Neuroscientists have described the “imprint” of psychedelic substances in human brain tissue. A new analysis of more than five hundred brain images shows that substances such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline or ayahuasca significantly change the way individual brain systems communicate with each other. At the same time, scientists refuted the claim that individual system centers break down after taking these substances.
In the study, in which the authors combined eleven datasets from around the world, they analyzed images of 267 people from five countries. According to the authors, this is the most extensive research of its kind to date. The results were published in the journal Nature Medicine. The main finding is that there is increased communication between different areas of the brain, especially between the systems responsible for higher thinking and those related to sensory perception.
“There’s loose communication between brain systems—they’re communicating wildly with each other. It’s over-communication between brain systems. All five substances disrupt the normal order, the usual hierarchy of brain systems. They flatten that hierarchy, which probably accounts for what some people describe as direct access to their own consciousness.” said author Danilo Bzdok.
In the research, the authors at the same time they also described changes in deeper parts of the brain associated with habits, learning and movement. However, it has not been confirmed that individual brain networks break down when taking psychedelics.
