OPEN is a Dutch foundation that seeks to encourage interdisciplinary research into psychedelics.
Upcoming fall brings OPEN's second conference: Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research.
We are happy to announce some of the speakers of our conference. At the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research 2012 you can hear Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Dr. Robin MacKenzie, Prof. dr. Wouter Hanegraaff. Read more
OPEN is busy organising its second scientific conference on psychedelic research in the weekend of June 1-3: Mind Altering Science 2012. You can expect the latest results on research into MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, ketamine ... Read more
In April 2011, over 300 people convened at the University of Amsterdam to attend the European Ayahuasca Research Symposium, a half-day seminar co-sponsored by The OPEN Foundation and MAPS. The Symposium brought... Read more
Two neuropsychologists from the University of Maastricht, Jan Ramaekers and Kim Kuypers, have been granted €200.000 from the NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. This will allow them to buy plenty of pills for... Read more
Last month in Amsterdam we held the European Ayahuasca Research Symposium, a one-day lecture series exploring the current state of research into the medical, therapeutic, and spiritual uses of ayahuasca. Simon Powell, author of... Read more
The European Ayahuasca Research Symposium is a multidisciplinary series of lectures that focuses on current research being done in Europe. Experts from different disciplines will present their studies on ayahuasca’s effects on health... Read more
The LSD documentary night returns, this time to our hometown Amsterdam. This evening features two documentaries: Hofmann's Potion and LSD: Problem Child and Wonder Drug. Both documentaries offer a special view on one of... Read more
Psychedelic drug users throughout the ages have described their experiences as mind-expanding. They might be surprised, therefore, to hear that psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – actually decreases blood flow... Read more
After months of hard work, it is finally finished: our completely renewed website. A cleaner layout, improved navigation and many new features: search functionality, the option to view the website in English, a video library with recordings of OPEN... Read more
Photos from our Mind Altering Science conference are finally available. Recapture your memories in the new photo gallery on the MAS website. The cartoons by Margreet de Heer and Yiri Kohl are available as well, you can find them here... Read more
The Beckley Foundation has started an online survey regarding the pros and cons associated with drug, including alcohol and nicotine. And you can join in! It is completely anonymous and will, according to its designers, contribute to a thorough revision of... Read more
A sponsor has promised the American organisation MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) $1 every time someone watches one of their videos, up to a maximum of $15.000. Read more
A participant of a survey regarding the effect of psilocybin on the brain explains what spiritual experiences she had in this interesting article. 62-year-old Maria Estevez took part in a survey that wanted to see how hallucinogenics work. She describes how... Read more
This free e-book by Rafael Guimarães dos Santos brings together papers on the anthropology, pharmacology, psychology and psychiatry of ayahuasca. It has contributions by some of the main ayahuasca researchers like Jose Carlos Bouso... Read more
Dr. Passie completed his training as a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy as well as his academic work at the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, in practice by Prof. Hans Carl Leuner in Göttingen and Hannover Medical School. Watch here
Psychedelic phenomenology deals with the phenomenal content of psychedelic tripping, thus phenomenology approaches psychedelics from the reverse direction of the scientific approach, because instead of looking at the structures of physical... Watch here
The Amazonian sacramental decoction, ayahuasca (containing an alkaloid once called telepathine by Westerners), has been used by indigenous shamans and healers for several millennia. Apparently, for the explicit purposes of accessing altered states... Watch here
Molecules of mysticism” are chemical substances that are able to induce mystical experience, increasing the feeling of closeness to the god (entheogens) or to other people (empathogens). It is quite likely, that every mystical experience is mediated... Watch here
How does the psychedelic experience affect the knowledge and motivation of the scientist? And what does this mean for academia in general? To answer such questions, this presentation will focus on the master's thesis... Watch here
In 2007, as part of the MA Cultural Anthropology, I have done research amongst the members of the Santo Daime church in Florianópolis (Brazil) and in The Hague. In their ceremonies they use ayahuasca, sometimes combined with cannabis... Watch here
It has become increasingly difficult to assist an individual to maintain long term recovery from substance abuse. This is frustrating to individuals, their families and also to service providers. The reason for this trend is not absolutely clear. Over... Watch here
After more than 40 years the first study employing LSD in psychotherapy is being conducted in Switzerland. 12 persons suffering from a life-threatening disease and an anxiety disorder are having the possibility to receive 200µg of LSD in a... Watch here
In 2009 we traveled to the Peruvian Jungle to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies with renowned Shipibo shaman Don Guillermo Arévalo. Our research goal was to investigate the neural correlates of the psycho-therapeutic and... Watch here
Human psychopharmacology--the experimental administration of mind-altering drugs to human subjects--is an essential tool for characterizing the relationship between brain structure, neurochemistry, and symptomatology. This talk will... Watch here
Ibogaine has been used for centuries by members of the Bwiti religion in western equatorial Africa as a religious sacrament, medicine and hunting aid. Since the discovery of the ability of ibogaine to interrupt addiction and... Watch here
In literature much can be found about the visions and the insights people can get from ayahuasca. What is striking here is that the visions are described in great detail while the insights only marginally are mentioned. This lack of information... Watch here
The revival of psychedelic research signals an inspiring change in official attitudes towards 'mind-altering' substances, altered states of consciousness and their potential as catalysts of religious/mystical experience, 'self-healing'... Watch here
This presentation will examine the legal aspects of the use of ayahuasca. No plants or other natural materials containing psychoactive substances like DMT or psilocybin are controlled under the UN 1971 Convention. The same... Watch here
In the year 2010 hopeful prospects are attached to psychotherapy with hallucinogens. Attempts are made to bring this kind of therapy out of the confines of illegal subcultures and into legalized medical settings. Discussions and arguments center... Watch here
Join Dr. Andrew Weil and other leading physicians and scholars in this often-surprising look at the long history of drug use in different cultures worldwide Since mankind's beginning, in every civilization, human beings have found ways to alter their... Watch here
