The psychedelic state induced by LSD appears to weaken the association between anatomical brain structure and functional connectivity, according to new research published in the journal NeuroImage. The study also provides evidence that LSD increases the complexity of segregated brain states.
The findings provide new insights into the relationship between brain function and consciousness.
“My main interest — and the focus of my research — is on understanding the neuroscience of human consciousness,” said study author Andrea I. Luppi (@loopyluppi), a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge in the Cognition and Consciousness Imaging Group.
“Most studies of consciousness focus on its loss: sleep, anesthesia, or coma. But we think that a complementary way to obtain insights is to study states of altered consciousness, such as the psychedelic state induced by LSD.”
Consciousness is believed to involve the integration of multiple segregated brain networks and their subnetworks, and the researchers sought to better understand how these patterns of brain connectivity varied over time under the influence of LSD.
Luppi and his colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the structural and functional brain connectivity of 15 healthy volunteers during two separate sessions. During one session, the participants were given a placebo. During the other, they were given an active dose of LSD.
Typically, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” But the researchers found that LSD decoupled the relationship between structural and functionally connectivity, indicating that brain activity is “less constrained than usual by the presence or absence of an underlying anatomical connection” under the influence of the substance.
“We know that brain structure has a large influence on brain function under normal conditions. Our research shows that under the effects of LSD, this relationship becomes weaker: function is less constrained by structure. This is largely the opposite of what happens during anesthesia,” Luppi explained.
As the researchers wrote in their study, under the influence of LSD, it appears that “the brain is free to explore a variety of functional connectivity patterns that go beyond those dictated by anatomy – presumably resulting in the unusual beliefs and experiences reported during the psychedelic state, and reflected by increased functional complexity.”
“Integration and segregation of information are fundamental properties of brain function: We found that LSD does not affect them equally, but rather it has specific effects on each,” Luppi told PsyPost. In addition, these changes in brain integration and segregation fluctuated over time, and these fluctuations were associated with subjective experiences.
For example, the experience of losing one’s sense of self during a psychedelic experience, a phenomenon known as “ego dissolution” or “ego death,” was associated with a state of high global integration.
“This is a relatively new area of neuroscience, and research on larger cohorts will be needed to fully understand the effects of LSD and other psychedelics on brain function,” Luppi said. “A more thorough characterization may also shed light on potential clinical applications — such as the ongoing research at the new Centre for Psychedelic Research in London.”
“Studying psychoactive substances offers a unique opportunity for neuroscience: we can study their effects in terms of brain chemistry, but also at the level of brain function and subjective experience,” he added. “In particular, the mind is never static, and neither is the brain: we are increasingly discovering that when it comes to brain function and its evolution over time, the journey matters just as much as the destination.”
The study, “LSD alters dynamic integration and segregation in the human brain“, was authored by Andrea I. Luppi, Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Leor Roseman, Ioannis Pappas, David K. Menon, and Emmanuel A. Stamatakis.
BrazilianMerkin on January 31st, 2021 at 02:44 UTC »
Curious whether any psychopharmacology students/experts out there know whether there is any evidence or studies directly comparing efficacy of LSD vs psilocybin vs ayahuasca vs peyote vs ketamine, etc.? I’ve had experiences with some of the above, and they’re completely different journeys, yet so many studies seem to say same/similar outcomes for each one.
Do they all operate more/less the same way on the brain even though the sensations are very different?
Personally speaking, psilocybin has worked best for me. Only experience where I feel physically and mentally better afterwards. Like defraging my mind, or as my friend says “it’s a high-end day spa for your brain.”
Just interested in comparisons of efficacies of different psychedelics for different symptoms, it from an empirically scientific analysis. Too often a “study” ends up being like 20 people, or rife with hearsay but nothing more than “maybe” speculation.
Edit: spelling psychedelic & psilocybin is hard
ifiagreedwithu on January 31st, 2021 at 02:01 UTC »
It really does free up associations. The 24 hours after a good LSD trip have a strange, level feeling to them. It's because all your subjective meanings and judgments have been undermined, and you sort of have to relearn some of your likes and dislikes. Or not relearn them, and laugh at them instead, resulting in permanent changes in perspective.
TheBirminghamBear on January 31st, 2021 at 00:14 UTC »
One of the reasons that LSD and other hallucinogens offer such profound potential for curing certain mental health issues is that, unlike drugs which merely correct neurochemical deficiencies, these compounds actually provide the brain with a schema and method to correct itself.
One of the problems to begin with is how little we understand about mental health issues and how simplistic our approach is. For example, patient presents with symptoms of depression. They are given SSRIs - drugs that increase the amount of serotonin available in the brain, a neurotransmitter responsible for overall mood. Patient sees fewer symptoms, doctors call it a wild success.
But why. Why did the patient have lower Serotonin levels? Did they even have lower Serotononin levels? Were their levels of serotonin perhaps normal, and the SSRIs have helped alleviate symptoms because they are compensating for some other unknown deficiency?
We just don't know. There are very few ways to get accurate neurotransmitter levels from a healthy brain, and even if we could, we really don't know what levels are good to begin with. So we tend to group mental illness by symptoms and what drugs alleviate those symptoms, rather than truly understanding the real root cause of these conditions, and verifying root cause.
But what we do know is that the brain is a plastic organ. It changes itself. Anyone who has heard the phrase "practice makes perfect" might have wondered, at one point, why practice makes perfect? Why does doing a thing more, make one better at that thing?
A large part of the reason is that, whenever a signal passes through a circuit of neurons, it triggers oligodendrocytes - helper cells in the brain - to wrap the axons of nerves with more myelin. This fatty substance not only insulates the nerves, but also makes them more conductive.
So, a piano master, if one were to look at their brain, would have a robust and extremely conductive network in the many parts of the brain necessary to coordinate fine piano playing. The more skilled the person, the larger this network tends to be.
But, enter mental health issues, like depression. Part of the issue with these conditions is that they are self-reinforcing. Depressive patients will present with thoughts of hopelessness and despair. They will think about their condition. And this rumination on their condition actually reinforces the condition itself. They are remodeling their brain to increase the likelihood of depressive thoughts.
And here is where LSD is so powerful. If anyone has taken it, they can probably attest to the sensation of multiple "doors" opening in their minds. This is likely the sensation of what this article is describing - the brain is suddenly decoupled from its traditional anatomically ascribed methods of functioning.
In other words, the loop that makes depression so pernicious is suddenly broken apart. The brain can see its way out of the web it weaved, and begin to remodel in new paths that are more conducive to happiness.
Eventually, I think LSD and psylocibin therapy will dominate the therapy scene. Basically, it gives therapists the ability to do in one session what normally may take them years to do.
You see, a therapist is essentially trying to do this very same thing. They are trying to provide you with perspective on your thoughts, actions and behaviors, and help coerce you into better pathways. giving you the tools and methods to remodel your own brain into better function.
Dosing a patient with LSD and putting them through a therapy session has extraordinary potential to help the patient get to this level with great ease. They no longer have to fight the restrictions of their own neurobiology.
In cases of addiction, researchers have found that a key requirement for recovery is the belief that recovery is possible. In other words, they need to be able to envision themselves as no longer addicted, and they need to believe that possibility.
One similar parallel to this phenomenon is the four-minute-mile. Previously thought impossible, when one person accomplished it, suddenly many more individuals were accomplishing it. The only thing that changed is that many more people suddenly believed they could do it, which allowed them to pursue the accomplishment.
This is one possibly explanation for why LSD provides such incredible power for treating addiction. Because, during these periods of revised anatomical constraint, the brain is literally experiencing itself in a non-addictive state. It's much more than belief; it's experience. The brain is proving to itself that a state beyond addiction exists. Now, post-high, the brain will eventually revert back to its previous habits, but, the memory of the experience of the non-addictive state will remain, and can become the cornerstone for the belief that one can overcome addiction, which will give the mental fortitude required to change ones addictive habits.