MAPS Psychedelics effects on the whole body?

La fleur

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Jan 16, 2016
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3
Hello,

I've been wondering for some time if there's any research being done on the effects of psychedelics on other organs that the brain?
All the studies/publications I found so far are all about the effects of such and such PDL on neurons and neurotransmitters and never on the immune or endocrine systems. Yet physiology shows that those three systems function closely together, that they are interconnected. And our nervous system is not limited to our head, it goes down all the way to our gut (enteric nervous system)!

PDLs modify perception and consciousness and since it's thought that perception/consciousness is brain based, we focus on the brain but could that be a bit of a cultural bias? Couldn't perception/consciousness be body based?!

I also wonder if mushrooms or salvia or aya, etc... components have been studied a bit? Plants from the lamiaceae family (mint, marjoram, thyme...) tend to have medicinal properties, couldn't salvia have its own medicinal (non pdl only) properties as well? Same for mushrooms: some non-PDL mushrooms such as reishi or maitake are known to have powerful properties (adaptogens, immuno-modulating, etc...). Couldn't PDL mushrooms have effects on the immune and endocrine system, as well as effects on neurons?!

Is there a book or something where I could get some answers?!
 
Can't believe I'm answering my own question... Well, at least a little. Feeling a bit lonely here, I have to say!
A few days ago I received the book Manifesting Minds (edited by Rick Doblin & Brad Burge) and there's a chapter (p. 108 ) that particularly caught my attention: "Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychoneuroimmunology, and Psychedelics", by Ana Elda Maqueda.
Although it's far from being a deep dive into the subject it does mention the connection between neuro, enodcrino and immuological systems, and how a molecule (such as a psychedelic one) that affects one of them will likely affect the others (for instance immune cells does have serotonin receptors).
I had totally forgotten I was to receive this book along with the MAPS-Evolver Learning Labs sessions I had registered to a few months ago! It's a cool book!
 
Since my last post I found two great articles on the subject:


- Psychedelics and immunomodulation: novel approaches and therapeutic opportunities, by Attila Szabo :
"Classical psychedelics are psychoactive substances, which, besides their psychopharmacological activity, have also been shown to exert significant modulatory effects on immune responses by altering signaling pathways involved in inflammation, cellular proliferation, and cell survival via activating NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinases. Recently, several neurotransmitter receptors involved in the pharmacology of psychedelics, such as serotonin and sigma-1 receptors, have also been shown to play crucial roles in numerous immunological processes. This emerging field also offers promising treatment modalities in the therapy of various diseases including autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions, infections, and cancer. (...)"
Link: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00358/full


- DMT: Beyond the trip, a potential multifaceted medicine, by Ahnjili Zhuparris :
" (...) DMT is not only an agonist of serotonin 2A and 2C receptors (5-HT2A and 5-HT2C); it also binds to σ1 putative receptors and trace amine receptors (Vitale et al. 2011). In addition, its serotonergic analogues can influence immunoregulation, and may even prevent carcinogenesis (Frecska et al. 2012). DMT’s multifaceted interactions show that its effects are not limited to the central nervous system but may play a more crucial role in the body’s cellular protective mechanisms (Frecska et al. 2012). (...)"
Link: http://www.stichtingopen.nl/dmt-beyond-the-trip-a-potential-multifaceted-medicine/

Cheers from France!
 
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