Psychopharmacology Maastricht
The psychopharmacology department at Maastricht University focuses on the cognitive, behavioral, and biological effects of various substances, ranging from pharmaceutical to recreational drugs.
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Natasha Mason and Zeus Tipado will be presenting at ICPR 2024 in Haarlem, Netherlands this June!
Read about our new paper on the neurological origins of a visual psychedelic hallucination
Congratulations to Zeus Tipado on his newly published paper that introduces a new theory as to why a person experiences a visual trip on psychedelics.
Read The PaperParticipate in our studies!
We're always conducting research in our department and we're frequently looking for participants to be a part of science! If you're interested, look at the studies that we are currently conductings.
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Meet our Department!
The scientists in our lab come from many countries and backgrounds, all with highly unique research abilities. Come meet the people that make up the Psychopharmacology Department.
Learn MoreOur Scientists
Henry Whitfeld, MSc
Psilocybin, Psychotherapy, Ideography
After being a psychological therapist with 20years experience in trauma work and mindfulness-informed approaches, I am now a researcher investigating how psychedelic experiences and psychotherapeutic protocols interact.
Prof. Jan Ramaekers
I work as a professor in psychopharmacology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. My research combines methods from psychopharmacology, forensic toxicology and cognitive neuroscience to determine drug induced changes in human performance.
Dr. Kim Kuypers
Microdosing, Cognition, Nutrition
My research focuses on the neurobiology of flexible cognition, empathy, and well-being.
Aedan O’Shea, MSc
I have a long standing interest in unravelling the therapeutic mechanisms of Psychedelics, and in this project I will investigate the effect of Psychedelic drug exposure in humans on miRNA’s transported in neuron-derived Extracellular Vesicles...
Dr. Peter van Ruitenbeek
My name is Dr. Peter van Ruitenbeek and I work as an assistant professor. That means I teach and do research at the faculty of psychology and neuroscience.
Dr. Rudy Schreiber
CNS Drug Discovery, Research Domain Criteria
I started my career in central nervous system drug discovery in 1993 and subsequently progressed from bench scientist to senior leadership roles at global pharmaceutical companies
Dr. Eef Theunissen
Cognition, Synthetic Cannabinoids, Drugs and Driving
I began my Ph.D. journey in 2001 at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Maastricht. My research focused on investigating the sedating and stimulating effects of antihistamines, with a particular emphasis on their...
Dr. C. Rob Markus
I became an expert on the relation between stress, brain (gene) vulnerability and the development of cognitive-affective complaints/disorders as well as in testing (claims about) dietary treatment/assessment methods.
Katharina Lege, MSc
Neuroimaging, Consciousness, Cannabinoids
Coming from a background of psychology and clinical neuroscience, I developed a strong interest in altered states of the mind as in mediation or yoga practices.
Psychedelic Research
Mood and cognition after administration of low LSD doses in healthy volunteers: A placebo controlled dose-effect finding study
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Ayahuasca enhances creative divergent thinking while decreasing conventional convergent thinking
convergent thinking, Ayahuasca, creativity, divergent thinking
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Ritualistic use of ayahuasca enhances a shared functional connectome identity with others
Functional Connectivity, Ayahuasca, Ritual
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A single inhalation of vapor from dried toad secretion containing 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a naturalistic setting is related to sustained enhancement of satisfaction with life
naturalistic, psychopathological, 5-MeO-DMT
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Visual hallucinations originating in the retinofugal pathway under clinical and psychedelic conditions
vision, retinofugal, tripping, hallucinations, visual, Psychedelics
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Cannabis Research
Medicinal Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (dronabinol) impairs on-the-road driving performance of occasional and heavy cannabis users but is not detected in Standard Field Sobriety Tests
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Get in Touch
We are always up for communicating with people that have interesting ideas or questions. If you want to contact our department, please reach out using this form below.