Jordi Riba
VITA
Jordi Riba holds a PhD in Pharmacology and a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering. He has specialized in the study of psychoactive drugs on the central nervous system using, among others, neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques. He currently leads the Human Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group at Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona. He has a broad interest in centrally-acting drugs with publications on the acute and long-term effects of psychedelics, psychostimulants, cannabinoids, sedatives, and kappa-opioid receptor agonists. He has been studying ayahuasca for over fifteen years and has published around thirty journal articles and book chapters on the subject. His more recent research deals with the neural and psychological mechanisms that could underlie the beneficial effects of ayahuasca in the treatment of various psychiatric conditions.
Ayahuasca as a emerging therapeutic tool: from molecules to meta-cognition and back
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian plant tea combining biologically active beta-carboline alkaloids with the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Its acute administration to humans induces an introspective state of awareness characterized by dream-like visions, enhanced self-reflection, and recollection of autobiographical memories in an intensely emotional experience. In my talk I will review the neuroscience of ayahuasca, from receptor-level interactions to its modulation of brain dynamics. I will also present evidence of its capacity to change pathological patterns of thought and behaviour, such as those observed in depression and addiction. I will discuss how these changes in life attitudes may result from the enhancement of certain meta-cognitive capacities that allow individuals to observe their own thoughts and emotions in a more detached manner, and to reduce negative judgmental attitudes and inner reactivity. I will also present neuroimaging data on the neural underpinnings of these post-acute psychological changes. Finally, I will return to the cellular level to show our most recent findings on the neurogenic potential of the active principles found in ayahuasca. Using this comprehensive approach, I will try to show the remarkable capacity of ayahuasca to interact at multiple levels with the brain-mind complex, and to stimulate the debate on its potential therapeutic applications.
