Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual-feedback (MVF)

Ramachandran, Vilayanur S.; Chunharas, Chaipat; Marcus, Zeve; Furnish, Timothy; Lin, Albert

doi:10.1080/13554794.2018.1468469

Cited by 40 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In addition to having the potential to treat mood and anxiety disorders, psilocybin has also demonstrated analgesic effects as evidenced by numerous clinical studies on the treatment of cluster (“suicide”) headaches [ 6 , 47 ], intractable phantom-limb pain (PLP) [ 51 ], and chronic pain [ 48 ]. One possible mechanism of action of this analgesic property is via interaction with nociceptive and antinociceptive pathways [ 48 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin

Toyang²,

et al. 2021

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The psychedelic effects of some plants and fungi have been known and deliberately exploited by humans for thousands of years. Fungi, particularly mushrooms, are the principal source of naturally occurring psychedelics. The mushroom extract, psilocybin has historically been used as a psychedelic agent for religious and spiritual ceremonies, as well as a therapeutic option for neuropsychiatric conditions. Psychedelic use was largely associated with the “hippie” counterculture movement, which, in turn, resulted in a growing, and still lingering, negative stigmatization for psychedelics. As a result, in 1970, the U.S. government rescheduled psychedelics as Schedule 1 drugs, ultimately ending scientific research on psychedelics. This prohibition on psychedelic drug research significantly delayed advances in medical knowledge on the therapeutic uses of agents such as psilocybin. A 2004 pilot study from the University of California, Los Angeles, exploring the potential of psilocybin treatment in patients with advanced-stage cancer managed to reignite interest and significantly renewed efforts in psilocybin research, heralding a new age in exploration for psychedelic therapy. Since then, significant advances have been made in characterizing the chemical properties of psilocybin as well as its therapeutic uses. This review will explore the potential of psilocybin in the treatment of neuropsychiatry-related conditions, examining recent advances as well as current research. This is not a systematic review.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin

Toyang²,

et al. 2021

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“…This lays the theoretical groundwork for why psychedelics may effectively treat depression: if depression is underpinned by a high precision prior of low allostatic self-efficacy (Stephan et al, 2016), it follows that relaxation and revision of this prior should alleviate depressive symptoms. Finally, (and speculatively), if the account of "retuning" of self-models under psychedelics presented here generalises to the bodily self (which the experiential changes in bodily selfhood would suggest) this account is suggestive of a potential role for psychedelics in the treatment of chronic pain, and for phantom limb pain -for which there has already been promising results (Fanciullacci, Bene, Franchi, & Sicuteri, 1977;Ramachandran, Chunharas, Marcus, Furnish, & Lin, 2018).…”

Section: Ecstatic Ego-dissolution and Challenging Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Dissolving the self

Deane

2020

PhiMiSci

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Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD and DMT are known to induce powerful alterations in phenomenology. Perhaps of most philosophical and scientific interest is their capacity to disrupt and even “dissolve” one of the most primary features of normal experience: that of being a self. Such “peak” or “mystical” experiences are of increasing interest for their potentially transformative therapeutic value. While empirical research is underway, a theoretical conception of the mechanisms underpinning these experiences remains elusive. In the following paper, psychedelic-induced ego-dissolution is accounted for within an active inference framework, as a collapse in the “temporal thickness” of an agent’s deep temporal model, as a result of lowered precision on high-level priors. The argument here is composed of three moves: first, a view of the self-model is proposed as arising within a temporally deep generative model of an embodied organism navigating an affordance landscape in the service of allostasis. Next, a view of the action of psychedelics as lowering the precision of high-level priors within the generative model is unpacked in terms of a high Bayesian learning rate. Finally, the relaxation of high-level priors is argued to cause a “collapse” in the temporal thickness of the generative model, resulting in a collapse in the self-model and a loss of the ordinary sense of being a self. This account has implications for our understanding of ordinary self-consciousness and disruptions in self-consciousness present in psychosis, autism, depression, and dissociative disorders. The philosophical, theoretical and therapeutic implications of this account are touched upon.

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“…The patient noted partial and transient relief of his symptoms after taking psilocybin‐containing mushrooms, only to have his symptoms resume their prior intensity once the acute drug effects had worn off. However, when the patient tried mirror therapy while still in a psychedelic state, he experienced more substantial and longer‐lasting effects and was eventually able to discontinue treatment altogether 138 . The improvement the patient experienced with psychedelic‐assisted mirror therapy, as well as the unsatisfactory response with psychedelic administration alone, is explained by the REBUS model.…”

Section: Mechanistic Models Of Fnds and Their Relevance To Psychedelimentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Cases 1 and 4 additionally provide some suggestion of a dose-response relationship, something also noted by the aforementioned phantom limb patient. 138 With the notable exception of case 4, all cases describe patients as developing insights into or change in connection with prior traumas, which may be of relevance to the therapeutic mechanism of these agents.…”

Section: A S E S Erie S and Rep Orts Of Psychedelic Ther Apy For mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An illustrative example of this is the phenomenon of phantom limb sensations, in which patients with amputations, despite understanding at a conscious level that a limb is gone, feel as though it is still present. Interestingly, alleviation of phantom limb pain through the use of psychedelics has been described in the literature [135][136][137][138]. Ramachandran et al detailed the case of a 35-year-old man with phantom right leg pain failing to respond satisfactorily to mirror therapy.…”

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Psychedelic‐assisted therapy for functional neurological disorders: A theoretical framework and review of prior reports

Stewart

Dean

Koek

et al. 2020

Pharmacology Res & Perspec

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Functional neurological disorders (FNDs), which are sometimes also referred to as psychogenic neurological disorders or conversion disorder, are common disabling neuropsychiatric disorders with limited treatment options. FNDs can present with sensory and/or motor symptoms, and, though they may mimic other neurological conditions, they are thought to occur via mechanisms other than those related to identifiable structural neuropathology and, in many cases, appear to be triggered and sustained by recognizable psychological factors. There is intriguing preliminary evidence to support the use of psychedelic‐assisted therapy in a growing number of psychiatric illnesses, including FNDs. We review the theoretical arguments for and against exploring psychedelic‐assisted therapy as a treatment for FNDs. We also provide an in‐depth discussion of prior published cases detailing the use of psychedelics for psychosomatic conditions, analyzing therapeutic outcomes from a contemporary neuroscientific vantage as informed by several recent neuroimaging studies on psychedelics and FNDs.

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Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual-feedback (MVF)

Cited by 40 publications

References 27 publications

The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin

The Therapeutic Potential of Psilocybin

Dissolving the self

Psychedelic‐assisted therapy for functional neurological disorders: A theoretical framework and review of prior reports

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