Abigail Lunge

Individual and additive effects of childhood maltreatment and substance use disorder histories on baseline and stress-induced changes in peripheral stress biomarkers - Psychopharmacology Background Exposure to childhood maltreatment (CM) has serious consequences on the health of affected individuals, potentially elevating vulnerability to various psychopathologies, including substance...

So happy to see this out! Our paper looking at the effects of childhood maltreatment and substance use disorder on kynurenine metabolites, endocannabinoids, and inflammatory markers 👩🏼‍🔬

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

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.

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 💊👇

Hiding from the 8 UV & enjoying this afternoon’s symposium chaired by @anadeutsch.bsky.social at #EBPS2025 🌞

Psychedelics & the stress response, oh my!

Kicked off #EBPS2025 with an interesting conversation on Inclusivity, Diversity, Equitability, and Accessibility in Science🧠 ft. @anadeutsch.bsky.social and Luis Contreras from @pact-lab.bsky.social 🤩

@pact-lab.bsky.social & company took on the Cannabinoid GRC last week 🧠🍀 Very grateful for the opportunity to present my thesis research & see my colleagues excel (peep @marcdferger.bsky.social with his award-winning poster)

Lots of fun + good science at the 4th annual European Stress Conference! Grateful to have met so many bright minds in the field in such a beautiful spot🌞

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

"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”

Two back to back papers on cannabis exposure to rats, both lead by Savannah Lightfoot!

1st paper: the impact of cannabis vapor on neuroendocrine responses to stress

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

2nd paper: the impact of cannabis vapor on fear learning

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

New paper from my first postdoc co-authored w/ @madeleinejones.bsky.social showing the relationship between Anandamide and social touch processing.
Spoiler, it’s not what we expected…

t.co/bYQzKYD7Dd

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.

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...

I’ve been interested in reading the Body Keeps Score for awhile… I’m glad to have prefaced it with this critique now

Neuroscience education for people living with addiction Addiction is one of the most prevalent and deadly forms of psychopathology worldwide.[1][1],[2][2] Substance use contributes to the death of 1 in 5 individuals and incurs costs of more than $45 billio...

I wrote an editorial on my experience of teaching neuroscience to ppl with addiction in a residential treatment program www.jpn.ca/content/49/6...

SUPERIOR?! Leah are you picking favourites

Such a great episode