Kappa Opioid Hypothesis of Schizophrenia

Do you mean that a salvia divinorum-like substance or imbalance in the brain could cause schizophrenia? Could such an imbalance be caused by alcohol or weed?

Thank you for your reply. The hypothesis is that dysfunction of the receptor system targeted by salvia divinorum could play a significant role in the auditory hallucinations and delusions of schizophrenia. The psychosis induced by this class of substance mimics schizophrenia much more closely than do the NMDA antagonists (which many consider to emulate the disorder).

As additional evidence, one clinical study of the mixed mu-agonist/kappa antagonist opioid buprenorphine on persons with schizophrenia showed positive results (although it could not be used clinically because of the mu-agonist effect):

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/conte nt/abstract/144/10/1340

>> Could such an imbalance be caused by alcohol or weed?

Alcohol and cannabis use do appear to increase one's chance of developing schizophrenia. The possibility of them directly causing the disorder is a matter for debate. Avoiding all intoxicating substances would certainly be recommended.

well, you see, most drugs alter brain activity.
salvia seems to completely eliminate gamma activity, and put a person in a dream. mushrooms, seem to cause some parts of the brain to have lower gamma activity, and other to have strangely high gamma activity in other parts of the brain, thus causing unconditional love and connectedness, and strange mystical states.
every drug alters these states just as meditation does. there's no mystery to it.

wether salvia or marijuana can drop kick someone into schizophrenia: definately. I'm not against smoking marijuana or tripping on schooms. there probably wouldnt be buddhism if it werent for shrooms. but I wouldn't deny that drugs can trigger a psychotic dissorder.
schizophrenics have brain deformities in the thalamus and orbitofrontal lobe anyways, and that seems to be the core cause.

I've tried Salvia twice.

I think you are misinterpreting the user's experience for something it is not.

What I describe Salvia as is like suddenly being kicked into a different dimension, perceptions change, it didn't cause me to hallucinate things like magical floating elephants or hear things. It caused me to notice and percieve little things that you don't notice while you are sober. Like how cars drive by and make the windy noise and go further and further away or how the leaves blow through the land eventually ending up on the side of a hill or in a pond. It's like a different perception or view of things, and knowing now that it effects only the kappa opiod receptors of the brain that control perception it's obvious to me that is why I felt that way and percieved things that way.

The drug has a relatively short duration of only 5 -20 minutes max.. My experiences lasted about 7 minutes with very fast intoxication and relatively fast come down compared to other hallucinogenic drugs like mushrooms or LSD which I've never tried but have read about.

Whether it may cause Schizophrenia or even mimic symptoms of schizophrenia I don't know really. It is not a recreational drug, it is not very fun, it's more of a spiritual experience drug that you use 1 or 2 in your life and that is all.

I will say this, Marijuana use does contribute to psychotic effects.

for what I know, you havent broken through if you can actually notice leaves arround you.

most people who have broken through have been taken to a whole different level of perception, where time doesnt excist, and you are able to understan the concept of infinity. when you look at a leaf, you might notice that the shape also blends with the air arround you, as well as your thoughts, to make a pond. crazy stuff like that. your thoughts and emotions might manifest themselves in visions and stuff. and this keybord that im using sucks because the keys stick.

Salvia is a Kappa Opioid Agonist, There are Kappa Opioid Antagonist like Naloxone that inhibit the effects of Salvia. So Naloxone should be tried to see if it has any effect on schizophrenic symptoms.

it's already proven that schizophrenia is caused by a deformed gene that causes some parts of the brain to be smaller, such as the part that controls emotions, memory (recognition memory also), etc..