Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.

3 papers

Moderate Pressure Massage Elicits a Parasympathetic Nervous System Response

Miguel Diego, Tiffany Field

In a randomized trial of 20 healthy adults, researchers recorded EKGs during a 3-minute baseline, a 15-minute massage, and a 3-minute postmassage period. Moderate pressure massage raised the high-frequency (HF) heart-rate variability measure and lowered the LF/HF ratio, which the authors say indicates increased parasympathetic (vagal) activity peaking in the…

Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

Effect of long-term yoga training on autonomic function among the healthy adults

R Shobana, Maheshkumar Kuppusamy, Sankaralingam Thirupathy Venkateswaran, M Bagavad Geetha, R. Padmavathi

This small cross-sectional study compared 33 regular yoga practitioners with 35 non‑practitioners aged 17–30. The yoga group had a lower resting heart rate (about 69 vs 81 bpm) and a smaller blood‑pressure response on the sustained handgrip test (about 10.2 vs 16.3), differences the authors report as statistically significant. Other…

Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Stress Responses and Cortisol

Cardiac arrest after ibogaine intoxication

Christian Steinberg, Marc W. Deyell
Journal of Arrhythmia Summary & key facts 2018 15 citations

Ibogaine is a psychoactive herbal medication with alleged antiaddiction properties. We report a case of ibogaine intoxication mimicking Long-QT syndrome resulting in ventricular flutter and nearby cardiac arrest. A 61-year-old man experienced massive QT prolongation and ventricular flutter at a rate of 270 beats per minute requiring defibrillation after ingestion…

Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias Ion channel regulation and function Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
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