Publications
1392 results found
Maron E, Lan C-C, Nutt D, 2018, Imaging and Genetic Approaches to Inform Biomarkers for Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, and PSTD, BIOMARKERS IN PSYCHIATRY, Editors: Pratt, Hall, Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, Pages: 219-292, ISBN: 978-3-319-99641-7
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- Citations: 7
Maron E, Lan C-C, Nutt D, 2018, Correction to: Imaging and Genetic Approaches to Inform Biomarkers for Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, and PSTD.
This chapter was inadvertently published with Fig. 1 which do not belong to this chapter and hence Fig. 1 is deleted from this chapter later.
Carhart-Harris RL, Bolstridge M, Day CMJ, et al., 2017, Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up, Psychopharmacology, Vol: 235, Pages: 399-408, ISSN: 0033-3158
RATIONALE: Recent clinical trials are reporting marked improvements in mental health outcomes with psychedelic drug-assisted psychotherapy. OBJECTIVES: Here, we report on safety and efficacy outcomes for up to 6 months in an open-label trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. METHODS: Twenty patients (six females) with (mostly) severe, unipolar, treatment-resistant major depression received two oral doses of psilocybin (10 and 25 mg, 7 days apart) in a supportive setting. Depressive symptoms were assessed from 1 week to 6 months post-treatment, with the self-rated QIDS-SR16 as the primary outcome measure. RESULTS: Treatment was generally well tolerated. Relative to baseline, marked reductions in depressive symptoms were observed for the first 5 weeks post-treatment (Cohen's d = 2.2 at week 1 and 2.3 at week 5, both p < 0.001); nine and four patients met the criteria for response and remission at week 5. Results remained positive at 3 and 6 months (Cohen's d = 1.5 and 1.4, respectively, both p < 0.001). No patients sought conventional antidepressant treatment within 5 weeks of psilocybin. Reductions in depressive symptoms at 5 weeks were predicted by the quality of the acute psychedelic experience. CONCLUSIONS: Although limited conclusions can be drawn about treatment efficacy from open-label trials, tolerability was good, effect sizes large and symptom improvements appeared rapidly after just two psilocybin treatment sessions and remained significant 6 months post-treatment in a treatment-resistant cohort. Psilocybin represents a promising paradigm for unresponsive depression that warrants further research in double-blind randomised control trials.
Timmermann C, Spriggs MJ, Kaelen M, et al., 2017, LSD modulates effective connectivity and neural adaptation mechanisms in an auditory oddball paradigm., Neuropharmacology, ISSN: 0028-3908
Under the predictive coding framework, perceptual learning and inference are dependent on the interaction between top-down predictions and bottom-up sensory signals both between and within regions in a network. However, how such feedback and feedforward connections are modulated in the state induced by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is poorly understood. In this study, an auditory oddball paradigm was presented to healthy participants (16 males, 4 female) under LSD and placebo, and brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Scalp level Event Related Fields (ERF) revealed reduced neural adaptation to familiar stimuli, and a blunted neural 'surprise' response to novel stimuli in the LSD condition. Dynamic causal modelling revealed that both the presentation of novel stimuli and LSD modulate backward extrinsic connectivity within a task-activated fronto-temporal network, as well as intrinsic connectivity in the primary auditory cortex. These findings show consistencies with those of previous studies of schizophrenia and ketamine but also studies of reduced consciousness - suggesting that rather than being a marker of conscious level per se, backward connectivity may index modulations of perceptual learning common to a variety of altered states of consciousness, perhaps united by a shared altered sensitivity to environmental stimuli. Since recent evidence suggests that the psychedelic state may correspond to a heightened 'level' of consciousness with respect to the normal waking state, our data warrant a re-examination of the top-down hypotheses of conscious level and suggest that several altered states may feature this specific biophysical effector.
Stroud JB, Freeman TP, Leech R, et al., 2017, Psilocybin with psychological support improves emotional face recognition in treatment-resistant depression, Psychopharmacology, Vol: 235, Pages: 459-466, ISSN: 0033-3158
RATIONALE: Depressed patients robustly exhibit affective biases in emotional processing which are altered by SSRIs and predict clinical outcome. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate whether psilocybin, recently shown to rapidly improve mood in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), alters patients' emotional processing biases. METHODS: Seventeen patients with treatment-resistant depression completed a dynamic emotional face recognition task at baseline and 1 month later after two doses of psilocybin with psychological support. Sixteen controls completed the emotional recognition task over the same time frame but did not receive psilocybin. RESULTS: We found evidence for a group × time interaction on speed of emotion recognition (p = .035). At baseline, patients were slower at recognising facial emotions compared with controls (p < .001). After psilocybin, this difference was remediated (p = .208). Emotion recognition was faster at follow-up compared with baseline in patients (p = .004, d = .876) but not controls (p = .263, d = .302). In patients, this change was significantly correlated with a reduction in anhedonia over the same time period (r = .640, p = .010). CONCLUSIONS: Psilocybin with psychological support appears to improve processing of emotional faces in treatment-resistant depression, and this correlates with reduced anhedonia. Placebo-controlled studies are warranted to follow up these preliminary findings.
Davies B, Brown LA, Cais O, et al., 2017, A point mutation in the ion conduction pore of AMPA receptor <i>GRIA3</i> causes dramatically perturbed sleep patterns as well as intellectual disability, HUMAN MOLECULAR GENETICS, Vol: 26, Pages: 3869-3882, ISSN: 0964-6906
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- Citations: 22
Carhart-Harris RL, Roseman L, Bolstridge M, et al., 2017, Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression: fMRI-measured brain mechanisms, Scientific Reports, Vol: 7, ISSN: 2045-2322
Psilocybin with psychological support is showing promise as a treatment model in psychiatry but its therapeutic mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) were measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after treatment with psilocybin (serotonin agonist) for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Quality pre and post treatment fMRI data were collected from 16 of 19 patients. Decreased depressive symptoms were observed in all 19 patients at 1-week post-treatment and 47% met criteria for response at 5 weeks. Whole-brain analyses revealed post-treatment decreases in CBF in the temporal cortex, including the amygdala. Decreased amygdala CBF correlated with reduced depressive symptoms. Focusing on a priori selected circuitry for RSFC analyses, increased RSFC was observed within the default-mode network (DMN) post-treatment. Increased ventromedial prefrontal cortex-bilateral inferior lateral parietal cortex RSFC was predictive of treatment response at 5-weeks, as was decreased parahippocampal-prefrontal cortex RSFC. These data fill an important knowledge gap regarding the post-treatment brain effects of psilocybin, and are the first in depressed patients. The post-treatment brain changes are different to previously observed acute effects of psilocybin and other ‘psychedelics’ yet were related to clinical outcomes. A ‘reset’ therapeutic mechanism is proposed.
Andersson M, Horder J, Mendez M, et al., 2017, A multicenter positron emission tomography study of GABA receptor availability in adults with autism, 30th Congress of the European-College-of-Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), Publisher: ELSEVIER, Pages: S716-S717, ISSN: 0924-977X
Quaglio G, Schellekens A, Blankers M, et al., 2017, A Brief Outline of the Use of New Technologies for Treating Substance Use Disorders in the European Union, EUROPEAN ADDICTION RESEARCH, Vol: 23, Pages: 177-181, ISSN: 1022-6877
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- Citations: 7
Freeman TP, Pope RA, Wall MB, et al., 2017, Cannabis dampens the effects of music in brain regions sensitive to reward and emotion, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, Vol: 21, Pages: 21-32, ISSN: 1461-1457
Background: Despite the current shift towards permissive cannabis policies, few studies have investigated the pleasurable effects users seek. Here we investigate the effects of cannabis on listening to music - a rewarding activity that frequently occurs in the context of recreational cannabis use. We additionally tested how these effects are influenced by cannabidiol (CBD), which may offset cannabis-related harms. Methods: Across three sessions, sixteen cannabis users inhaled cannabis with CBD, cannabis without CBD, and placebo. We compared their response to music relative to control excerpts of scrambled sound during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) within regions identified in a meta-analysis of music-evoked reward and emotion. All results were False Discovery Rate corrected (p<0.05). Results: Compared to placebo, cannabis without CBD dampened response to music in bilateral auditory cortex (right: p=0.005, left: p=0.008), right hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus (p=0.025), right amygdala (p=0.025) and right ventral striatum (p=0.033). Across all sessions, the effects of music in this ventral striatal region correlated with pleasure ratings (p=0.002) and increased functional connectivity with auditory cortex (right: p=0.000, left: p=0.000), supporting its involvement in music reward. Functional connectivity between right ventral striatum and auditory cortex was increased by CBD (right: p=0.003, left: p=0.030), and cannabis with CBD did not differ from placebo on any fMRI measures. Both types of cannabis increased ratings of wanting to listen to music (p<0.002) and enhanced sound perception (p<0.001). Conclusions: Cannabis dampens the effects of music in brain regions sensitive to reward and emotion. These effects were offset by a key cannabis constituent, cannabidol.
Watts R, Day C, Krzanowski J, et al., 2017, Patients' Accounts of Increased "Connectedness" and "Acceptance" After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression, JOURNAL OF HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY, Vol: 57, Pages: 520-564, ISSN: 0022-1678
Carhart-Harris RL, Nutt D, 2017, Serotonin and brain function: a tale of two receptors, Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol: 31, Pages: 1091-1120, ISSN: 1461-7285
Previous attempts to identify a unified theory of brain serotonin function have largely failed to achieve consensus. In this present synthesis, we integrate previous perspectives with new and older data to create a novel bipartite model centred on the view that serotonin neurotransmission enhances two distinct adaptive responses to adversity, mediated in large part by its two most prevalent and researched brain receptors: the 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors. We propose that passive coping (i.e. tolerating a source of stress) is mediated by postsynaptic 5-HT1AR signalling and characterised by stress moderation. Conversely, we argue that active coping (i.e. actively addressing a source of stress) is mediated by 5-HT2AR signalling and characterised by enhanced plasticity (defined as capacity for change). We propose that 5-HT1AR-mediated stress moderation may be the brain’s default response to adversity but that an improved ability to change one’s situation and/or relationship to it via 5-HT2AR-mediated plasticity may also be important – and increasingly so as the level of adversity reaches a critical point. We propose that the 5HT1AR pathway is enhanced by conventional 5-HT reuptake blocking antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), whereas the 5-HT2AR pathway is enhanced by 5-HT2AR-agonist psychedelics. This bipartite model purports to explain how different drugs (SSRIs and psychedelics) that modulate the serotonergic system in different ways, can achieve complementary adaptive and potentially therapeutic outcomes.
Edison P, Mayers J, Calsolaro V, et al., 2017, Dementia Platform U.K. Experimental medicine: human in vivo astroglial activation in early Alzheimer’s disease, Alzheimer's and Dementia, Vol: 13, Pages: P1073-P1074, ISSN: 1552-5260
Murphy A, Nestor LJ, McGonigle J, et al., 2017, Acute D3 Antagonist GSK598809 Selectively Enhances Neural Response During Monetary Reward Anticipation in Drug and Alcohol Dependence (vol 42, pg 1049, 2017), NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 42, Pages: 1925-1926, ISSN: 0893-133X
Casajuana Kogel C, Mercedes Balcells-Olivero M, Lopez-Pelayo H, et al., 2017, The Standard Joint Unit, DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE, Vol: 176, Pages: 109-116, ISSN: 0376-8716
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- Citations: 41
Law FD, Diaper AM, Melichar JK, et al., 2017, Buprenorphine/naloxone versus methadone and lofexidine in community stabilisation and detoxification: A randomised controlled trial of low dose short-term opiate-dependent individuals, Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol: 31, Pages: 1046-1055, ISSN: 1461-7285
Buprenorphine/naloxone, methadone and lofexidine are medications with utility in the treatment of opiate withdrawal. We report the first randomised controlled trial to compare the effects of these two medications on withdrawal symptoms and outcome during opiate induction/stabilisation and detoxification. A double-blind randomised controlled trial was conducted in an outpatient satellite clinic of a specialist drug service. Eighty opiate dependent individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for opiate dependence, using ⩽ ½ g heroin smoked/chased or ¼ g heroin injected or ⩽ 30mg methadone, with ⩽ 3 years of opioid dependency, underwent a short-term opiate treatment programme involving induction/stabilisation on methadone 30mg or buprenorphine/naloxone 4mg/1mg, followed by detoxification (where the methadone group was assisted by lofexidine). The main outcome measures were urine drug screens for opiates and withdrawal and craving questionnaires. There were no overall differences in positive urine drug screens and drop-outs during any phase of the study. During induction/stabilisation, withdrawal symptoms subsided more slowly for buprenorphine/naloxone than for methadone, and craving was significantly higher in the buprenorphine/naloxone group (p<0.05, 95% confidence interval −3.5, −0.38). During detoxification, withdrawal symptoms were significantly greater and the peak of withdrawal was earlier for the methadone/lofexidine group than the buprenorphine/naloxone group (p<0.01, 95% confidence interval 3.0, 8.3). Methadone/lofexidine and buprenorphine/naloxone had comparable outcomes during rapid outpatient stabilisation and detoxification in low dose opiate users.
Nutt D, 2017, New ACMD regulations threaten UK's pharmaceutical discovery, LANCET, Vol: 389, Pages: 2283-2283, ISSN: 0140-6736
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- Citations: 1
Maron E, Nutt D, 2017, Biological markers of generalized anxiety disorder, DIALOGUES IN CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE, Vol: 19, Pages: 147-157, ISSN: 1294-8322
Erritzoe D, Nutt DJ, Carhart-Harris R, 2017, Concerns regarding conclusions made about LSD-treatments, HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRY, Vol: 28, Pages: 257-258, ISSN: 0957-154X
Singh I, Morgan C, Curran V, et al., 2017, Ketamine treatment for depression: opportunities for clinical innovation and ethical foresight, LANCET PSYCHIATRY, Vol: 4, Pages: 419-426, ISSN: 2215-0374
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- Citations: 83
Turton S, Mick I, Myers J, et al., 2017, Comparing m-opioid receptor availability and opioid/β-endorphin release between individuals with gambling disorder, alcohol dependence and healthy volunteers using [<SUP>11</SUP>C]carfentanil PET and dexamphetamine challenge, 28th International Symposium on Cerebral Blood Flow, Metabolism and Function / 13th International Conference on Quantification of Brain Function with PET, Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, Pages: 97-97, ISSN: 0271-678X
Walpola IC, Nest T, Roseman L, et al., 2017, Altered Insula Connectivity under MDMA, Neuropsychopharmacology, Vol: 42, Pages: 2152-2162, ISSN: 0893-133X
Recent work with noninvasive human brain imaging has started to investigate the effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on large-scale patterns of brain activity. MDMA, a potent monoamine-releaser with particularly pronounced serotonin- releasing properties, has unique subjective effects that include: marked positive mood, pleasant/unusual bodily sensations and pro-social, empathic feelings. However, the neurobiological basis for these effects is not properly understood, and the present analysis sought to address this knowledge gap. To do this, we administered MDMA-HCl (100 mg p.o.) and, separately, placebo (ascorbic acid) in a randomized, double-blind, repeated-measures design with twenty-five healthy volunteers undergoing fMRI scanning. We then employed a measure of global resting-state functional brain connectivity and follow-up seed-to-voxel analysis to the fMRI data we acquired. Results revealed decreased right insula/salience network functional connectivity under MDMA. Furthermore, these decreases in right insula/salience network connectivity correlated with baseline trait anxiety and acute experiences of altered bodily sensations under MDMA. The present findings highlight insular disintegration (ie, compromised salience network membership) as a neurobiological signature of the MDMA experience, and relate this brain effect to trait anxiety and acutely altered bodily sensations–both of which are known to be associated with insular functioning.
Shimshoni JA, Winkler I, Edery N, et al., 2017, Toxicological evaluation of 5-methoxy-2-aminoindane (MEAI): Binge mitigating agent in development, TOXICOLOGY AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 319, Pages: 59-68, ISSN: 0041-008X
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- Citations: 6
Savulich G, Riccelli R, Passamonti L, et al., 2017, Effects of naltrexone are influenced by childhood adversity during negative emotional processing in addiction recovery, TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY, Vol: 7, ISSN: 2158-3188
Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist used in the management of alcohol dependence. Although the endogenous opioid system has been implicated in emotion regulation, the effects of mu-opioid receptor blockade on brain systems underlying negative emotional processing are not clear in addiction. Individuals meeting criteria for alcohol dependence alone (n=18, alcohol) and in combination with cocaine and/or opioid dependence (n=21, alcohol/drugs) and healthy individuals without a history of alcohol or drug dependence (n=21) were recruited. Participants were alcohol and drug abstinent before entered into this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate brain response while viewing aversive and neutral images relative to baseline on 50 mg of naltrexone and placebo. We found that naltrexone modulated task-related activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus as a function of childhood adversity (for aversive versus neutral images) in all groups. Furthermore, there was a group-by-treatment-by-condition interaction in the right amygdala, which was mainly driven by a normalization of response for aversive relative to neutral images under naltrexone in the alcohol/drugs group. We conclude that early childhood adversity is one environmental factor that influences pharmacological response to naltrexone. Pharmacotherapy with naltrexone may also have some ameliorative effects on negative emotional processing in combined alcohol and drug dependence, possibly due to alterations in endogenous opioid transmission or the kappa-opioid receptor antagonist actions of naltrexone.
Freeman TP, Pope R, Wall M, et al., 2017, Cannabis increases wanting but not liking of music and dampens its rewarding effects on the brain, European-College-of-Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Workshop for Junior Scientists in Europe, Publisher: Elsevier, Pages: S92-S93, ISSN: 0924-977X
Savulich G, Riccelli R, Passamonti L, et al., 2017, Effects of naltrexone are influenced by childhood adversity during negative emotional processing in addiction recovery, European-College-of-Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Workshop for Junior Scientists in Europe, Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, Pages: S59-S60, ISSN: 0924-977X
Morris LS, Baek K, Tait R, et al., 2017, Naltrexone ameliorates functional network abnormalities in alcohol-dependent individuals., Addiction Biology, Vol: 23, Pages: 425-436, ISSN: 1369-1600
Naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, is commonly used as a relapse prevention medication in alcohol and opiate addiction, but its efficacy and the mechanisms underpinning its clinical usefulness are not well characterized. In the current study, we examined the effects of 50-mg naltrexone compared with placebo on neural network changes associated with substance dependence in 21 alcohol and 36 poly-drug-dependent individuals compared with 36 healthy volunteers. Graph theoretic and network-based statistical analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data revealed that alcohol-dependent subjects had reduced functional connectivity of a dispersed network compared with both poly-drug-dependent and healthy subjects. Higher local efficiency was observed in both patient groups, indicating clustered and segregated network topology and information processing. Naltrexone normalized heightened local efficiency of the neural network in alcohol-dependent individuals, to the same levels as healthy volunteers. Naltrexone failed to have an effect on the local efficiency in abstinent poly-substance-dependent individuals. Across groups, local efficiency was associated with substance, but no alcohol exposure implicating local efficiency as a potential premorbid risk factor in alcohol use disorders that can be ameliorated by naltrexone. These findings suggest one possible mechanism for the clinical effects of naltrexone, namely, the amelioration of disrupted network topology.
Badiani A, Berridge KC, Heilig M, et al., 2017, Addiction research and theory: a commentary on the Surgeon General's Report on alcohol, drugs, and health., Addict Biol
The Office of the Surgeon General recently produced its first Report on the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse on health, making several very laudable policy recommendations. The Report also emphasizes the importance of adequate funding for biomedical research, which is good news for both researchers and patients. However, the Report is marred by a biased viewpoint on the psychology and neurobiology of drug addiction. We highlight here four controversial issues that were depicted as facts in the Report, thereby potentially misleading non-expert readers about the current state-of-the-art understanding of the psychology and neurobiology of drug addiction. It will be important to recognize a fuller range of scientific viewpoints in addiction neuroscience to avoid amplifying this bias in the coming years.
Morgan C, McAndrew A, Stevens T, et al., 2017, Tripping up addiction: the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of problematic drug and alcohol use, CURRENT OPINION IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Vol: 13, Pages: 71-76, ISSN: 2352-1546
Murphy A, Nestor LJ, McGonigle J, et al., 2017, Acute D3 antagonist GSK598809 selectively enhances neural response during monetary reward anticipation in drug and alcohol dependence, Neuropsychopharmacology, Vol: 42, Pages: 1049-1057, ISSN: 1740-634X
Evidence suggests that disturbances in neurobiological mechanisms of reward and inhibitory control maintain addiction and provoke relapse during abstinence. Abnormalities within the dopamine system may contribute to these disturbances and pharmacologically targeting the D3 dopamine receptor (DRD3) is therefore of significant clinical interest. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the acute effects of the DRD3 antagonist GSK598809 on anticipatory reward processing, using the monetary incentive delay task (MIDT), and response inhibition using the Go/No-Go task (GNGT). A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design approach was used in abstinent alcohol dependent, abstinent poly-drug dependent and healthy control volunteers. For the MIDT, there was evidence of blunted ventral striatal response to reward in the poly-drug-dependent group under placebo. GSK598809 normalized ventral striatal reward response and enhanced response in the DRD3-rich regions of the ventral pallidum and substantia nigra. Exploratory investigations suggested that the effects of GSK598809 were mainly driven by those with primary dependence on alcohol but not on opiates. Taken together, these findings suggest that GSK598809 may remediate reward deficits in substance dependence. For the GNGT, enhanced response in the inferior frontal cortex of the poly-drug group was found. However, there were no effects of GSK598809 on the neural network underlying response inhibition nor were there any behavioral drug effects on response inhibition. GSK598809 modulated the neural network underlying reward anticipation but not response inhibition, suggesting that DRD3 antagonists may restore reward deficits in addiction.
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