"INVOS" WE TRUST. Tissue Oximetry for Free Flap Monitoring in Lower Limb Reconstruction.

Introduction: Free flaps on the lower limb could make the difference between salvage and amputation. Regional tissue oximetry (rSO₂) measured by near-infrared light is a tool that is not yet widely described or recognized, as most published studies focus on its use in breast flap monitoring. However, in the context of lower limb reconstruction, it offers an objective and real-time evaluation of flap tissue perfusion, enabling faster responses for salvage compared to traditional clinical monitoring.

The role of opioid transmission in music-induced pleasure.

Studies conducted in rodents indicate a crucial role of the opioid circuit in mediating objective hedonic reactions to primary rewards. However, it remains unclear whether opioid transmission is also essential to experience pleasure with more abstract rewards, such as music. We addressed this question using a double-blind within-subject pharmacological design in which opioid levels were up- and downregulated by administering an opioid agonist (oxycodone) and antagonist (naltrexone), respectively, before healthy participants (n = 21) listened to music.

Preliminary evidence of links between ayahuasca use and the corpus callosum.

Background: Recent research suggests that ayahuasca and its alkaloid-containing ingredients may be helpful in the treatment and prevention of certain movement and neurodegenerative disorders. However, such research is still in its infancy and more studies in normative samples seem necessary to explore effects of ayahuasca on clinically relevant brain structures, such as the corpus callosum.

Aims: The purpose of the present study was to investigate links between ayahuasca use and callosal structure in a normative sample.

The Kappa Opioid Receptor and the Sleep of Reason: Cortico-Subcortical Imbalance Following Salvinorin-A.

Background: The mechanisms through which kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists induce psychotomimetic effects are largely unknown, although the modulation of this receptor has attracted attention for its clinical use. In this work, we characterize the neuropharmacological effects of salvinorin-A, a highly selective KOR agonist.

Methods: Changes in multimodal electroencephalography, single-photon emission computed tomography, and subjective effects following the acute administration of salvinorin-A are reported.

Dopamine modulations of reward-driven music memory consolidation.

Music listening provides one of the most significant abstract rewards for humans because hearing music activates the dopaminergic mesolimbic system. Given the strong link between reward, dopamine, and memory, we aimed here to investigate the hypothesis that dopamine-dependent musical reward can drive memory improvements. Twenty-nine healthy participants of both sexes provided reward ratings of unfamiliar musical excerpts that had to be remembered following a consolidation period under three separate conditions: after the ingestion of a dopaminergic antagonist, a dopaminergic precursor, or a placebo.

Corrigendum: Four Weekly Ayahuasca Sessions Lead to Increases in "Acceptance" Capacities: A Comparison Study with a Standard 8-Week Mindfulness Training Program.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2018.

Prospective examination of synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine inhalation: effects on salivary IL-6, cortisol levels, affect, and non-judgment.

Rationale: 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine is a psychotropic substance found in various plant and animal species and is synthetically produced. 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine is used in naturalistic settings for spiritual exploration, recreation, or to address negative affect and mood problems. However, scientific knowledge on the effects of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine in humans is scarce.

Dopamine modulates the reward experiences elicited by music.

Understanding how the brain translates a structured sequence of sounds, such as music, into a pleasant and rewarding experience is a fascinating question which may be crucial to better understand the processing of abstract rewards in humans. Previous neuroimaging findings point to a challenging role of the dopaminergic system in music-evoked pleasure. However, there is a lack of direct evidence showing that dopamine function is causally related to the pleasure we experience from music.

Ayahuasca improves emotion dysregulation in a community sample and in individuals with borderline-like traits.

Background: Research suggests that mindfulness-based interventions may improve mindfulness-related capacities (e.g., decentering, non-judging, and non-reacting) and emotion regulation.

Validation of a Spanish version of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ): Psychometric characteristics and underlying factor structure derived from a healthy university student sample.

Objective: The need for early detection, prevention and intervention in psychosis has prompted the study of prodromal and threshold syndromes. One strategy involves the assessment of schizotypy, a personality construct involving unusual perceptual experiences, magical thinking or bizarre behavior. Sensitive measurement instruments could potentially allow detection of signs heralding transition to psychosis in high-risk individuals, or risk of relapse in patients after a first psychotic episode.

Intrinsically regulated learning is modulated by synaptic dopamine signaling.

We recently provided evidence that an intrinsic reward-related signal-triggered by successful learning in absence of -modulated the entrance of new information into long-term memory via the activation of the dopaminergic midbrain, hippocampus, and ventral striatum (the SN/VTA-Hippocampal loop; Ripollés et al., 2016). Here, we used a double-blind, within-subject randomized pharmacological intervention to test whether this learning process is indeed dopamine-dependent.

Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Recent open-label trials show that psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, hold promise as fast-onset antidepressants in treatment-resistant depression.

Methods: To test the antidepressant effects of ayahuasca, we conducted a parallel-arm, double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial in 29 patients with treatment-resistant depression. Patients received a single dose of either ayahuasca or placebo.

Four Weekly Ayahuasca Sessions Lead to Increases in "Acceptance" Capacities: A Comparison Study With a Standard 8-Week Mindfulness Training Program.

The therapeutic effects of the Amazonian plant tea ayahuasca may relate to its ability to enhance mindfulness capacities. Ayahuasca induces a modified state of awareness through the combined action of its active principles: the psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and a series of centrally acting β-carbolines, mainly harmine and tetrahydroharmine. To better understand the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, here we compared the impact on mindfulness capacities induced by two independent interventions: (a) participation in four ayahuasca sessions without any specific purpose related to improving mindfulness capacities; and (b) participation in a standard mindfulness training course: 8 weeks mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), with the specific goal of improving these skills.

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Treatment and the Evidence-Based Interaction with Immediate Autologous and Implant-Based Breast Reconstruction.

This article aims to determine the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on immediate breast reconstruction by assessing their compatibility for oncological safety and the incidence and management of postoperative complications. A review of scientific publications published between 2009 and 2017 was undertaken. The relationship between neoadjuvant chemotherapy and immediate breast reconstruction was analyzed to compile and assess the potential interaction between the procedures.

Assessing the Psychedelic "After-Glow" in Ayahuasca Users: Post-Acute Neurometabolic and Functional Connectivity Changes Are Associated with Enhanced Mindfulness Capacities.

Background: Ayahuasca is a plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmala monoamine-oxidase inhibitors. Acute administration leads to neurophysiological modifications in brain regions of the default mode network, purportedly through a glutamatergic mechanism. Post-acutely, ayahuasca potentiates mindfulness capacities in volunteers and induces rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant patients.

Population pharmacokinetic modelling of rupatadine solution in 6-11 year olds and optimisation of the experimental design in younger children.

Aims: To optimise a pharmacokinetic (PK) study design of rupatadine for 2-5 year olds by using a population PK model developed with data from a study in 6-11 year olds. The design optimisation was driven by the need to avoid children's discomfort in the study.

Methods: PK data from 6-11 year olds with allergic rhinitis available from a previous study were used to construct a population PK model which we used in simulations to assess the dose to administer in a study in 2-5 year olds.

New World Tryptamine Hallucinogens and the Neuroscience of Ayahuasca.

New World indigenous peoples are noted for their sophisticated use of psychedelic plants in shamanic and ethnomedical practices. The use of psychedelic plant preparations among New World tribes is far more prevalent than in the Old World. Yet, although these preparations are botanically diverse, almost all are chemically similar in that their active principles are tryptamine derivatives, either DMT or related constituents.

Non-demented Parkinson's disease patients with apathy show decreased grey matter volume in key executive and reward-related nodes.

Apathy is a common but poorly understood neuropsychiatric disturbance in Parkinson's disease (PD). In a recent study using event-related brain potentials we demonstrated impaired reward processing and compromised mesocortico-limbic pathways in PD patients with clinical symptoms of apathy. Here we aimed to further investigate the involvement of reward circuits in apathetic PD patients by assessing potential differences in brain structure.

The Endogenous Hallucinogen and Trace Amine N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) Displays Potent Protective Effects against Hypoxia via Sigma-1 Receptor Activation in Human Primary iPSC-Derived Cortical Neurons and Microglia-Like Immune Cells.

N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a potent endogenous hallucinogen present in the brain of humans and other mammals. Despite extensive research, its physiological role remains largely unknown. Recently, DMT has been found to activate the sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R), an intracellular chaperone fulfilling an interface role between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria.

Antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects of ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): a systematic review of clinical trials published in the last 25 years.

To date, pharmacological treatments for mood and anxiety disorders and for drug dependence show limited efficacy, leaving a large number of patients suffering severe and persistent symptoms. Preliminary studies in animals and humans suggest that ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may have antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive properties. Thus, we conducted a systematic review of clinical trials published from 1990 until 2015, assessing these therapeutic properties.

Neurophysiological evidence of impaired self-monitoring in schizotypal personality disorder and its reversal by dopaminergic antagonism.

Background: Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder characterized by odd or bizarre behavior, strange speech, magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, and social anhedonia. Schizophrenia proper has been associated with anomalies in dopaminergic neurotransmission and deficits in neurophysiological markers of self-monitoring, such as low amplitude in cognitive event-related brain potentials (ERPs) like the error-related negativity (ERN), and the error positivity (Pe). These components occur after performance errors, rely on adequate fronto-striatal function, and are sensitive to dopaminergic modulation.

Inhibition of alpha oscillations through serotonin-2A receptor activation underlies the visual effects of ayahuasca in humans.

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea typically obtained from two plants, Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. It contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A and sigma-1 agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase (MAO)-inhibiting properties. Although the psychoactive effects of ayahuasca have commonly been attributed solely to agonism at the 5-HT2A receptor, the molecular target of classical psychedelics, this has not been tested experimentally.

Ayahuasca: Pharmacology, neuroscience and therapeutic potential.

Ayahuasca is the Quechua name for a tea obtained from the vine Banisteriopsis caapi, and used for ritual purposes by the indigenous populations of the Amazon. The use of a variation of the tea that combines B. caapi with the leaves of the shrub Psychotria viridis has experienced unprecedented expansion worldwide for its psychotropic properties.