Summary: Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, initiates a dynamic hyperconnectivity pattern in the brain. This brain state is linked to the ego-altering effects and feelings of oceanic infinity commonly reported during psychedelic experiences.
The results highlight the potential psychotherapeutic applications of psilocybin to treat various psychiatric disorders. This research provides insight into how psilocybin affects brain dynamics and subjective experiences, providing insight into its therapeutic potential.
Highlights:
- Dynamic brain connectivity: Psilocybin induces a state of dynamic hyperconnectivity, which evolves over time and correlates with the sensation of oceanic infinity.
- Ego-modifying effects: The study found that the hyperconnected brain pattern of psilocybin is more strongly associated with ego-altering experiences than hallucinatory experiences.
- Therapeutic potential: These results are crucial for understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms behind the therapeutic effects of psilocybin, particularly for psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety.
Source: Elsevier
A new study shows that the use of psilocybin, a compound found in well-known “magic mushrooms,” initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the brain linked to ego-altering effects and feelings of oceanic infinity.
The results, published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neurosciences and Neuroimaging help explain the so-called mystical experiences that people report when using psychedelics and are relevant to psychotherapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric disorders such as depression.
The concept of oceanic infinity refers to a feeling of unity, happiness, insight and spiritual experience often associated with psychedelic sessions.
In one of the first brain imaging studies in psychedelic research, researchers discovered a specific association between the psychedelic experiential state and changes in dynamic whole-brain connectivity.
While previous research has shown an increase in static overall brain connectivity under the influence of psychedelics, the current study shows that this state of hyperconnectivity is dynamic (changing over time) and that its rate of transition coincides with the feeling of oceanic infinity, a dimension characteristic of the psychedelic state.
Lead researcher Johannes G. Ramaekers, PhD, Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, says: “Psilocybin has been one of the most studied psychedelics, probably due to its potential contribution for the treatment of various disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, death anxiety, depression, treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder, anxiety associated with terminal cancer, demoralization, smoking and dependence on alcohol and tobacco .
“What has not been fully understood is what brain activity is associated with these profound experiences.”
Psilocybin generates profound alterations both at the cerebral and experiential levels. The tendency of the brain to enter a hyperconnection-hyperarousal pattern under psilocybin represents the potential to consider diverse mental perspectives.
The results of the new study shed light on the complex interplay between brain dynamics and subjective experience under psilocybin, providing insight into the neurophysiology and neuro-experiential qualities of the psychedelic state.
Dr. Ramaekers adds: “Taken together, the average and dynamic connectivity analyzes suggest that psilocybin alters brain function such that the overall neurobiological pattern becomes functionally more connected, more fluid, and less modular. »
Previously acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were analyzed for two groups of people; a group of 22 people received a single dose of psilocybin, the other 27 participants received a placebo.
During peak drug effects, participants given psilocybin reported substantial phenomenological changes compared to placebo. Furthermore, analysis of brain connectivity showed that a pattern characterized by overall connectivity from one region to another reappeared during the acquisition period in the psilocybin group, potentially explaining the diverse mental associations experienced. by the participants.
Furthermore, this hyperconnected pattern was linked to oceanic infinity and unity, indicating an important mapping between brain dynamics and subjective experience, pointing to the “egotropic” (vs. hallucinergic) effects of the drug.
Larry Fort, doctoral student and co-author of the article from the University of Liège, points out: “Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin are often referred to as hallucinogens, both scientifically and colloquially.
“As such, we expected the hallucinatory dimensions of the experience to correlate highest with the hyperconnected model of psilocybin. However, hallucinatory experiences had a strong, but weaker, correlation with this pattern than did ego-altering experiences.
“This led us to formulate the term ‘egotropic’ to draw attention to these ego-altering effects as being important, perhaps even more so than their hallucinogenic counterparts.”
Editor-in-chief of Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neurosciences and Neuroimaging Cameron S. Carter, MD, University of California, Irvine, comments: “This study uses readily available resting-state fMRI images acquired after psilocybin ingestion to provide new insights into the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the subjective and clinical effects. of the medicine.
“This opens the way for future studies using other psychedelic agents to examine whether dynamic connectivity effects reflect a general mechanism for the therapeutic effects of these compounds.”
Lead researcher Athena Demertzi, PhD, Physiology of Cognition, GIGA-CRC In Vivo Imaging Center, University of Liège, adds: “We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the brain pattern of hyperconnected regions was further characterized by lower overall signal amplitude, which functions as a proxy for increased cortical excitation.
“So far, this is the first time that such approximation of arousal levels using fMRI has been attempted in psychedelic research. This could be an important correlation as we move toward a complete characterization of brain states under the influence of psychedelics.
She concludes: “Given the resurgence of research regarding the psychotherapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs, our results are relevant to understanding how the subjective experience while under psychedelics influences beneficial clinical outcomes.
“Is the effect driven by ego dissolution? By hallucinations? As such, our work illustrates how the strong interdependence between the egotropic effects of moderate-dose psilocybin and its hyperconnected brain pattern can inform clinical attention to specific aspects of phenomenology, such as ego dissolutions.
“With this information, healthcare professionals can learn how to best conduct psychedelic therapy sessions to produce the best clinical outcomes.”
About this research news on psilocybin and neuroscience
Author: Eileen Leahy
Source: Elsevier
Contact: Eileen Leahy – Elsevier
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“Dynamic functional hyperconnectivity after psilocybin uptake is primarily associated with oceanic boundlessness” by Athena Demertzi et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neurosciences and Neuroimaging
Abstract
Dynamic functional hyperconnectivity after psilocybin intake is primarily associated with oceanic boundlessness
Background
Psilocybin is a widely studied psychedelic substance that leads to the psychedelic state, a specific altered state of consciousness. To date, the relationship between neurobiological and experiential models of the psychedelic state remains undercharacterized because they are often analyzed separately. We investigated the relationship between neurobiological and experiential patterns after psilocybin focusing on the link between dynamic brain connectivity and retrospective questionnaire assessment.
Methods
Healthy participants were randomized to receive either psilocybin (n = 22) or placebo (n = 27) and scanned for six minutes, eyes open, at rest during the maximum subjective effect of the drug (102 minutes after treatment) in a 7T ultra-high field MRI. . The 5D-ASC rating scale was administered 360 minutes after drug intake.
Results
Under psilocybin, there were alterations in all dimensions of the 5D-ASC scale and widespread increases in mean brain functional connectivity. Further analysis of time-varying functional connectivity unveiled a recurrent hyperconnected pattern characterized by low BOLD signal amplitude, suggesting increased cortical excitation. In terms of neuro-experiential connections, canonical correlation analysis showed higher transition probabilities to the hyperconnected model with feelings of oceanic infinity, and secondly with visionary restructuring.
Conclusions
Psilocybin generates profound alterations both at the cerebral and experiential levels. We suggest that the tendency of the brain to enter a hyperconnection-hyperarousal pattern under psilocybin represents the potential to maintain diverse mental associations. These findings illuminate the complex interplay between brain dynamics and subjective experience under psilocybin, providing insight into the neurophysiology and neuro-experiential qualities of the psychedelic state.