The interaction between genes and environment seems to be relevant for the development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), one of the most prevalent childhood psychiatric diseases. The occurrence of ADHD is typically associated with poor academic performance, probably reflecting learning difficulties and/or cognitive impulsiveness. The inbred Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) strain has often been considered as an animal model of ADHD, since they 'naturally' display the main ADHD symptomatology. Although pharmacological agents improve SHR's cognitive deficits, little is known about the involvement of environmental factors in SHR disabilities and to what extent 'protective' non-pharmacological factors may be considered as strategy for ADHD prevention. Here we investigated whether the rearing environment during neurodevelopment may counteract later cognitive deficits presented by adult SHR. Wistar (WIS) rats were also used to investigate whether the putative effects of environmental enrichment depend on a specific genetic background. The animals were reared in enriched environment (EE) or standard environment (SE) from the post-natal day 21 until 3 months of age (adulthood) and tested for cognitive and non-cognitive phenotypes. EE improved SHR's performance in open field habituation, water maze spatial reference, social and object recognition tasks, while non-cognitive traits, such as nociception and hypertension, were not affected by EE. Response of WIS rats was generally not affected by the present EE. These results show that the general low cognitive performance presented by SHR rats strongly depends on the rearing environment and they may suggest modifications of the familial environment as a putative preventive strategy to cope with ADHD.
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.
No Brasil, algumas plantas, bebidas e religiosidades são chamadas de jurema. Desde o período colonial, se registra o uso ritual da jurema entre indígenas do Nordeste do Brasil. Além disso, a jurema emerge com novas feições em uma religiosidade chamada catimbó, encadeada a partir daqueles ritos, e a qual foi alcançada pela umbanda em meados do século XX. A umbanda se reatualizou em contato com o catimbó, o qual garantiu um lugar para os juremeiros no seu interior ao ponto de encontrarmos na região uma religiosidade conhecida e praticada simplesmente como jurema. Em tais contextos, os fenômenos místicos são considerados relativos a forças misteriosas e elementos encantados. Contudo, cientes de que a jurema contém grande quantidade do alcaloide DMT, psiconautas no exterior do Brasil usaram esta planta misturada com outra oriunda do Oriente para elaborar uma bebida capaz de produzir significativos efeitos psicoativos. Chamada de juremahuasca, essa bebida passou a ser ritualizada no Brasil, onde ganhou contornos de religiosidades, inclusive institucionalizadas. Este artigo evoca essas correntes religiosas, sinalizando suas continuidades, rupturas e reformulações, mas focando mais enfaticamente na juremahuasca que faz parte religiosidades psiconáuticas enteogênicas próprias ao contexto de um misticismo alternativo no Brasil.
Recent studies have assessed that the mystical alterations in sense of self are the best candidates for improvements in self-consciousness and the therapeutic potentials of ayahuasca’s rituals. Here, we examine the predictive relations of self-consciousness by mysticism and ego-dissolution self-reports. A cross-sectional study was drawn to investigate which self-consciousness traits – private self, public self, social anxiety, self-reflection, insight, rumination, and reflection – could be predicted by the Hood Mysticism Scale (HMS) and Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI-8), as well as which psychological variables could be predicted by categorical variables regard ayahuasca use – frequency of use, self-related common dose and religion time – in a sample of ayahuasca religious users. A significant positive relation was found between HMS and adaptive self-consciousness traits, apart from insight, while a negative relation was found between HMS and maladaptive self-consciousness traits. Likewise, EDI-8 was a positive predictor of adaptative reflexive self-consciousness traits. Ayahuasca frequency was a positive predictor of public self, and religion time was a positive predictor of insight and a negative predictor of ego-dissolution. The common dose was a positive predictor of private and reflexive self, and a negative predictor of social anxiety, however dose effects on these self-consciousness traits were mediated by mystical experience. Our results suggest that the ceremonial use of ayahuasca may have positive value through mysticism, affecting different dimensions of self-consciousness. The present findings thus highlight the potential self-consciousness benefits of ayahuasca.
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