Anxiety DisordersHealthy VolunteersSubstance Use Disorders (SUD)Public Health, Prevention & Behaviour ChangeAyahuascaLSDPsilocybin

Subjective effects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca in healthy volunteers

This single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study (n=6) assessed the psychological effects and tolerability of ayahuasca (35, 52.5, 75mg DMT/70kg) in healthy male volunteers with prior experience. The study found dose-dependent increases in various psychological effects, with the tea being well-tolerated from a cardiovascular perspective, though modified physical sensations and nausea were the most frequently reported somatic-dysphoric effects. Ayahuasca induced changes in perceptual, affective, cognitive, and somatic spheres, with stimulatory and visual psychoactive effects of longer duration and milder intensity than intravenously administered DMT.

Authors

  • Jordi Riba
  • Maria Barbanoj

Published

Psychopharmacology
individual Study

Abstract

Rationale

Ayahuasca is a South American psychoactive beverage that contains the naturally occurring psychedelic agent N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). This tea has been used for centuries in religious and medicinal contexts in the rain forest areas of South America and is presently gaining the attention of psychedelic users in North America and Europe.

Objectives

In the present study, the psychological effects and tolerability of ayahuasca were assessed.

Methods

Three increasing doses of encapsulated freeze-dried ayahuasca (0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 mg DMT/kg body weight) were administered to six healthy male volunteers with prior experience in the use of this tea, in a single-blind crossover placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Results

Ayahuasca produced significant dose-dependent increases in five of the six subscales of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale, in the LSD, MBG, and A scales of the Addiction Research Center Inventory, and in the liking, good effects and high visual analogue scales. Psychological effects were first noted after 30-60 min, peaked between 60-120 min, and were resolved by 240 min. The tea was well tolerated from a cardiovascular point of view, with a trend toward increase for systolic blood pressure. Modified physical sensations and nausea were the most frequently reported somatic-dysphoric effects. The overall experience was regarded as pleasant and satisfactory by five of the six volunteers, while one volunteer experienced an intensely dysphoric reaction with transient disorientation and anxiety at the medium dose and voluntarily withdrew from the study.

Conclusions

Ayahuasca can be described as inducing changes in the perceptual, affective, cognitive, and somatic spheres, with a combination of stimulatory and visual psychoactive effects of longer duration and milder intensity than those previously reported for intravenously administered DMT.

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Research Summary of 'Subjective effects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca in healthy volunteers'

Introduction

Ayahuasca is a traditional South American psychoactive brew that contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) together with β-carboline alkaloids (harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine) that inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO), allowing orally ingested DMT to reach the systemic circulation. Use of the tea for magico-religious and therapeutic purposes in the Amazon basin has spread to parts of Europe and North America, raising public health interest in its somatic, psychological, and neurophysiological effects. Previous literature indicates that parenteral DMT produces intense, short-lived psychedelic experiences, but oral DMT is normally inactive unless co-administered with a MAO inhibitor, and systematic clinical data on standardised ayahuasca preparations are limited. Riba and colleagues set out to characterise the subjective effects and tolerability of three increasing oral doses of a freeze-dried ayahuasca preparation in healthy volunteers. The study aimed to document dose-related psychological effects using standardised scales and to monitor cardiovascular, somatic and laboratory measures, as part of a wider programme to clarify the pharmacology of ayahuasca in humans.

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Study Details

References (3)

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