Psychedelics
Theory of Action
Sub-topics
Psychedelic neuroimaging
psychedelic clinical trials
psychedelic phenomenology
Key ideas
Action
- Paradoxical relationship with psychedelics between glucose metabolism and blood flow
- psychedelics decrease the integrity of brain networks
- psychedelics flatten the brain’s hierarchy
- Psychedelics increase brain entropy
- psychedelics increase diversity of brain states
Pharmacology
- Psychedelic pharmacology
- Psychedelics and neuroplasticity
- Psychedelics and ketamine produce deficits in PPI
- psychedelics have distinct timecourses
- Psychedelics induce hallucinations via biased agonism
Psychology
Psychedelic brain dynamics may relate to reports of an ability to transcend rigid patterns of thinking, view life and relationships from a more equanimous perspective, and to have psychological insights Davis2021 Watts2017 Breeksema2020
- These dynamics align with ideas of unconstrained & dream-like cognition Carhart-Harris2014 Kraehenmann2017 Kraehenmann2017a Girn2020 Carhart-Harris2007
- Unconstrained cognition can be conceptualized as a flattening of the attractor landscape Girn2023
- The brain has a reduced tendency to get stuck in local minima states, which can be maladaptive, and more easily move between them → consistent with increased metastability Daws2022 Singleton2022
Notes
Opening eyes during a psychedelic experience can induce changes in brain dynamics & subjective ratings are maximised with eyes closed Mediano2020
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