Psychedelic Experiences During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From an International Online Survey

Introduction: The current corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a serious global health crisis that has affected large parts of the public and private life worldwide, including the use of psychoactive substances. In this study, we investigated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of serotonergic psychedelics, i.e., the settings in which people use psychedelics, the motives of usage, and the subjective quality of psychedelic experiences. Methods: The study was part of an international, cross-sectional, internet-based survey (N = 5,049) available in five languages (English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Korean) carried out during the early phase of the pandemic from April to August 2020. Participants were asked to retrospectively rate settings and motives of psychedelic substance use before the pandemic and in the last 4 weeks during the pandemic, as well as changes in psychedelic experiences. Results: Of n = 1,375 participants that reported the use psychedelics in 2019 or 2020, n = 642 (46.6%) also took psychedelics during the pandemic. During the pandemic, participants used psychedelics significantly less often in settings that were outside their home. Top motives to use psychedelics were comparable before and during the pandemic, but participants consumed less out of curiosity, to celebrate, or because friends took it, and more out of boredom. An increase in positively connoted, often pro-social experiences was observed. Two thirds of participants who used psychedelics during the pandemic claimed that psychedelics had helped them to deal better with the corona pandemic at least slightly. Discussion: Changes in setting and motives were mostly in line with restrictions caused by control measures to contain the spread of the virus. The unexpected increase in positively connoted experiences possibly reflects a favorable interaction of environmental macro- and individual micro-contexts during the pandemic (e.g., by reducing the use in more uncontrolled recreational settings or by encouraging a strong self-selection of substance users due to the expectation of "bad trips"). Increased pro-social feelings under psychedelics might reflect a desire for social interactions in times of social distancing and pandemic-related stress and anxiety

Predictors of Alcohol Consumption Among Younger Adults During the First Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may lead to negative mental health effects but the effect on alcohol consumption among younger adults is unclear. We assess predictors of change in alcohol consumption during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic among younger adults. Methods: This cross-sectional internet-based survey was part of an overarching project, the Corona Drug Survey, which was conducted from April 30 to August 4, 2020. Participants of any sex and >= 18 years old were included. The primary outcome measure was change in alcohol consumption during the early COVID-19 pandemic. We implemented an ordinal logistic regression to assess the effect (odds ratio [OR] and 95% confidence interval [CI]) of the following predictors: quarantine restrictions on leaving the residence, number of individuals in the household, problematic alcohol consumption before the pandemic (CAGE [cutting down, annoyance by criticism, guilty feeling, and eye-opener] score), personal concern regarding the pandemic, age, and sex. Results: 3,321 participants with a mean age of 32 (SD: 13) years were included in this study. 70.4% of participants reported less or unchanged alcohol consumption in the recent 4 weeks of the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. A higher number of individuals in the household was associated with a reduced alcohol consumption (OR = 0.869; 95% CI = 0.815-0.927). No quarantine restrictions on leaving the residence (OR = 1.593; 95% CI = 1.397-1.817), a higher age (1.006; 1.001-1.011), and female sex (compared to males: 1.206; 1.062-1.371) were associated with an increase in alcohol consumption. The CAGE score before the pandemic (OR = 0.983; 95% CI = 0.931-1.037) and the pandemic concern (0.927; 0.857-1.003) were not associated with a significant change in alcohol consumption. Celebrations were no longer frequent drinking occasions during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. The majority of participants (60.9%) did not use alcohol drinking as a coping mechanism to mitigate negative effects of the pandemic. Interpretation: In this cohort of younger adults with fewer celebratory drinking occasions, restrictions on leaving the residence and the number of persons in the household were the strongest predictors of reduced alcohol consumption during the early phase of the pandemic.</p

The influence of propofol on early memory consolidation

Die Gedächtniskonsolidierung beschreibt den Vorgang, in dem das Kurzzeitgedächtnis ins Langzeitgedächtnis überführt wird. Die zugrundeliegenden Mechanismen lassen sich auf der synaptischen und der Systemebene des Gehirns abbilden. In neueren Studien mit Tiermodellen konnte die Interaktion zwischen der Stabilisierung von Synapsen und der Reorganisation von hippocampal-neokortikalen Netzwerken als neuronale Korrelate der Gedächtniskonsolidierung gezeigt werden. Komplementäre Daten von Menschen fehlen bisher. In dieser Arbeit berichten wir über einen neuropharmakologischen Ansatz am Menschen mit dem Anästhetikum Propofol (2,6-Diisopropylphenol). Die Wirkung des GABA(A)-Agonisten auf die Gedächtniskonsolidierung wurde mit einer für hippocampale Dysfunktion sensitiven Gedächtnisaufgabe (VLMT) untersucht. Proband*innen, die im Rahmen einer kleinen ophthalmologischen Operation eine total intravenöse Anästhesie mit Propofol erhielten, lernten präoperativ eine Wortliste, die postoperativ auf die Abruf- und Wiedererkennungsleistung hin getestet wurde. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Gabe von Propofol kurz nach dem Lernen (Median 13 min) die Abrufleistung nach der Operation signifikant beeinträchtigt, während die Wiedererkennungsleistung konstant bleibt. Der amnestische Effekt von Propofol erwies sich als kritisch zeitabhängig, der Effekt konnte demnach bei einer späteren Verabreichung (Median 105 min) nicht gezeigt werden. Wir schließen daraus, dass es nach dem Lernen ein kurzes Zeitfenster gibt, in dem Propofol über GABAerge Modulation frühe vom Hippocampus abhängige Schritte der Gedächtniskonsolidierung beeinträchtigt. Die Vollnarkose mittels Propofol erzeugt so eine vorübergehende pharmakologische „Läsion“ in den neuronalen Substraten, die in die Gedächtniskonsolidierung eingebunden sind. Unser experimenteller Ansatz ermöglicht zum ersten Mal eine Modulation der frühen Schritte der Gedächtniskonsolidierung beim Menschen, die frei von neuropsychiatrischen Störungen oder Hirnoperationen sind.Memory consolidation describes a process in which a short-term memory is transformed into a long-term memory. This process depends on mechanisms at the synaptic and system levels of the brain. Recent studies have shown an interaction between the stabilization of synapses and reorganization of hippocampal-neocortical networks using animal experiments. There is currently a lack of complementary data from humans. This article reports a new neuropharmacological approach in humans using the anesthetic propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol). The effect of the GABA(A)-agonist on memory consolidation was investigated using a memory task sensitive to hippocampal dysfunction (R-AVLT). Subjects who received total intravenous anesthesia with propofol during minor ophthalmic surgery learned a word list before surgery and were tested postoperatively for recall and recognition performance. The results show that propofol administration shortly after learning (median 13 min) significantly impaired postoperative recall performance, whereas recognition performance was spared. The amnestic effect of propofol was critically time-dependent and was not found with later administration (median 105 min). We conclude that there is a brief window of time after learning in which propofol impairs the hippocampus-dependent early stages of memory consolidation via GABAergic modulation. General anesthesia with propofol thus creates a transient pharmacological “lesion” in the neuronal substrates involved in memory consolidation. Our experimental approach allows for modulation of the early stages of memory consolidation in humans free of neuropsychiatric disorders or brain surgery for the first time