Weekly Roundup: Psychedelic Hyper Connectivity in Your Brain, Altered States of Consciousness are Common, and Whether Mental Health Issues are Infectious
My weekly roundup of all things the brain, behaviour and psychology.
I don’t do psychedelics, never have, and somehow don’t have an urge either. But nevertheless I do find some of the research fascinating and it is also clear that there can be many therapeutic benefits.
So this week I will report on some new research into psychedelics but also altered states of consciousness in the general population - and sticking with the theme of mental states and health - another new piece on how mental health issues seem to spread though social networks.
Psychedelic Hyperconnectivity in Your Brain
Well, the title sounds impressive, the hyperconnectivity bit, - Sepehr Mortaheb et al. of the Universities of Liege in Belgium and Maastricht in the Netherlands have investigated the impacts of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) on dynamic brain connectivity and subjective experience, through a brain scanning study.
What sounds even more impressive is the language used in the press release:
“A new study shows that the use of psilocybin, a compound found in the widely known 'magic mushrooms,' initiates a pattern of hyperconnectivity in the brain linked to the ego-modifying effects and feelings of oceanic boundlessness.
The concept of oceanic boundlessness refers to a sense of unity, blissfulness, insightfulness, and spiritual experience often associated with psychedelic sessions.”
All very impressive, almost a marketing blurb for magic mushrooms, but of note is that this is not just about happy tripping but psychedelics have been having some impressive effects on conditions such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Maybe precisely because of the above mentioned oceanic boundlessness.
But the problem for therapists and researchers is actually knowing what this does to the brain that induces these effects and understanding how this can lead to more effective interventions. I did report last week in my Weekly Roundup of the effect of psilocybin on serotonin, but this research here looked at the subjective feelings and brain activity.
Specifically what was happening under different experiences induced by psilocybin.
For this experiment 22 participants were given a dose of psilocybin and 27 were given a placebo and then reported on their experiences while having their brains scanned. In the psilocybin group global region-to-region connectivity increased - the hyper connectivity referenced in the title.
However, though psilocybin is considered a hallucinogenic, hallucinatory experiences were less correlated to this global connectivity than what is often referred to as ego-dissolution. A concept of being at unity with the world combined with this aforementioned oceanic boundlessness.
Therefore it seems that these ego-dissolution, they termed them “egotropic”, effects are the most potent in psilocybin and this is related to this connectivity pattern in the brain.
Of note is that this would also match research I reported on last year into LSD and ketamine which showed spontaneous brain connectivity in rats.
So, more solid evidence that can be used by practitioners and hopefully help patients with mental health disorders. However, these altered state of consciousness may not need psilocybin or another psychedelic, maybe you just need yoga, or meditation, or less, to just be alive:
Altered States of Consciousness More Common than Assumed
The press release for this research put yoga and meditation in the title but on closer inspection this was only the stimulus for conducting this research. Yoga and mediation uses age-old practices often to induce a state of calm and also can tap into spiritual experiences depending on what type of Yoga or meditation you are practising.
This research by Malcolm J. Wright et al. of Massachusetts General Hospital surveyed a representative sample of 3135 people and found that experiencing altered states of consciousness was surprisingly common - of note this was specifically without any sort of drug or psychedelic use.
How common you may ask?
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