Melanie Boling

April 19, 2023

Melanie Boling, Extreme Environments Neuroscientist, Harvard University.

Melanie Boling

April 19, 2023

Dopamine.

It’s our motivation to dominate our environment.

Winning.

Eating.

Sex.

Dopamine gives us access to food or partners.

When dopamine splashes over your brain, it’s a rush of pleasure.

Good grades.

Praise.

Dopamine just feels good.

The Human Brain.
(*Greg Dunn Neuro Art- Brain and Neuroscience Fine Art Paintings*, n.d.)

Dopamine pleasure differs from here & now pleasure, which is satisfaction.

A dopamine surge triggered by winning leaves us wanting more. It’s not enough to win. Dopamine wants anticipation. Winning is never enough for dopamine. Pursuit and victory are the surge, and more times than not, the urge for more.

Giving into the craving that dopamine provides does not guarantee your pleasure; simply, because wanting something versus liking something are two completely separate things.

Dopamine will only choose one.

The brain’s substantia niagra (Substantia Niagra, 2021).

This explains WHY human beings are willing to repeatedly put themselves into the extremes; it becomes a loop.

The brain LOVES loops, and this particular brain loop often times goes unnoticed because it’s become comfortable. Humans gravitate toward what is easy and requires no extra effort. As they say, checking all the boxes; but, at what cost?

When the human brain is engaged with this repeated cycle; to identify a goal in order to achieve their specific desire, one chemical in the brain takes control above all others, that is dopamine.

Becoming a master of your own homeostasis while mitigating allostatic load are the countermeasures to dopamine overload and the key to dopamine control.

(Neuroscientifically Challenged, 2015)

Dopamine Pathways, Melanie Boling, Harvard University — (*Dopamine Pathways*, 2013)

A principal mediator of the impact of stress on the brain and behavior are activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis, which results in widespread hormonal, neurochemical, and physiological alterations.

Inflammatory stimuli on brain and behavior have consistently reported evidence that inflammatory cytokines affect the basal ganglia and dopamine neurotransmission.
Findings have included inflammation-associated reductions in ventral striatal responses to reward, decreased dopamine and dopamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid, and decreased availability of striatal dopamine (Felger & Miller, 2012).
Dopamine response exhibits increased peripheral cytokines and other inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein or autoimmune and/or fibromyalgia response to stressors such as extreme environments (Felger & Miller, 2012).

Could mastering Dopamine Control lead to neurogenesis in extreme environments as opposed to neurodegeneration?

Can personalized countermeasures mitigate potential negative variables within extreme environments?

Reinforcing our neural pathways over time through repeated exposure therapy would strengthen our own dopamine control, which could make space for wise-mind decisions through self-mastery. Thus, desensitizing our brain from the things which cause a negative neurophysiological response to stressful stimuli (Boling, 2021).

These physiological emotional-regulation tools will carry over into the everyday life of the practitioner by providing a renewed self-awareness, and the ability to maintain homeostasis, even in the direst of circumstances (Boling, 2021).

Brain Neurogenesis.
(*Greg Dunn Neuropsychology Art- Brain and Neuroscience Fine Art Paintings*, n.d.)

Coming Soon:

Dopamine in Extreme Environments: Dopamine Control, Part Two.

References:

Boling, Melanie. (2021). Melanie Noelani Boling. Imagery Beyond Borders. https://imagerybeyondborders.org

Boling, Melanie (2021). Reported results of Amazonian Entheogens for treatment of Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD); Military Sexual Trauma (MST); and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among U.S. Military Veterans and the benefits of application through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies. The Amazon Rainforest: From Conservation to Climate Change-research. Harvard Summer School, August 9, 2021.

Castelli, V., Cimini, A., & Ferri, C. (2020). Cytokine Storm in COVID-19: “When You Come Out of the Storm, You Won’t Be the Same Person Who Walked in.” Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 2132. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.02132

Cools, R., & Roberts, A. C. (2004). The Role of Dopamine in Cognition: Insights from Neuropsychological Studies in Humans and Non-Human Primates. In S. Otani (Ed.), Prefrontal Cortex: From Synaptic Plasticity to Cognition (pp. 219–243). Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-7949-4_10

Dopamine Pathways. (2013). Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.oist.jp/news-center/photos/dopamine-pathways

Felger, J. C., & Miller, A. H. (2012). Cytokine effects on the basal ganglia and dopamine function: The subcortical source of inflammatory malaise. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 33(3), 315—327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2012.09.003

Felger, J. C. (2017). The Role of Dopamine in Inflammation-Associated Depression: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 31, 199–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2016_13

Foo, C., Lozada, A., Aljadeff, J., Li, Y., Wang, J. W., Slesinger, P. A., & Kleinfeld, D. (2021). Reinforcement learning links spontaneous cortical dopamine impulses to reward. Current Biology, 31(18), 4111-4119.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.069

Frontiers | How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing | Human Neuroscience. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353/full

Garofalo, S., & di Pellegrino, G. (2015). Individual differences in the influence of task-irrelevant Pavlovian cues on human behavior. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, 163. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00163

GREG DUNN NEURO ART- Brain and Neuroscience Fine Art Paintings. (n.d.). GREG DUNN NEURO ART. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.gregadunn.com/

Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., & Salo, J. (2009). Dopamine and serotonin systems modify environmental effects on human behavior: A review. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 50(6), 574–582. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00785

Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity--and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race. Faculty Bookshelf. https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/books/249

MIND Foundation. (2019, December 22). Ayahuasca’s afterglow: Improved mindfulness & cognitive flexibility | Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WADjcFNbhrg

Murphy-Beiner, A, and K Soar. “Ayahuasca’s ‘Afterglow’: Improved Mindfulness and Cognitive Flexibility in Ayahuasca Drinkers.” Psychopharmacology 237, no. 4 (April 2020): 1161–69.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05445-3.

Peter, A. E., Sandeep, B. V., Rao, B. G., & Kalpana, V. L. (2021). Calming the Storm: Natural Immunosuppressants as Adjuvants to Target the Cytokine Storm in COVID-19. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11, 2305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.583777

Plotkin, M. J. (2021). The Amazon: What everyone needs to know. Chapter 8 seminar. Lecture notes The Amazon Rainforest: From Conservation to Climate Change- seminar. Harvard Summer School. Delivered 3 August 2021.

Speaking of Psychology: The molecule of more—Dopamine. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/dopamine

Spiny Neurons Receive Dopamine. (n.d.). Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.oist.jp/news-center/photos/spiny-neurons-receive-dopamine

Substantia nigra. (2021). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Substantia_nigra&oldid=1045490165

Sudevan, S., Muto, K., Higashitani, N., Hashizume, T., Higashibata, A., Ellwood, R. A., Deane, C. S., Rahman, M., Vanapalli, S. A., Etheridge, T., Szewczyk, N. J., & Higashitani, A. (2021). Loss of Contact in Space Alters Dopamine System in C. elegans (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3919931). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3919931

Tang, L., Yin, Z., Hu, Y., & Mei, H. (2020). Controlling Cytokine Storm Is Vital in COVID-19. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 3158. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.570993

Toenders, Y. J., Laskaris, L., Davey, C. G., Berk, M., Milaneschi, Y., Lamers, F., Penninx, B. W. J. H., & Schmaal, L. (2021). Inflammation and depression in young people: A systematic review and proposed inflammatory pathways. Molecular Psychiatry, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01306-8

About the author:

Melanie began attending Harvard in 2020 to complete a Graduate Certificate in Human Behavior with a specialization in Neuropsychology. Boling’s research has examined extreme environments and how they can have a potential negative impact on humans operating in the extreme environment. During her time at Harvard, she has built a mental wellness tool called a psychological field kit. Implementing these tools will allow an individual to thrive in an extreme environment while mitigating negative variables such as abnormal human behavior which can play a role in team degradation.

Melanie Boling

September 12, 2021

Conclusions and Recommendations: Amazonian Entheogen Therapy for the treatment of U.S. Military Veterans. // Melanie Boling, Graduate Student of Neuropsychology, Harvard University.

Melanie Boling

September 12, 2021

Conclusions and Recommendations

“Ayahuasca brew consists of the ayahuasca vine or Banisteriopsis caapi and an admixture like the chacruna leaves or Psychotria viridis. Ayahuasca effects are caused by the synergistic interaction of β-carbolines (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroarmine) contained in Banisteriopsis caapi stalks combined with the N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from Psychotria viridis leaves, a potent agonist to serotonin (5-HT) receptors.” — “Ayahuasca brew consists of the ayahuasca vine or *Banisteriopsis caapi* and an admixture like the chacruna leaves or *Psychotria viridis*. Ayahuasca effects are caused by the synergistic interaction of β-carbolines (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroarmine) contained in *Banisteriopsis caapi* stalks combined with the N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from *Psychotria viridis* leaves, a potent agonist to serotonin (5-HT) receptors.”

Many veterans are trapped in their trauma and plant medicine has provided the means for releasing trauma during their psychedelic experience (Veterans Are Turning to Ayahuasca for PTSD Relief, n.d.).

A small shamanic ceremony would also allow for facilitators and shamans alike to stay true to their culture. Plant Medicine Healing Centers and Clinics allow shamans; tribal members; and facilitators to continue practicing the traditions of their culture and making a living while doing so; all the while preserving and safeguarding a living history allows for more generations to learn the way of the rainforest through plant medicine.

Healing centers lower the dependent variable of a tribe from going extinct; or moving further away from traditional ways that are not successfully being passed onto the younger generations (Plotkin, 2021).

Melanie Boling and Expeditionary Service Dog River Roux with the healers of a Shibipo Tribe Healing Center in the Andes Mountains of Peru (Imagery Beyond Borders, January 2021).

“Benefits obtained from the brew intake, such as mind healing, increased self-knowledge, improved memory and persistently elevated mood. It has gained recent traction with U.S. Military Veterans for seeking healing from treatment-resistant mental illness such as Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Depression.”

Amazonian Entheogens or Psychedelic Plant Medicine hold great potential for the treatment of U.S. Military Veterans, and applying this through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies, holds space to guide survivors into a journey within themselves for those seeking therapeutic healing for specific treatment-resistant illnesses such as Complex-Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or C-PTSD; Military Sexual Trauma or MST; and Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI.

Trust and safety are the key components to the overall success of Psychedelic Plant Medicine.

“The most important tool used by shamans is the icaro. These traditional songs sung or whistled by shamans before, during, and after an ayahuasca ceremony not only comprise the setting of the experience, they also positively influence the internal landscape of a person’s psyche. While we’re still trying to understand icaros in therapeutic terms, there’s no doubt that these songs play a vital role in the healing aspects of ayahuasca.” — “The most important tool used by shamans is the *icaro*. These traditional songs sung or whistled by shamans before, during, and after an ayahuasca ceremony not only comprise the setting of the experience, they also positively influence the internal landscape of a person’s psyche. While we’re still trying to understand icaros in therapeutic terms, there’s no doubt that these songs play a vital role in the healing aspects of ayahuasca.”

I feel that the answers to all of the world’s problems lie within the world’s rainforests, specifically the Amazon Rainforest. There is much more to learn about Psychedelic Plant Medicine and questions to be answered used for the healing of the United States Military Veteran Community.

Some questions that I have for the scientific community that has yet to be researched are:

If different parts of the same ayahuasca plant are said to cause different experiences with the same user; could these different parts of the same plant be used to treat different illnesses?
Would cultivation and/or harvesting of the ayahuasca vine at different periods of the plant’s growth cause a different experience for the user or could it be used to treat different illnesses? IE. CBD vs CBG?
Does adding the ayahuasca vine with various admixtures beyond the charunca leaf be used to treat other specific illnesses? IE. Cancer, or Stroke.
Can different lineages of the ayahuasca vine be used to treat more specific illnesses? IE. Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s Disease.
Will the consumption of ayahuasca brew in an “extreme environment” such as “high-altitude environments” cause a warp-speed healing event in patients/users such as someone with a traumatic brain injury or brain damage caused by stroke? (I already know the answer to this, to be revealed at a later time).
If ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms, and San Pedro Cactus or “huacuma” were to be administered in a clinical setting, even as a microdose; then combined with a “simulated extreme environment”, such as Hyper-Baric Oxygen Therapy or HBOT which is used to promote neurogenesis in the brain after TBI; could these variables also play a role in the “warp-speed” healing of neurogenesis on the brain and body?

Ayahuasca inhibits various parts of the brain associated with cognitive flexibility. It produces structural changes within the brain that are responsible for activity within 24 hours of ayahuasca consumption which leads to positive increases in cognitive flexibility. Results show that mindfulness is beneficial and lasting to the first-time or experienced ayahuasca user. Ayahuasca’s use allows the loosening of one’s cognitive grip which helps alleviate the feeling of being stuck and the depression associated with similar behavioral patterns (Murphy-Beiner & Soar, 2020).

My wish is that with my own scientific field research I can solve problems; provide the answers to some of these scientific questions; and do my part in guiding others within my own United States Military Veteran Community and the world, to realize the full potential of Entheogen Therapy or Psychedelic Plant Medicine from the Amazon Rainforest.

United States Air Force Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran Melanie Boling in the Peruvian Andes as part of her scientific research for Harvard University, where she is pursuing a Masters Degree in Neuropsychology; and Graduate Certificate in Environmental Policy and International Development. Boling is an Extreme (ICE) Environments Behavioural Ecologist for her NGO, Peer Wild (Imagery Beyond Borders, January 2021).

Would you like to know more?

Be sure to read back on all of our articles about Entheogen Therapy or Psychedelic Plant Medicine derived from the scientific paper, “Reported results of Amazonian Entheogens for treatment of Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD); Military Sexual Trauma (MST); and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among U.S. Military Veterans and the benefits of application through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies.”

References:

Boling, Melanie. (2021). Melanie Noelani Boling. Imagery Beyond Borders. https://imagerybeyondborders.org

“Veterans Are Turning to Ayahuasca for PTSD Relief.” Accessed July 15, 2021. https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3kaye/veterans-are-turning-to-ayahuasca-for-ptsd-relief.

About the author:

Melanie Boling

May 3, 2021

Is deinstitutionalization better for the seriously mentally ill, or are they better off locked safely in institutions? // Melanie Boling, Harvard University.

Melanie Boling

May 3, 2021

Is deinstitutionalization better for the seriously mentally ill, or are they better off locked safely in institutions?

In modern-day society, institutionalization could be beneficial for certain mentally ill individuals that meet specific criteria.

For example, if an individual suffers from acute psychosis that can not be treated with any form of psychopharmaceutical interventions that add to the quality of the life or cannot be treated whatsoever.

If certain mental illnesses pose an immediate danger to either the patient themself or others, these would be more specific cases in which institutionalization would be suitably warranted.

The flip side to that is the fact that in some cases, misdiagnosis does occur.

Putting a patient into an environment such as an institution could potentially exasperate the condition and cause the patient to suffer far worse than ever before.

**“PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder)** is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault.
It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. At first, it may be hard to do normal daily activities, like go to work, go to school, or spend time with people you care about. But most people start to feel better after a few weeks or months.
If it’s been longer than a few months and you’re still having symptoms, you may have PTSD. For some people, PTSD symptoms may start later on, or they may come and go over time.
If thoughts and feelings from a life-threatening event are upsetting you or causing problems in your life, **you may have PTSD.” -** U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sierra Club Military Veterans Adventure Film School, 2014 (Melanie Boling, Imagery Beyond Borders, 2014).

In my professional experiences, I have observed mentally-ill combat war veterans respond positively in regards to social engagement and relatable commonalities amongst their peers who also suffered from some form of mental illness.

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not synonymous with all veterans, despite the contrary being reported in the mainstream media. Some military members respond to conflict in a productive manner with little to no residual side effects after the military deployment.

However, mental illness beyond PTSD is very common in the U.S. Military. This ranges from OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to Process Addictions like Alcohol and Drug Abuse or Sexually Impulsive and Deviant Behaviors; which would all constitute a valid diagnosis in the DSM V.

Furthermore, a therapeutic environment where certain types of experiences are recreated in order to provide a dynamic that models one of the small-team environments similar to that of war; in most cases, the mentally ill veterans respond positively to the relatability and camaraderie of the overall group cohesion.

An environment fit for healing or at least a place to hold space for one another.

If certain types of alternative therapies were introduced into the regimen that institutions provide their patients, it could potentially provide an avenue for some sort of peace; even the most deranged patients could possibly benefit.

“Schizophrenia is a serious mental health condition that is considered as a type of psychosis by medical professionals. With self-help and effective treatment, you can manage to overcome this disorder and live a meaningful life.” - Mind.help

Psychosis, such as untreated schizophrenia essentially has the individual suffering around the clock.

There is no easy fix in regards to medication. In some cases, it takes years to find the right kind of cocktail to allow a patient to be somewhat coherent and at least on the low-end of what society deems functional.

Alternatively, non-invasive therapy such as the outdoors in a small group environment could potentially be a way to take the sting out of a long-term stay at a mental institution, as long as it is safe for both the individual; the staff; and the other patients.

Institutionalizing someone in this day and age simply because they suffer from anxiety; are a victim of a crime that they had no control over; or, even fall on the cluster b personality disorder spectrum would not benefit anyone.

There are enough resources available in the United States to not allow someone to fall through the cracks.

However, a solid professional support system and psychological interventions are imperative for the overall success of the patient maintaining a fulfilling path to healing.

That being said, despite the mentally ill’s willingness to seek help; and the social service workers being readily available to serve, knowing how the system works here in America, the obvious bump in the road or even potential failure lies solely on the system.

There is not a lot of follow-through in regards to state services or even private services paid for by insurance companies.

The system as a whole needs a major overhaul, and effective functional communication amongst all entities involved needs to be standardized.

In America, we fail the mentally ill simply due to human error and overall disregard for those suffering due to the stigma that is deeply ingrained in our society regarding mental illness.

As sad as it may be, it’s a fact and failure perpetuated and repeated throughout every generation.

Now is the time to step in and change the paradigm.

About the author:

Melanie Boling, Extreme Environments Neuroscientist, Founder of Boling Expeditionary Research Group; and Neuropsychology Graduate Student, Harvard University.

Capturing the beauty of the rainforest. El Yunque National Park, Puerto Rico

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”
”

— Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception