The psychopharmacology department at Maastricht University focuses on the cognitive, behavioral, and biological effects of various substances, ranging from pharmaceutical to recreational drugs
Ageing super brains
A surprising find by our departments' Peter van Ruitenbeek and Kim Kuypers! In their study, the presumed compensatory increases in neural activity in older adults did not "max out" at high task complexity levels, which contradicts the CRUNCH hypothesis. https://academic.oup.com/cercor/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cercor/bhac514/6966055?login=true
Cannabis containing equivalent concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) induces less state anxiety than THC-dominant cannabis
Can the cannabinoid CBD counteract the anxiety inducing effects of its psychoactive cousin THC? Turns out it depends on how anxious you feel before smoking up! Read about it in the recent publication by our colleague Dr. Nadia Hutten et al.: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9584997/
Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees
Historical and recent research suggests psychedelic drugs may be efficacious in alleviating anxiety-related symptoms among healthy and clinical populations. A recent study by our group investigated whether psilocybin-containing truffles, when taken in a supportive group setting, altered ratings of state and trait anxiety, and if these alterations were related to changes in neuroticism, mindfulness capacities,… Continue reading Decreases in State and Trait Anxiety Post-psilocybin: A Naturalistic, Observational Study Among Retreat Attendees
Addiction – The realm of myth
Peter van Ruitenbeek, assistant professor at our Department, gave a talk about what addiction actually entails beyond the conventional narrative focused on the acute increase in dopamine levels that substances of abuse cause. Here is a summary of his interesting presentation hosted by the 2022 edition of the Pleasure, Art and Science Festival 2022. In… Continue reading Addiction – The realm of myth
Ritualistic use of ayahuasca enhances a shared functional connectome identity with others.
Does context matter for brain fingerprints? Like the ridges and grooves of our fingerprints, brain functional connectivity architecture can help define us. Here we examined how might brain fingerprints alter as a result of the collective use of ayahuasca. Our results highlight the presence of a shared functional space under ritualistic ayahuasca use, similarly to… Continue reading Ritualistic use of ayahuasca enhances a shared functional connectome identity with others.