Study shows how LSD interferes with brain's signalling

[Judi Lynn]

Scans of volunteers who took acid shows it disrupts information pathways in brain

Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Mon 28 Jan 2019 15.00 EST Last modified on Mon 28 Jan 2019 15.06 EST

A group of volunteers who took a trip in the name of science have helped researchers uncover how LSD messes with activity in the brain to induce an altered state of consciousness.

Brain scans of individuals high on the drug revealed that the chemical allows parts of the cortex to become flooded with signals that are normally filtered out to prevent information overload.

The drug allowed more information to flow from the thalamus, a kind of neural gatekeeper, to a region called the posterior cingulate cortex, and it stemmed the flow of information to another part known as the temporal cortex.

This disruption in communication may underpin some of the wacky effects reported by LSD users, from feelings of bliss and being at one with the universe to hallucinations and what scientists in the field refer to as “ego dissolution”, where one’s sense of self disintegrates.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/28/study-shows-how-lsd-messes-with-brains-signalling

[mr_lebowski]

1. Obviously, you don't wanna take too much ... beyond that, it's ALL ABOUT where you are ...

And I mean that in a very general sense. Like 'in life' ...

Your initial mental state is CRITICAL. Don't take hallucinogens if you're already down/depressed. It's a recipe for SUCK.

Start off by being in a good mindset. Go someplace COOL, away from Cop/Parent types. With COOL people ... And then listen to COOL freaking music, hopefully with COOL stuff to look at.

And make sure you're on an appropriate dose ... and you'll have an amazing time

Note that the above means, pretty much by definition, that being in the middle of 'a scientific experiment' in some 'laboratory', with bright lights, and a bunch of eggheads probing your brain with electrodes, and hassling you with questions and such ... is definitely not a scene I'd recommend ...

That all being said, I promise you also there's a good deal of hard science behind the above observations ...

[ZZenith]

3. Hear hear!

Here is the voice of experience.

Proper setting is crucial. Oh Lord, is it crucial.

[trusty elf]

2. Being at one with the universe

is a "wacky effect" ?

[Igel]

7. Less "being" more "believing". n/t

[Dave in VA]

4. God, those were the days!

Greatest experiences of my youth! A little purple microdot, listening to Firesign Theatre, and throwing objects at Nixon on the television!

Wow, what great memories...

[rownesheck]

5. loved it.

friends and i got a hold of A LOT back in the early 2000s. Most of my friends didn't enjoy their first time so they gave me and my roommate at the time the rest of theirs. I'll just say, we had GREAT times for a long while! Band practices were the highlight. I recall hurling through space on my drumkit spaceship. As Archie and Edith would say, "those were the days!"

[marble falls]

6. "messes with activity in the brain" - precise scientific term????

My use of LSD was very helpful. I got over an extreme self-loathing with it.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Scientists Think They've Finally Figured Out How LSD Alters Our Consciousness

KRISTIN HOUSER, FUTURISM
31 JAN 2019

Since its discovery in 1938, the drug LSD — that's lysergic acid diethylamide — has puzzled researchers. They knew the drug had a profound effect on people, causing hallucinations and an altered state of consciousness, but they couldn't figure out why.

Now that could be changing.

A research team from the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich thinks it's figured out what's going on in the brain when someone "trips" — and the discovery could play a major role in future research on psychiatric disorders.

For their study, which was published in the journal PNAS on Monday, the researchers gave 25 volunteers LSD while scanning their brains.

They also gave some of those volunteers ketanserin, a drug that blocks serotonin receptors. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter previously suspected of playing a role in the LSD experience.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-think-they-ve-finally-figured-out-how-lsd-alters-our-consciousness