Abigail Lunge

@abby-lunge.bsky.social

Neuroscience PhD student 🧠 @UofC 📍Psychedelic & Cannabinoid Therapeutics Lab Interested in the impacts of childhood maltreatment, psychiatric health, and novel therapeutic approaches 🍄‍🟫

Congrats to @pact-lab.bsky.social PhD student @anadeutsch.bsky.social on her 1st first-author paper from the lab! 🎉 She explored how MDMA & methamphetamine impact cortisol, endocannabinoids, & BDNF levels in healthy humans and how this relates to the subjective drug experience 💊👇

The effect of methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on peripheral endocannabinoid concentrations: a study in healthy adults - Psychopharmacology

Rationale Stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine (MA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) can impact neurobiological systems implicated in stress, reward processing, and drug use. Although recent preclinical evidence implicates the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in these processes, little is known about the acute effects of stimulants on eCB levels in humans. Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of acute administration of the prototypical psychostimulant MA and the psychostimulant-empathogen MDMA on circulating eCB levels in healthy adults. Methods Using a within-subject, double-blind design, this study assessed the acute effects of MA (20 mg), MDMA (100 mg), and placebo on plasma eCB levels in healthy human participants (N = 22) during three separate sessions. Blood samples assessing concentrations of the eCBs anandamide (AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) were collected between 150- and 180-minutes post-drug administration, and subjective measures of drug effects were collected at regular intervals. Results MA, but not MDMA, was associated with significantly lower 2-AG plasma concentrations compared to placebo. Neither drug impacted AEA concentrations. However, during the placebo condition, higher AEA concentrations were correlated with disliking the ‘drug effects’, suggesting a possible relationship between AEA levels and negative expectations of subjective drug effects. Conclusions These findings provide novel insights into how stimulant drugs act on the eCB system and may help to develop treatments for SUDs.

link.springer.com

"Amanda Jones, a librarian in Louisiana, has received death threats since speaking out against book bans. She was labelled a paedophile and filmed by strangers in public. She fears going out alone. “I can name a librarian in every state this has happened to — and I fear it’s only going to get worse”

I am the ‘Michael Jordan of book banning’. This is why I do it

Bruce Friedman has challenged 1,200 books since the pandemic, alarming free speech advocates — and librarians who face death threats

thetimes.com

Big co-1st/corresponding author paper just published in @JAMAPsychiatry! I just can't thank our team enough for their unwavering support on this project. Modifying Informed Consent to Help Address Functional Unmasking in Psychedelic Clinical Trials jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Modifying Informed Consent to Help Address Functional Unmasking in Psychedelic Clinical Trials

This narrative review describes clinical trials of psychedelic or MDMA therapy and reports from the investigators on the use of modifications to informed consent in these studies.

jamanetwork.com