The Beckley Foundation’s principle scientific objectives are to investigate the neurophysiology underlying conscious states, and how physiological changes in the brain – that occur with age, meditation, or the ingestion of psychoactive substances – are reflected in changes in our consciousness and cognitive functioning, and how these changes may be beneficial to health and well-being. Towards this aim the Beckley Foundation has established collaborative research projects with leading scientists in the fields of neurophysiology, biochemistry, psychiatry and psychology, at renowned scientific and academic institutions both in Great Britain and abroad which has over the years led to many publications some of which are listed here.
BF Latest Scientific Publications
Press Release 25th January 2012 The Beckley Foundation-Imperial College Psychedelic Research Programme Surprising findings of Research: Potential therapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs fMRI brain scans show that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, lowers the activity of specific brain regions. The finding contradicts the popular belief that psychedelic drugs increase brain activity, and has [...]
Authors: Bhattacharyya S, Morrison PD, Fusar-Poli P, Martin-Santos R, Borgwardt S, Winton-Brown T, Nosarti C, O’ Carroll CM, Seal M, Allen P, Mehta MA, Stone JM, Tunstall N, Giampietro V, Kapur S, Murray RM, Zuardi AW, Crippa JA, Atakan Z, McGuire PK. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Feb;35(3):764-74. Abstract Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD), the two main ingredients [...]
Authors: Barkus E, Morrison PD, Vuletic D, Dickson J, Ell PJ, Pilowsky LS, Brenneisen R, Holt DW, Powell J, Kapur S, Murray RM. J Psychopharmacol. 2010 Sep 17. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Intravenous (IV) Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) induces transient psychotic symptoms in healthy subjects and in schizophrenic patients, but the psychotomimetic mechanism is unknown. One [...]
Authors: Morrison PD, Nottage J, Stone JM, Bhattacharyya S, Tunstall N, Brenneisen R, Holt D, Wilson D, Sumich A, McGuire P, Murray RM, Kapur S, Ffytche DH. The Biomedical Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Denmark Hill, UK. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Dec 8 Abstract The main ingredient in cannabis, Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can elicit acute [...]
Authors: Carhart-Harris RL¹², Williams TM², Sessa B², Tyacke RJ¹², Rich AS², Feilding A³, Nutt DJ¹² ¹ Imperial College London, Dept of Neuropsychopharmacology ² University of Bristol, Psychopharmacology Unit ³ The Beckley Foundation ²Corresponding author: r.carhart-harris@imperial.ac.uk Abstract: This study sought to assess the tolerability of intravenously administered psilocybin in healthy, hallucinogen-experienced volunteers in a mock-magnetic resonance [...]
Celia J. A. Morgan, PhD, Gráinne Schafer, BSc, Tom P. Freeman, BSc and H. Valerie Curran, PhD Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK Correspondence: Correspondence: H. Valerie Curran, Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Email: v.curran@ucl.ac.uk Background The two main constituents of cannabis, cannabidiol [...]
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol disruption of time perception and of self-timed actions. Stone JM, Morrison PD, Nottage J, Bhattacharyya S, Feilding A, McGuire PK. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2010 Aug;43(6):236-7.
The mechanism of formation of rhythmic, slow-wave oscillations in the craniospinal cavity were studied. Synchronous bioimpedance traces were made of the head and lumbosacral part of the spine in five healthy young subjects at rest and during voluntary breath-holding; these reflect changes in the ratios of blood and CSF volumes in these parts of the [...]
Abstract—For the last decade, owing to methods of computerized neuroradiology, it has been established that the process of the human organism natural aging is accompanied by a gradual atrophic reduction of the brain tissue volume and a decrease of the cerebral blood flow level, while the intracranial cerebrospinal fluid volume increases. The goal of the [...]
ABSTRACT Intravenous (IV) _9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) induces transient psychotic symptoms in healthy subjects and in schizophrenic patients, but the psychotomimetic mechanism is unknown. One possibility is that THC stimulates dopamine (DA) release in the striatum. In this study we tested whether IV THC led to an increase in striatal DA release compared to placebo. We also [...]
