Article
Psychology, Biological
Philip Newsome, Sonia G. Ruiz, Andrea L. Gold, Daniel S. Pine, Rany Abend
Summary: An alternative fear potentiated startle (FPS) scoring method was used to examine threat conditioning and extinction in individuals with anxiety disorders. The study found that individuals with anxiety disorders exhibited stronger retention of threat contingency during extinction. These findings support extinction theories of anxiety and suggest the importance of further research on aberrant extinction in pathological anxiety.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Jessica L. Maples-Keller, Seth D. Norrholm, Mark Burton, Collin Reiff, Callan Coghlan, Tanja Jovanovic, Carly Yasinski, Kathleen Jarboe, Jeffrey Rakofsky, Sheila Rauch, Boadie W. Dunlop, Barbara O. Rothbaum
Summary: This study investigated the effects of MDMA on fear learning, extinction training, and retention in healthy humans. Although the hypothesized facilitation of extinction retention was not observed, the findings from this initial human trial provide compelling rationale to continue exploring the potential impact of MDMA on extinction retention.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Julia S. Yarrington, Meghan Vinograd, Alexander L. Williams, Kate B. Wolitzky-Taylor, Richard E. Zinbarg, Susan Mineka, Allison M. Waters, Michelle G. Craske
Summary: This study used SR and SCR to predict longitudinal changes in anxiety and depression symptoms. The results showed that SR and SCR were associated with an increase in these symptom factors over time.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Jessica Maples-Keller, Laura E. Watkins, K. Maria Nylocks, Carly Yasinski, Callan Coghlan, Kathryn Black, Tanja Jovanovic, Sheila A. M. Rauch, Barbara O. Rothbaum, Seth Davin Norrholm
Summary: This study examined fear acquisition, extinction learning, and retention in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients before and after treatment, and found excessive fear in PTSD patients during acquisition and extinction. It also found that high responders to prolonged exposure therapy (PE) maintained fear extinction learning, while low responders showed a return of fear after treatment.
BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH AND THERAPY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Yuanhui Li, Nan Li, Liqun Zhang, Yanru Liu, Tianjiao Zhang, Dai Li, Dexiang Bai, Xiang Liu, Lingjiang Li
Summary: This study develops a fear-potentiated startle paradigm and a machine learning approach to accurately predict PTSD symptoms in Chinese firefighters. The machine learning model can identify firefighters with a PCL-C score of 38 or above with sensitivity and specificity both above 0.85 when 5-fold cross validated on a 1107-person sample.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Developmental Biology
Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Bassem Saad, Celine Bazzi, Hiba Abu Suhaiban, Dalia F. Mammo, Ragda Izar, Noor Abou Rass, Sterling J. Winters, Raya Nashef, Ayat Abed Ali, Arash Javanbakht, Tanja Jovanovic
Summary: Fear-potentiated startle (FPS) can be used as a biomarker to measure fear and safety learning behaviors affected by trauma, particularly in youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a study on Syrian youth exposed to war trauma, it was found that FPS during fear extinction was associated with symptoms of PTSD. The results suggest the potential use of trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy based on extinction learning principles for youth with PTSD.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Maren Klingelhoefer, Jayne Morriss, Tina B. Lonsdorf
Summary: Research has found that individuals' intolerance of uncertainty (IU) affects their subjective and physiological responses during fear conditioning procedures. People with high IU show higher fear ratings during fear acquisition and delayed extinction training. However, IU and STAI-T are not significantly related to skin conductance and auditory startle blink.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychiatry
Christopher S. Stauffer, Tyler E. Morrison, Nathan K. Meinzer, David Leung, Jessica Buffington, Evan G. Sheh, Thomas C. Neylan, Aoife O'Donovan, Joshua D. Woolley
Summary: Co-occurring PTSD and AUD is common and treatment options are limited. Intranasal oxytocin administration may be effective in reducing symptoms, but dosage is important. This study found that oxytocin 20 IU had no effect on startle reactivity in co-occurring patients, while oxytocin 40 IU increased startle reactivity.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Enrico Marchetta, Giulia F. Mancini, Maria Morena, Patrizia Campolongo
Summary: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric disease resulting from traumatic events. Current psychological or pharmacological interventions have limited effectiveness, indicating a need for advancement in PTSD treatment. The combination of psychological interventions and pharmacological medications shows promise for improving outcomes. This article reviews clinical trial data on combined treatments and discusses relevant findings from animal studies.
CURRENT NEUROPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Psychiatry
Robert J. Sottile, Thomas Vida
Summary: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating psychiatric disorder, and the current drug treatments are limited. However, MDMA may play a role in strengthening therapeutic alliance and trauma processing through the increase of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) availability and pro-social effects.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Anne Richards, Sabra S. Inslicht, Leslie M. Yack, Thomas J. Metzler, J. Russell Huie, Laura D. Straus, Cassandra Dukes, Samantha Q. Hubachek, Kim L. Felmingham, Daniel H. Mathalon, Steven H. Woodward, Thomas C. Neylan
Summary: This study examines the relationship between emotional learning and REM sleep in trauma-exposed participants using fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and nap sleep protocol. The results show that safety learning is positively correlated with REM sleep and REM sleep is related to rapid extinction learning. Moreover, the study reveals unexpected effects of PTSD symptoms and biological sex on the learning-sleep relationship.
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Samantha R. Linton, Liat Levita
Summary: Adolescents' heightened anxiety and increased vulnerability to anxiety disorders may be partly due to blunted fear extinction processes and differences in perceptual responses to learned threat. The study found age-dependent dissociations between explicit and implicit measures of fear learning, with adolescents showing greater neural responses to learned threat. This heightened perceptual hyper-responsivity in adolescents may be an adaptive mechanism to protect them from harm, but also increase vulnerability to pathological anxiety levels.
DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Christoph Szeska, Heino Mohrmann, Alfons O. Hamm
Summary: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy uses eye movements to reduce distress during fear exposure. This study tested the neural mechanism underlying these effects by manipulating eye movements in a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm. The results suggest that saccadic eye movements facilitate the extinction of fear responses.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Michael W. Lewis, Christian A. Webb, Manuel Kuhn, Eylul Akman, Sydney A. Jobson, Isabelle M. Rosso
Summary: This study successfully predicted the factors that reliably predict fear extinction in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using penalized regression algorithms. These findings offer novel insights for the development of personalized exposure therapies.
Article
Neurosciences
Valentina Olivera-Pasilio, Joanna Dabrowska
Summary: This study investigates the effects of signal-threat contingency, signal-threat order, and threat predictability on fear-potentiated startle (FPS) in both sexes. Results show higher shock reactivity in females during fear-conditioning and a lower proportion between cue-elicited vigilant state and cued fear in Sprague-Dawley females in the classic FPS. Following unpredictable fear-conditioning, Wistar females exhibit significantly higher startle and contextual fear than males. These findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms underlying the higher incidence of PTSD in women.
Article
Neurosciences
Friederike Holze, Toya V. Caluori, Patrick Vizeli, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: This study found that LSD has dose-dependent subjective, physiological, and adverse effects. Most subjects reported good drug effects at doses of 50 μg and above, but also experienced negative effects. The physiological effects of LSD were moderate, with no serious psychological or physical harm observed.
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Anna M. Becker, Friederike Holze, Tanja Grandinetti, Aaron Klaiber, Vanja E. Toedtli, Karolina E. Kolaczynska, Urs Duthaler, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Edna Grunblatt, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: The study examined the interaction between escitalopram and psilocybin in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Escitalopram pretreatment was found to reduce certain negative effects of psilocybin, but further research is needed to fully understand the interactions between antidepressants and psilocybin in patients with psychiatric disorders.
CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS
(2022)
Correction
Neurosciences
Friederike Holze, Toya V. Caluori, Patrick Vizeli, Matthias E. Liechti
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Felix Mueller, Elias Kraus, Friederike Holze, Anna Becker, Laura Ley, Yasmin Schmid, Patrick Vizeli, Matthias E. Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt
Summary: Reoccurring drug-like experiences after the administration of LSD and psilocybin are common in healthy subjects, occurring in up to 9.2% of participants. However, these experiences are generally mild and perceived as neutral to pleasant. Flashback phenomena do not appear to be clinically relevant in controlled studies with healthy participants.
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Friederike Holze, Laura Ley, Felix Muller, Anna M. Becker, Isabelle Straumann, Patrick Vizeli, Sebastian Silva Kuehne, Marc A. Roder, Urs Duthaler, Karolina E. Kolaczynska, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: This study compared the subjective and autonomic effects of LSD and psilocybin, finding that the higher doses of both substances produced similar subjective effects, but psilocybin had weaker effects at a lower dose. Additionally, LSD and psilocybin showed differences in their effects on heart rate and blood pressure.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David Buergin, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Vera Clemens, Eva Unternahrer, Cyril Boonmann, Aoife O'Donovan, Marc Schmid
Summary: Chronic stress has been found to accelerate biological aging, as indicated by shorter age-adjusted leukocyte telomere length. This study explores the association between hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a measure of chronic hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activation, and leukocyte telomere length (LTL). The results show a negative association between HCC and LTL, suggesting that higher cortisol levels are associated with shorter telomeres. This finding supports the hypothesis that prolonged cortisol secretion is involved in telomere attrition. HCC may serve as a useful biological indicator of chronic stress and aging-related processes in individuals exposed to high levels of stress.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Anna M. Becker, Aaron Klaiber, Friederike Holze, Ioanna Istampoulouoglou, Urs Duthaler, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: This study aimed to investigate whether ketanserin can reverse the effects of LSD when administered after LSD. The results showed that ketanserin reversed the acute response to LSD, significantly reducing the duration of subjective effects. Ketanserin also reversed LSD-induced alterations of mind, reduced adverse cardiovascular effects and had no effects on elevations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels. Ketanserin did not alter the pharmacokinetics of LSD.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Else Schneider, Jessica P. K. Doll, Nina Schweinfurth, Cedric Kettelhack, Anna-Chiara Schaub, Gulnara Yamanbaeva, Nimmy Varghese, Laura Mahlmann, Serge Brand, Anne Eckert, Stefan Borgwardt, Undine E. Lang, Andre Schmidt
Summary: This study investigates the effect of high-dose probiotic supplementation on cognitive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The results show that probiotic supplementation significantly improves immediate recall in the Verbal Learning Memory Test and affects hippocampus activation during working memory processing. These findings support the role of the gut microbiota-brain axis in MDD and highlight the potential of probiotic regimens to treat cognitive symptoms in depression.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY & NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Peter Bedford, Daniel J. Hauke, Zheng Wang, Volker Roth, Monika Nagy-Huber, Friederike Holze, Laura Ley, Patrick Vizeli, Matthias E. Liechti, Stefan Borgwardt, Felix Mueller, Andreea O. Diaconescu
Summary: This study investigated the neural mechanisms of LSD using rDCM and found that LSD disrupts the excitatory/inhibitory balance of the brain. Whole-brain effective connectivity was correlated with the subjective effects of LSD and could potentially be used to decode or predict these effects in the future.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Isabelle Straumann, Laura Ley, Friederike Holze, Anna M. Becker, Aaron Klaiber, Kathrin Wey, Urs Duthaler, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: There is renewed interest in the use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in psychiatric research and practice. The present study investigated whether the co-administration of MDMA can be used to augment acute subjective effects of LSD. Overall, the co-administration of MDMA (100 mg) did not improve acute effects or the safety profile of LSD (100 μg).
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Laura Ley, Friederike Holze, Denis Arikci, Anna M. Becker, Isabelle Straumann, Aaron Klaiber, Fabio Coviello, Sophie Dierbach, Jan Thomann, Urs Duthaler, Dino Luethi, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Matthias E. Liechti
Summary: This study aimed to compare the pharmacological, physiological, and phenomenological differences between mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin. The results showed that there were no qualitative differences in altered states of consciousness induced by equally strong doses of these substances, indicating that their pharmacological profiles do not translate into relevant differences in the subjective experience.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Severin B. B. Vogt, Laura Ley, Livio Erne, Isabelle Straumann, Anna M. M. Becker, Aaron Klaiber, Friederike Holze, Anja Vandersmissen, Lorenz Mueller, Urs Duthaler, Deborah Rudin, Dino Luethi, Nimmy Varghese, Anne Eckert, Matthias E. E. Liechti
Summary: DMT is a short-lasting psychedelic drug with potential therapeutic uses. In a study involving 27 healthy participants, different administration regimens were tested, and it was found that low and high bolus doses of DMT induced intense psychedelic effects, while DMT infusions produced slow and dose-dependent effects. Participants also showed acute tolerance to continuous DMT administration, with stable subjective effects despite increasing plasma concentrations.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Patrick Vizeli, Bruna Cuccurazzu, Sean P. A. Drummond, Dean T. Acheson, Victoria B. Risbrough
Summary: Sleep deprivation may not reliably disrupt human sensorimotor gating, and further research is needed to determine its efficacy as a model for drug discovery in PPI.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)