Motivation and emotion/Book/2021/Psychedelics and higher selves

Since the usage of peyote and psilocybin in Shamanic ceremonies to a tab of acid placed on someone's tongue at a party; psychedelics have always been a controversy in the medicinal field. As we progress further into the 21st century, there's been a paradigm shift within the psychopharmacological community towards the use of psychedelics for therapy.

We shall explore the usage of psychedelics as facilitators of growth.

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5000 BC - Early evidence in the Tassili n' Ajjer Plateau

 * Tassili mushroom man.png paintings of mushroom-holding Shamans
 * Could symbolize a lost religion based on hallucinogenic mushrooms

Peyote in Native American tribes

 * Found in the Shumla cave no.5 on the Rio Grande, Texas dating back to 3780-3660 BC
 * Alkaloid extraction led to identification of mescaline in two samples

Mysteries of Soma and Kykeon

 * Ancient psychedelic drink called Soma was mentioned in the Rig Veda
 * Use of ergot in brewing the potion called Kykeon in the Greek Elusinian Mysteries
 * Ergot also used to synthesise LSD

Entheogenic origins of consciousness

 * [[File:The brain from ape to man; a contribution to the study of the evolution and development of the human brain (1928) (20408211835).jpg|thumb|270x270px|Figure 2. The evolution of the brain from apes to humans]]Stoned ape.jpgnce McKenna's argument on consciousness and language being emergent properties through the consumption of psilocybin by Homo erectus
 * Entheogenic origins of consciousness common around many indigenous tribes

Criticism

 * Carhart-Harris states that psilocybin inhibits the activity in areas of the human brain that are involved in cognitive and symbolic changes
 * No evidence of Psylocybin cubensis mushrooms a million years ago in the sub-Saharan dessert



Entropic brain hypothesis
 * How it ties into the stoned ape theory and the expansion of the mind just between the "tipping point" of order and chaos

Traditional ceremonies

 * Entheogenic/psychoactive compounds such as peyote, psilocybe mushrooms, iboga, and their significance with shamanic ceremonies
 * Role of curandera or healer

Current clinical studies on shamanistic rituals

 * Perception of non-material spirits or entities and access to hidden knowledge - significance in self development

Mechanism of activating 5-HT2A receptors in prefrontal cortex

 * Metabolism of psilocybin to psilocin
 * Increased neural connectivity and deactivation of default mode network

Therapeutic usage of psilocybin

 * Treatment of depression through clinical administration of psilocybin
 * Treatment of opioid, alcohol and nicotine addiction

Limitations of studies

 * Self reported cross-sectional studies don't provide concrete causal inferences

N,N- Dimethyltryptamine

 * Indole alkaloid found in plants and animals
 * Released during birth and death - implications?
 * Shortest but most intense psychedelic experience

Ayahuasca in indigenous ceremonies

 * Amazonian origins




 * Decoction prepared from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, importance of dieta
 * Qualitative field studies conducted in Peru on overcoming substance abuse
 * Changes in neuroticism (Weiss, B., Miller, J. D., Carter, N. T., & Keith Campbell, W.,2021)

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)

 * LSD-2D-skeletal-formula-and-3D-models.pngar effects to psilocybin on 5HT2A receptors (Dolder, P. C., Schmid, Y., Müller, F., Borgwardt, S., & Liechti, M. E., 2016)

Effects on cognition and emotions
{Ayahuasca contains ergot: - True +False
 * Impairment of recognising negative emotions and increased empathy
 * Increase of fractal dimensions in temporal and spatial domains
 * type=""}

{Psilocybin affects the reuptake of serotonin: +True - False
 * type=""}

Increasing prominence of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

 * Mood elevating effects
 * Treatment of depression and PTSD

Altered states of consciousness and the self

 * Connection to a larger collective consciousness
 * Implications for fostering a sense of community and wellbeing