{"id":3087,"date":"2011-10-07T11:59:29","date_gmt":"2011-10-07T15:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ombs\/?p=3087"},"modified":"2011-10-07T11:59:29","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T15:59:29","slug":"behind-closed-eyes-an-ayahuasca-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/2011\/10\/07\/behind-closed-eyes-an-ayahuasca-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Closed Eyes: An Ayahuasca Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"st_twitter_large\"><\/span><span class=\"st_facebook_large\"><\/span><span class=\"st_ybuzz_large\"><\/span><span class=\"st_gbuzz_large\"><\/span><span class=\"st_email_large\"><\/span><span class=\"st_sharethis_large\"><\/span><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/w.sharethis.com\/button\/buttons.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">stLight.options({publisher:'0b9142ea-42f7-4b62-947d-dd7654ef4f2d'});<\/script><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3098\" style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3098\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/sacred1.gif\" alt=\"Ayahuasca is found to produce life-changing visions but can it also produce life-changing cures?\" width=\"420\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/sacred1.gif 420w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/sacred1-300x227.gif 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayahuasca is found to produce life-changing visions but can it also produce life-changing cures?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As I closed my eyes, images &#8211; if they can be called such &#8211; began racing at an ever-increasing speed before me. Swirls of colors, shapes, forms, textures and sounds simply overpowered me to the point where I became immobile. Like many others before me, no doubt, I became somewhat frightened. What had I let myself in for? When I opened my eyes, the phantasmagoria of forms vanished, and I saw myself in the same room with the others&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Donald M. Topping&#8217;s description is very similar to the accounts many others have given. He brought up many questions on the vividness of visions produced after his very first ingestion of the hallucinogenic brew Ayahausca. \u00a0What underlying brain mechanisms allow potentially healing, uplifting and fearful experiences to occur behind closed eyelids? \u00a0That is what Draulio B. de Araujo and others sought out to find. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Ayahausca is a thick, brown potion served orally as a tea decoction made of a bush (<em>Psychotria viridis<\/em>), which is a rich source of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)<em>,<\/em> and a liana (<em>Banisteriopsis caapi<\/em>) containing beta-carbolines (such as harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine). \u00a0The mixture of these two plants allows for the inhibition, by the beta-carbolines, of monoamine oxidase (MAO) ultimately causing DMT to be psychoactive after ingested. \u00a0Naturally, when DMT is orally ingested by itself, it is inactivated by MAO. \u00a0Soon after ingestion, the levels of 5-HT rise to incredible amounts. \u00a0The unnatural changes in brain chemicals as a result of Ayahuasca are believed to cause the powerful visual hallucinations that have been continuously reported.<\/p>\n<p>Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Arauji et. al., the Brain Institute at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte took in ten participates whom were all frequent Ayahuasca users and photographed their brains before and after an ingestion of 120-200 mL of Ayahuasca to see where activation in the brain takes place. \u00a0A closed-eyes imagery task was completed for both stages. \u00a0The imagery task included three conditions: viewing natural images (people, animals, or trees), mentally generating the previously seen images, and then viewing a scrambled version of the image presented in the first condition. \u00a0The scrambled image served as a baseline. \u00a0Psychiatric scales were also applied at intervals of 0, 40, 80, and 200 min after ingestion to detect symptoms of psychosis and mania.<\/p>\n<p>Results would demonstrate an overall increase in the psychiatric scales after Ayahuasca intake, with a significant increase at 40 and 80 min. \u00a0The mean time for DMT in the Ayahuasca mixture to reach its peak concentration, <em>T<\/em><sub>max<\/sub>, is 90-120 minutes. \u00a0This would also explain why an Ayahuasca experience can last for several hours. \u00a0Results from the fMRI data showed significant activity in the occipital, temporal, and frontal cortical areas which are involved with vision, memory, and intention, respectively.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3096\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3096\" style=\"width: 554px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3096 \" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/Figure-4.png\" alt=\"BOLD responses before and after Ayahuasca intake\" width=\"544\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/Figure-4.png 680w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/Figure-4-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 544px) 100vw, 544px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">BOLD responses before and after Ayahuasca intake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Moreover, the activity in the occipital areas (BA17, BA19, and BA7) was significant because the BOLD signal amplitude after intake increased during the imagery condition, but not during the natural image condition. It is also worth mentioning\u00a0that the increased activity of the BA17 location in the occipital region, which works with the cuneus and lingual gyrus, corresponds to the peripheral visual field. \u00a0This area may play a major role in why post-Ayahausca imagery is so intense even behind closed eyelids. \u00a0Ayahuasca also induced activity in temporal areas in the parahippocampal cortex (BA30) and the retrosplenial cortex (BA37) during the imagery condition, which are areas that deal with the retrieval of episodic memories and the processing of contextual associations. \u00a0In addition, frontopolar cortex (BA10) activity was also increased during the imagery condition perhaps because subjects intentionally create the images in their minds and interestingly enough, was the only area to produce a positive BOLD signal during the imagery condition before the intake and then potentiated after intake.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3097\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3097\" style=\"width: 494px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3097\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/peru.jpg\" alt=\"In the Amazon jungle, Kira Salak, a writer for National Geographic, photographs Shamans during an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru.\" width=\"484\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/peru.jpg 484w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/files\/2011\/10\/peru-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the Amazon jungle, Kira Salak, a writer for National Geographic, photographs Shamans during an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While my interest continues to grow about this psychotropic plant tea, I can rest assured that I know how my primary visual cortex activity can be intensified and like others be able to experience another dimension of reality behind closed eyes. \u00a0Besides its original use in select South American religious ceremonies, Ayahuasca can be used for therapy. People like Donald M. Topping, after going through several sessions of Ayahuasca ingestion,\u00a0left his oncologist&#8217;s office one day with his cancer activity indicator below normal. \u00a0Many more have left with their symptoms of depression and anxiety miraculously gone, which can also be seen in another study by R.G. Santos et. al. where they suggest Ayahuasca can produce beneficial effects on mood and anxiety. \u00a0Even after its many centuries of use there is still much to be learned about the neural basis of Ayahuasca&#8217;s potent psychological effects. Unraveling the mystery of Ayahuasca could potentially be utilized in the future as a readily available alternative medicine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/hbm.21381\/full?hp\">Seeing with the eyes shut: Neural basis of enhanced imagery following ayahuasca ingestion<br \/>\n<\/a> &#8211; Human Brain Mapping<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maps.org\/w3pb\/new\/2007\/2007_Santos_22932_1.pdf?hp\">Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members<\/a> &#8211; Journal of Ethnopharmacology<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/jpet.aspetjournals.org\/content\/306\/1\/73.full.pdf?hp\">Human Pharmacology of Ayahuasca: Subjective and<br \/>\nCardiovascular Effects, Monoamine Metabolite Excretion, and<br \/>\nPharmacokinetics<\/a> &#8211; JPET<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/adventure\/0603\/features\/peru.html?hp\">Human Pharmacology of Ayahuasca: Subjective and Cardiovascular Effects, Monoamine Metabolite Excretion, and Pharmacokinetics<\/a> &#8211; National Geographic<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maps.org\/news-letters\/v08n3\/08322top.html?hp\">Ayahuasca and Cancer: One Man&#8217;s Experience<\/a> &#8211; Maps.org<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(function(d, s, id) {\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\";\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;As I closed my eyes, images &#8211; if they can be called such &#8211; began racing at an ever-increasing speed before me. Swirls of colors, shapes, forms, textures and sounds simply overpowered me to the point where I became immobile. Like many others before me, no doubt, I became somewhat frightened. What had I let [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7090,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[587],"tags":[636,788,802,1019,1147],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7090"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3087\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}