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Trauma Under Psychedelics: How trauma during altered states of consciousness impacts cognitive, physiological, neural, and clinical outcomes

Lecture
Date:
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Hour: 12:30 - 13:30
Location:
Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
Prof. Roy Salomon

<p>Abstract: Recent research has focused on how psychedelics and empathogens may assist in the treatment of PTSD and depression following trauma. However, there is almost no knowledge regarding how psychoactive substances may impact the processing of Traumatic Events (TE) in real time. The large-scale terror attack by Hamas on October 7th 2023 on the 4000 attendees of the Supernova music festival has provided a tragic opportunity to study these two phenomena in conjunction. The attack took place shortly after sunrise, when many attendees were under the influence of mind-altering substances, mostly MDMA, LSD, ketamine and, as well as cannabis. This is an unprecedented mass trauma event that many of its victims experienced while in altered states of consciousness. We have begun a large-scale, longitudinal study with these survivors regarding the processing of trauma under the influence of psychedelics in the peritraumatic and post traumatic periods. Our results indicate that approximately 65% of the participants were exposed to severe trauma while under the influence of mind-altering substances. In this talk I will show preliminary results from this unique cohort including clinical (n = 1400), physiological (n = 300), cognitive (n = 900) and neural (fMRI) measures (n = 140) and how they relate to trauma and psychedelic use. The data and experiences of the courageous survivors of the festival provide novel insights into how trauma processing is impacted by psychoactive substances revealing unique interactions between cognitive, pharmacological and clinical factors.</p>

Unlocking the Night: Novel Approaches Advancing the Neuroscience of Sleep and Cognition

Lecture
Date:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Hour: 12:30 - 13:30
Location:
Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
Prof. Yuval Nir

<p>In this talk, I will present recent studies in our lab, where new tools are pushing the boundaries of sleep research.In a first line of studies, we are investigating how sleep promotes memory consolidation in humans. To this end, we developed a novel ecological paradigm to study episodic memory without report; upon repeated viewing of special movies ,eye gaze patterns can quantify memory for specific events. Next, we show that deep brain closed-loop intracranial electrical stimulation during human sleep enhances hippocampus-cortex synchrony and memory performance. Finally, we examine how sleep and memory are disrupted in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) representing early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To this end, we developed a novel<br>machine learning-based method to non-invasively detect interictal spikes occurring in the medial temporal lobe during sleep. This approach can help identify disruptions in hippocampus-cortex synchrony and memory consolidation during sleep.</p><p>In the second line of studies, we investigate how reduced locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NE) activity during sleep mediates sensory disconnection. In rodents, the level of ongoing tonic LC activity during sleep anticipates sound-evoked awakenings, while minimal optogenetic LC activation or silencing increases and decreases such awakenings, respectively. Projection-specific investigation in mice indicates that an early surge of brainstem NE is particularly important for mediating sensory-evoked awakenings. These findings may shift how we view arousal- promoting neuromodulation; rather than acting in a diffuse hormonal-like manner, the LC-NE system may in fact operate through specific projection pathways, in a circuit-like manner. Finally, I will describe a novel method for monitoring gaze direction and pupil size through closed eyes in humans via short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging in combination with video analysis algorithms. This technology has potential to enable touchless and continuous monitoring of depth of anesthesia, pain, and detection of intraoperative awareness.</p>

NeuroTheory

Conference
Date:
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Hour: 08:00
Location:
The David Lopatie Conference Centre

All events

Trauma Under Psychedelics: How trauma during altered states of consciousness impacts cognitive, physiological, neural, and clinical outcomes

Lecture
Date:
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Hour: 12:30 - 13:30
Location:
Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
Prof. Roy Salomon

<p>Abstract: Recent research has focused on how psychedelics and empathogens may assist in the treatment of PTSD and depression following trauma. However, there is almost no knowledge regarding how psychoactive substances may impact the processing of Traumatic Events (TE) in real time. The large-scale terror attack by Hamas on October 7th 2023 on the 4000 attendees of the Supernova music festival has provided a tragic opportunity to study these two phenomena in conjunction. The attack took place shortly after sunrise, when many attendees were under the influence of mind-altering substances, mostly MDMA, LSD, ketamine and, as well as cannabis. This is an unprecedented mass trauma event that many of its victims experienced while in altered states of consciousness. We have begun a large-scale, longitudinal study with these survivors regarding the processing of trauma under the influence of psychedelics in the peritraumatic and post traumatic periods. Our results indicate that approximately 65% of the participants were exposed to severe trauma while under the influence of mind-altering substances. In this talk I will show preliminary results from this unique cohort including clinical (n = 1400), physiological (n = 300), cognitive (n = 900) and neural (fMRI) measures (n = 140) and how they relate to trauma and psychedelic use. The data and experiences of the courageous survivors of the festival provide novel insights into how trauma processing is impacted by psychoactive substances revealing unique interactions between cognitive, pharmacological and clinical factors.</p>

Unlocking the Night: Novel Approaches Advancing the Neuroscience of Sleep and Cognition

Lecture
Date:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Hour: 12:30 - 13:30
Location:
Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
Prof. Yuval Nir

<p>In this talk, I will present recent studies in our lab, where new tools are pushing the boundaries of sleep research.In a first line of studies, we are investigating how sleep promotes memory consolidation in humans. To this end, we developed a novel ecological paradigm to study episodic memory without report; upon repeated viewing of special movies ,eye gaze patterns can quantify memory for specific events. Next, we show that deep brain closed-loop intracranial electrical stimulation during human sleep enhances hippocampus-cortex synchrony and memory performance. Finally, we examine how sleep and memory are disrupted in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) representing early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To this end, we developed a novel<br>machine learning-based method to non-invasively detect interictal spikes occurring in the medial temporal lobe during sleep. This approach can help identify disruptions in hippocampus-cortex synchrony and memory consolidation during sleep.</p><p>In the second line of studies, we investigate how reduced locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NE) activity during sleep mediates sensory disconnection. In rodents, the level of ongoing tonic LC activity during sleep anticipates sound-evoked awakenings, while minimal optogenetic LC activation or silencing increases and decreases such awakenings, respectively. Projection-specific investigation in mice indicates that an early surge of brainstem NE is particularly important for mediating sensory-evoked awakenings. These findings may shift how we view arousal- promoting neuromodulation; rather than acting in a diffuse hormonal-like manner, the LC-NE system may in fact operate through specific projection pathways, in a circuit-like manner. Finally, I will describe a novel method for monitoring gaze direction and pupil size through closed eyes in humans via short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging in combination with video analysis algorithms. This technology has potential to enable touchless and continuous monitoring of depth of anesthesia, pain, and detection of intraoperative awareness.</p>

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NeuroTheory

Conference
Date:
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Hour: 08:00
Location:
The David Lopatie Conference Centre