About this Research Topic

Background

The consumption of psychoactive compounds is inextricably linked with human history. In addition to well-established and heavily studied compounds (e.g. cocaine, psilocybin, diacetylmorphine), a variety of 'new psychoactive substances' (NPS) have appeared in the recreational drug markets. Pharmacological characterization of NPS and traditional drugs of abuse supported our understanding of the structural features that dictate the activity-profile of a given compound and may highlight the physiological role of proteins within the nervous system that are targeted by these drugs. Moreover, recent efforts 're-discover' the therapeutic potential of drugs that are consumed in recreational settings for the treatment of various neuropsychiatric disorders, including PTSD and depression disorder. However, preclinical evidence indicates that the pharmacodynamics (PD) of promising compounds, e.g. MDMA, remain suboptimal. The knowledge gathered from the PD of NPS may serve to optimize lead compounds for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

The goals of this Research Topic are as follows.
1. To present an overarching view of well-established (e.g. MDMA, cocaine) and NPS and how the knowledge gathered by studying recreationally consumed drugs could be beneficial; for instance, for the design of novel therapeutics. It should span the pharmacological characterization of NPS and the presentation of novel/unexpected targets of psychoactive drugs (well-established and NPS).
2. Pre-clinical and clinical findings that investigate the (potential) clinical utility of a subset of recreationally consumed drugs and intentionally designed analogues thereof. This would, ideally, include clinical studies on MDMA, LSD, ketamine, cannabinoids etc.).
3. Review articles on 'drugs of abuse and their clinical potential' would round up this Topic. These reviews should not only span known 'drugs of abuse' and the status quo thereof but also discuss how new knowledge (arising from structure-activity relationship studies on NPS) may help to optimize the clinical utility of these drugs.

Specific themes we would like to address include:
• pharmacological characterization of recent NPS
• studies on traditional drugs of abuse that deepen/refine/broaden pre-existing knowledge
• pre-clinical studies in animal models of PTSD/depression that investigate the therapeutic potential of recreationally consumed drugs
• clinical studies on MDMA, LSD, and congeners.

Keywords: psychoactive, NPS, drugs of abuse, MDMA, LSD, PTSD, depression

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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