We are excited to kick off the academic year with a fascinating Journal Club by Pablo Mallaroni about one of the first-ever clinical studies with 2C-B! In this study conducted at Maastricht University, the acute effects of 2C-B on subjective experience, mood and cognition were compared to the effects of psilocybin.
2C-B
2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a synthetic psychoactive compound that falls under the phenethylamine class of drugs. It was first synthesized in the 1970s by Alexander Shulgin, a prominent chemist known for developing hundreds of psychoactive substances. It gained popularity as a recreational substance due to its relatively mild yet distinctive psychedelic effects compared to other substances like LSD or psilocybin.
2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a synthetic psychoactive compound that falls under the phenethylamine class of drugs. It was first synthesized in the 1970s by Alexander Shulgin, a prominent chemist known for developing hundreds of psychoactive substances. It gained popularity as a recreational substance due to its relatively mild yet distinctive psychedelic effects compared to other substances like LSD or psilocybin.
Abstract
2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine (2C-B) is a hallucinogenic phenethylamine derived from mescaline. Observational and preclinical data have suggested it to be capable of producing both subjective and emotional effects on par with other classical psychedelics and entactogens. Whereas it is the most prevalently used novel serotonergic hallucinogen to date, it’s acute effects and distinctions from classical progenitors have yet to be characterized in a controlled study. We assessed for the first time the immediate acute subjective, cognitive, and cardiovascular effects of 2C-B (20 mg) in comparison to psilocybin (15 mg) and placebo in a within-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 22 healthy psychedelic-experienced participants. 2C-B elicited alterations of waking consciousness of a psychedelic nature, with dysphoria, subjective impairment, auditory alterations, and affective elements of ego dissolution largest under psilocybin. Participants demonstrated equivalent psychomotor slowing and spatial memory impairments under either compound compared with placebo, as indexed by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Tower of London, and Spatial Memory Task. Neither compound produced empathogenic effects on the Multifaceted Empathy Test. 2C-B induced transient pressor effects to a similar degree as psilocybin. The duration of self-reported effects of 2C-B was shorter than that of psilocybin, largely resolving within 6 hours. Present findings support the categorization of 2C-B as a psychedelic of moderate experiential depth at doses given. Tailored dose-effect studies are needed to discern the pharmacokinetic dependency of 2C-B’s experiential overlaps.
Speaker bio
Pablo Mallaroni is a PhD student at Maastricht University interested in decomposing the phenomenological varieties of psychedelic experiences by employing neuroimaging-based measures as to better inform therapeutic advances.
Location
University of Amsterdam (Roeterseiland Campus / Room B2.10)
In order to prepare for this journal club, we advise you to read the publication ahead of time. Following the talk there will be room for discussion and questions about the implications of the research.
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.