Ms. Ophir Netzer, Dr. Noa Magal, Mr. Yonatan Stern, Mr. Tzuk Polinsky, Dr. Raz Gross, Dr. Pia Rotshtein, Prof. Roee Admon, Prof. Roy Salomon
On October 7, 2023, the Supernova music festival became the site of a devastating terror attack, subjecting over 3,500 attendees to life-threatening traumatic events for an extended duration. The attack took place shortly after sunrise, around the peak of the party, while approximately two-thirds of attendees were under the influence of mind-altering substances, mostly- MDMA, LSD, ketamine, psilocybin, cannabis and alcohol. This unique and tragic scenario raises critical questions about how these substances influence trauma processing, neural integration, and the long-term psychological outcomes for survivors.
Our research tackles these critical issues, aiming to answer key questions: how do psychoactive substances influence trauma processing and recovery? and who is most at risk of developing PTSD or other mental health conditions?
To explore these questions, we analyzed self-report questionnaires from 772 survivors and conducted advanced brain imaging scans (fMRI) to study the consequences of trauma experienced under psychoactive substance. Intriguingly, our findings suggest that MDMA consumption during trauma exposure may have protective effects extending into the peritraumatic period, while cannabis and alcohol seem to worsen outcomes. Preliminary fMRI findings reveal significant changes in brain activations during a stress-related task, with survivors showing distinct neural synchrony patterns compared to controls.
These results provide groundbreaking insights into the effects of trauma experienced under the influence of psychoactive substances, and may pave the way for new approaches to understand and support survivors of within the affected community.
