Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysAPA Heritage MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)

Neurons to Nirvana

  • 20132013
  • 1h 25m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Neurons to Nirvana (2013)
  • Documentary
  • History
  • News
A stylish, in depth look at the renaissance in psychedelic drug research in light of current scientific, medical and cultural knowledge.A stylish, in depth look at the renaissance in psychedelic drug research in light of current scientific, medical and cultural knowledge.A stylish, in depth look at the renaissance in psychedelic drug research in light of current scientific, medical and cultural knowledge.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Oliver Hockenhull
  • Stars
    • Lesley Ewen(voice)
    • Dennis J. McKenna
    • David Healy
Top credits
  • Director
    • Oliver Hockenhull
  • Stars
    • Lesley Ewen(voice)
    • Dennis J. McKenna
    • David Healy
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 7User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Lesley Ewen
    Lesley Ewen
    • Narratoras Narrator
    • (voice)
    Dennis J. McKenna
    • Selfas Self
    David Healy
    • Selfas Self
    David E. Nichols
    • Selfas Self
    Wade Davis
    Wade Davis
    • Selfas Self
    Ingrid Pacey
    • Selfas Self
    Michael Winkelman
    • Selfas Self
    Roland Griffiths
    Roland Griffiths
    • Selfas Self
    William Richards
    • Selfas Self
    Gábor Máté
    • Selfas Self
    Ralph Metzner
    • Selfas Self
    Stephen Ross
    • Selfas Self
    Charles Grob
    • Selfas Self
    Rick Doblin
    • Selfas Self
    David Nutt
    • Selfas Self
    Kathleen Harrison
    • Selfas Self
    Julie Holland
    • Selfas Self
    Michael Mithoefer
    • Selfas Self
    • Director
      • Oliver Hockenhull
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

    More like this

    DMT: The Spirit Molecule
    7.1
    DMT: The Spirit Molecule
    Samadhi
    8.2
    Samadhi
    Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds
    8.4
    Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds
    Samadhi: Part 2 - It's Not What You Think
    8.6
    Samadhi: Part 2 - It's Not What You Think
    Journeys to the Edge of Consciousness
    7.3
    Journeys to the Edge of Consciousness
    The Magic of Mushrooms
    7.4
    The Magic of Mushrooms
    The Transcendental Object at the End of Time
    8.2
    The Transcendental Object at the End of Time
    Dirty Pictures
    7.0
    Dirty Pictures
    Terence McKenna's True Hallucinations
    8.1
    Terence McKenna's True Hallucinations
    The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD
    7.1
    The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD
    Dosed
    6.8
    Dosed
    Ram Dass, Going Home
    7.0
    Ram Dass, Going Home

    Storyline

    Edit
    A stylish, in depth look at the renaissance in psychedelic drug research in light of current scientific, medical and cultural knowledge. The film explores these socially taboo substances as adjuncts to psychotherapy, as crucial but neglected medicines, and as technologies of consciousness. From Neurons to Nirvana: The Great Medicines features interviews with some of the world's foremost researchers, writers, and pioneers in the growing field of psychedelic psychotherapy. These radical healers and dissenters are using everything from ancient concoctions to newly created designer molecules to the once demonized psychedelic drugs of the 1960s. They argue convincingly for the legal right to incorporate these substances into therapeutic practice. —Anonymous
    • research
    • drugs
    • psychedelic drug
    • mdma
    • lsd
    • 2 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Documentary
      • History
      • News
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Alternate versions
      The longer version is titled "FROM NEURONS TO NIRVANA: THE GREAT MEDICINES", 108 minutes and was released to the public December, 2014.

    User reviews7

    Review
    Top review
    A subjective view misleadingly presented as unbiased
    I write this review from the viewpoint as a qualified social worker who has both academic knowledge but also practical work experience dealing with drug addiction. Besides I also experimented personally with psychoactive substances.

    The positive part of this documentary is that it shows clear and factual arguments governmental rules on which substances are legal or illegal are NOT based on which substances are more or less harmful to the individual or society. Alcohol and tobacco are without any doubt harmful, yet they are freely available for a simple reason: in the short term they provide high tax revenue for the government (which is offset by the negative cost in the long term: health issues long cancer, liver disease and so on).

    The negative part of this documentary is that it is clearly biased toward legalizing some or more psycho-active substances, based on the fact that some may actually have positive effects in a therapeutic setting (for instance psilocybine which is found in magical mushrooms shows a short term serotonin boost, which is what most anti-depressants aim for).

    The problem is however, most people in this documentary are academics, so they've spend a lot of time on research and indeed would probably use these substances in a responsible manner. To expand their consciousness, as a tool for creativity, for therapeutic use.

    However, most of these academics probably only know the problem with the use of psycho-active substances (mdma, psilocybine, LSD, THC ... ) from a paper point of view, not from having personal experience in dealing with drug addicts like I have.

    Making some of these substances more available to the general public in a non therapeutic setting, for recreational use without supervision, would lead to another wave of wasted teenagers who think it's okay to use these substances because they are free to buy and use. Yes, they might have benefits, but not if they are used purely to escape reality. The documentary also fails to point out clearly that although some psycho-active substances are not addictive in a way the body the craves for it, but they can be psychologically very addictive. Someone who would for instance trip on magical mushrooms for several days a week will loose touch with reality.

    Amsterdam and Holland have long been very liberal strongholds for tolerating marijuana, magical mushrooms, head shops and so on... but recently more and more restrictions came into place (not because the pharmaceutical industry wanted to make more profit so they wanted to ban coffee shops) BUT because of the increasing amount of accidents cause by the use of psycho active substances.

    Finally there is another argument that is nearly not touched in this documentary: most trippers believe because something comes from nature it's less harmful than chemicals. The problem however is, when one eats for instance raw magical mushrooms the dosage of the active substance can vary widely depending on the species, time of harvest, and so on. Even marijuana which is sold in most coffee shops in Holland has NOTHING to do with wild marijuana. Weed sold for profit on the black market is bread to increase THC (otherwise a smoker might find he's not getting 'high' enough).

    Although this documentary is surely interesting to watch and I do very much appreciate the comments of Gabor, please be aware it is surely NOT unbiased. Although it states it does not want to advocate the use of psycho-active substances in the end this is what it achieves. For a rebellious teenager watching this it might seam as if government is lying and they were right along to smoke another joint.
    helpful•7
    20
    • R-Clercx
    • Jun 4, 2016

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 1, 2013 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Link to the longer version
      • Link to the longer version Official Site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Slovak
      • Czech
    • Also known as
      • От нейронов к нирване: Медицинское применение психоделиков
    • Production company
      • Mangusta Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 25 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Neurons to Nirvana (2013)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Neurons to Nirvana (2013) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The 10 Most Anticipated Marvel and DC Movies
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.