaluated swimming speed, distance traveled, freezing and bottom dwelling every min for 60 min. Swimming speed and distance traveled decreased with an increase in ayahuasca concentration while freezing increased with 1 and 3 ml/L. Bottom dwelling increased with 1 and 3 ml/L, but declined with 0.1 ml/L. Our data suggest that small amounts of ayahuasca do not affect locomotion and reduce anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish, while increased doses of the drug lead to crescent anxiogenic effects. We conclude that the temporal analysis of zebrafish behavior is a sensitive method for the study of ayahuasca-induced functional changes in the vertebrate brain.

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Seeing with the eyes shut: Neural basis of enhanced imagery following ayahuasca ingestion

Araújo¹,

Ribeiro²,

Cecchi³

et al. 2011

Human Brain Mapping

188

166

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The hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca, a rich source of serotonergic agonists and reuptake inhibitors, has been used for ages by Amazonian populations during religious ceremonies. Among all perceptual changes induced by Ayahuasca, the most remarkable are vivid "seeings." During such seeings, users report potent imagery. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a closed-eyes imagery task, we found that Ayahuasca produces a robust increase in the activation of several occipital, temporal, and frontal areas. In the primary visual area, the effect was comparable in magnitude to the activation levels of natural image with the eyes open. Importantly, this effect was specifically correlated with the occurrence of individual perceptual changes measured by psychiatric scales. The activity of cortical areas BA30 and BA37, known to be involved with episodic memory and the processing of contextual associations, was also potentiated by Ayahuasca intake during imagery. Finally, we detected a positive modulation by Ayahuasca of BA 10, a frontal area involved with intentional prospective imagination, working memory and the processing of information from internal sources. Therefore, our results indicate that Ayahuasca seeings stem from the activation of an extensive network generally involved with vision, memory, and intention. By boosting the intensity of recalled images to the same level of natural image, Ayahuasca lends a status of reality to inner experiences. It is therefore understandable why Ayahuasca was culturally selected over many centuries by rain forest shamans to facilitate mystical revelations of visual nature.

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P.1.e.025 Effects of the Amazonian psychoactive plant beverage ayahuasca on prefrontal and limbic regions during a language task: a fMRI study

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Neural Network Modulation of Ayahuasca: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

Neural Network Modulation of Ayahuasca: A Systematic Review of Human Studies

Behavioral Changes Over Time Following Ayahuasca Exposure in Zebrafish

Seeing with the eyes shut: Neural basis of enhanced imagery following ayahuasca ingestion

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