Taking a “trip” through the impact of psychedelics and the conscious experience

August 22nd, 2023

Written by: Jafar Bhatti

When you think of psychedelics, what is the first thing you think of? Perhaps, you think of experiencing crazy visual hallucinations filled with lots of colors and shapes. Or maybe, if you have been following the news, you think of psychedelics as miracle drugs that are going to cure mental health disorders. While both of these views on psychedelics offer small bits of truth, the reality is that these compounds are complicated and the exact impact that they have on the human experience is still under investigation. One thing we know for certain however, is that psychedelic compounds affect consciousness, which, in the broadest sense, can be defined as awareness and attention to the world around us, including things such as our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. In this post, I start by providing a history of psychedelic use over time, followed by a brief description of how these compounds affect our brains. I will end with a discussion of how scientists are beginning to uncover the long-lasting impact that these compounds have on the ways in which we view the world.

Brief History of Psychedelic Use

Psychedelic substances are becoming increasingly popular as tools for treating a number of psychiatric disorders, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders to substance use disorders¹. (For more information on the therapeutic uses of psychedelics, see these previous posts about LSD/psilocybin and ketamine!). In addition to their exciting medicinal applications, these substances have long been used recreationally, dating as far back as hunter-gatherer societies. Many ancient civilizations, including Greek and Roman societies, engaged in ritual rites which involved the consumption of substances containing psychoactive substances².

In the US, the properties of the psilocybin mushroom (also known as “magic mushroom”) were first investigated during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert initiated the Harvard Psilocybin Project, where they conducted various experiments to investigate the effects of psilocybin on participant’s emotions. Recreational use of psychedelic compounds flourished during the 1960’s, becoming especially associated with musical and artistic creativity³. Despite growing recreational and scientific interest in psychedelic compounds, their presence in society was virtually eliminated when the US government classified them as a Schedule 1 compound in 1970, defining them as having no accepted medicinal use and a high potential of abuse.

Immediate Effects of Psychedelics on the Brain

One explanation for the historical and modern popularity of these drugs, is the ability to produce an altered state of consciousness, which has been broadly defined as a mental state in which the mind is aware but not in its usual wakeful condition⁴. Recreational users of psychedelic compounds often report their experience as “mystical,” “existential,” or “spiritual.” The brain changes that explain these experiences are not well understood, however there is some evidence that psychedelics impact areas of the brain that are involved in emotional processing. This could explain the feelings of bliss that are often experienced during a psychedelic trip⁵. Additionally, brain imaging studies have revealed widespread changes in functional connectivity⁶, a fancy measure of how different brain regions are active at the same time. The role of this change in brain function may be to enhance creative thinking⁷, a commonly reported effect after taking these drugs.

Long Term Impact of Psychedelics on Beliefs  

Given the long history of recreational psychedelic use and its profound impact on brain function, one outstanding question is whether these compounds can shape our beliefs about the world, long after the altered state of consciousness has passed. To answer this question, scientists design studies in which a group of participants is divided into an experimental group (i.e., given a psychedelic compound) and a control group. The control group is told that they are receiving the psychedelic compound, however they are instead given a compound that has no therapeutic (or psychedelic) properties. This compound is called a “placebo.” Because the assignment of participants to groups happens randomly and is unknown to both the participants and the experimenter, this kind of experimental design is called a randomized double-blind controlled study.

In one of these studies⁸, the experimenters were interested in how one’s beliefs change after a psychedelic experience. More specifically, they looked at how individual beliefs relating to the fundamental nature of reality, consciousness, and free will are shaped immediately after and 6-months following consumption of psilocybin mushrooms. Although these beliefs, also known as metaphysical beliefs, are perhaps not reflected on by individuals routinely, the authors of this study argue that metaphysical beliefs often interface with other aspects of day-to-day life, such as health, religion, law, politics, and education. To see how psychedelics altered metaphysical beliefs, they developed a questionnaire and asked participants to complete it before and at various time points after their psychedelic experience. Based on the responses to the questionnaire, they were able to characterize individuals as either “physicalist,” whose general position is that the fundamental nature of reality is physical or “non-physicalist,” whose general position is that the nature of reality is explained by both physical and mental properties.

The researchers found that individuals who consumed psilocybin had an overall shift in their position away from physicalism, beliefs that the fundamental nature of reality is physical, and towards non-physicalism, beliefs that the fundamental nature of reality is both physical and mental. Interestingly, the participants who held the most extreme non-physicalist beliefs at baseline actually shifted their views to more be moderate following a psychedelic experience. Collectively, these results suggest that psychedelics do, in fact, alter our beliefs about the world. The authors advise that future studies on the effects of psychedelics must inform participants of the possibility of a fundamental and long-lasting shift in one’s personal beliefs and outlook on reality.

In summary, there is a much left to be learned about the effects of psychedelics on consciousness. The neurobiology that allows for changes in perception under the influence of these compounds is still under heavy investigation. Furthermore, there is a lot that we don’t understand about how these drugs promote long-lasting effects, both therapeutically and on our beliefs. With the loosening of legal restrictions and the growing cultural interest, I am excited to see the advancements that take place because of these compounds.

References

1. Tupper KW, Wood E, Yensen R, Johnson MW. Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm. CMAJ. 2015 Oct 6;187(14):1054-1059. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.141124. Epub 2015 Sep 8. PMID: 26350908; PMCID: PMC4592297.
2. George DR, Hanson R, Wilkinson D, Garcia-Romeu A. Ancient Roots of Today’s Emerging Renaissance in Psychedelic Medicine. Cult Med Psychiatry. 2022 Dec;46(4):890-903. doi: 10.1007/s11013-021-09749-y. Epub 2021 Sep 2. PMID: 34476719; PMCID: PMC8412860.
3. Wikipedia contributors. (2023, June 15). Psychedelic era. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:25, August 14, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Psychedelic_era&oldid=1160270353.
4. Smith, C. (2015, August 24). Altered states of consciousness. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shift/201508/altered-states-consciousness
5. Kraehenmann R, Preller KH, Scheidegger M, Pokorny T, Bosch OG, Seifritz E, Vollenweider FX. Psilocybin-Induced Decrease in Amygdala Reactivity Correlates with Enhanced Positive Mood in Healthy Volunteers. Biol Psychiatry. 2015 Oct 15;78(8):572-81. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.04.010. Epub 2014 Apr 26. PMID: 24882567.
6. Barrett, F. S., Doss, M. K., Sepeda, N. D., Pekar, J. J., & Griffiths, R. R. (2020). Emotions and brain function are altered up to one month after a single high dose of psilocybin. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59282-y
7. Mason NL, Kuypers KPC, Reckweg JT, Müller F, Tse DHY, Da Rios B, Toennes SW, Stiers P, Feilding A, Ramaekers JG. Spontaneous and deliberate creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 8;11(1):209. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01335-5. PMID: 33833225; PMCID: PMC8032715.
8. Timmermann, C., Kettner, H., Letheby, C., Roseman, L., Rosas, F. E., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2021). Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs. Scientific reports, 11(1), 22166.

Cover photo by Gordon Johnson from pixabay.com