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Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature
Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature

Claude summary: This research provides new insights into how psilocybin affects large-scale brain activity and connectivity. The key finding is that psilocybin causes widespread desynchronization of brain activity, particularly in association cortex areas. This desynchronization correlates with the intensity of subjective psychedelic experiences and may underlie both the acute effects and potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin. The desynchronization of brain networks may allow for increased flexibility and plasticity, potentially explaining both the acute psychedelic experience and longer-term therapeutic effects.

Psilocybin acutely caused profound and widespread brain FC changes (Fig. 1a) across most of the cerebral cortex (P < 0.05 based on two-sided linear mixed-effects (LME) model and permutation testing), but most prominent in association networks
Across psilocybin sessions and participants, FC change tracked with the intensity of the subjective experience (Fig. 1f and Extended Data Fig. 4).
#drugs/psychedelics#study#academic#science#neuroscience#research#cognition
·nature.com·
Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature
Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature
Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature
  • Scientists studied how psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) affects the brain using advanced brain imaging techniques.
  • They found that psilocybin causes widespread disruption in how different brain areas communicate with each other, especially in regions involved in complex thinking and self-reflection.
  • This disruption, called "desynchronization," was much stronger than the effects of a stimulant drug or normal day-to-day changes in brain activity.
  • The intensity of the psychedelic experience reported by participants matched the degree of brain desynchronization observed.
  • Some brain changes lasted up to 3 weeks after taking psilocybin, particularly in areas involved in memory and emotion.
  • These findings help explain how psilocybin might work to treat mental health conditions and offer new insights into how the brain functions during altered states of consciousness.
In animal models, psilocybin induces neuroplasticity in cortex and hippocampus
#drugs/psychedelics#cognition#neuroscience#study#academic
·nature.com·
Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain - Nature
How To Be An Adult pt. 3 - Kegan’s Theory of Adult Development
How To Be An Adult pt. 3 - Kegan’s Theory of Adult Development
Robert Kegan's theory of adult development proposes that we can continue developing and reaching higher levels of consciousness well into adulthood, contrary to the previous belief that our development peaks in adolescence. To transition to the fifth and final stage, the Self-Transforming Mind, Kegan suggests cultivating certain conditions that allow for continuous personal growth and transformation, including self-awareness, vulnerability in trusted relationships, engaging in rational discourse, and experiencing self-transcendent states.
we grow by changing both HOW we think about the world and WHAT we think about. It’s not just about becoming smarter (accumulating more knowledge) — it’s about changing our perspective. We do this by continually questioning our hidden assumptions and beliefs.
We grow by moving more and more of what is unseen and unexamined in the way we understand the world (those things that are SUBJECT) to a place where they can be examined, questioned and changed (where they become OBJECT).
In Stage 5 one’s sense of self is not tied to particular identities or roles, but is constantly created through the exploration of one’s identities and roles and further honed through interactions with others.
Stage 5 thinking is important (and something to aspire to) because it helps us engage with people and situations in a more creative and nuanced way. It creates space for more empathy and curiosity in our lives and better equips us to make thoughtful decisions about how we want to show up in the world.
Kegan found that a disproportionate number of Stage 5 adults had dabbled in self-transcendent experiences: often beginning with psychedelics and, after that, making meditation, martial arts, and other state-shifting practices a central part of their lives.
Self-transcendent experiences (STEs) are experiences (also referred to as non-ordinary states of consciousness) where, for a brief moment, people feel lifted above their day-to-day concerns, their sense of self fades away and they feel connected to something bigger.
#drugs/psychedelics#self improvement#mindfulness#coming-of-age#psychology#pseudo#advice
·medium.com·
How To Be An Adult pt. 3 - Kegan’s Theory of Adult Development
Dense happiness
Dense happiness
The biggest takeaway was that I didn’t know it was even possible to experience this much happiness in a single moment. It was like an emotional singularity inside of my brain and body.
The happiness had a palpable physical presence around me. At some points it felt like I was breathing in happiness particles. Not like dust or something I had to cough up, but some gas or elementary particle-- like a photon. When the sun peaks out from behind the clouds, you can feel it all over your skin and it coats the landscape. The music was just like that, but instead of photons, the crowd was awash in happitrons. Billions and billions of happitrons rushed toward me with every beat, propogating through the air, riding along the musical jet stream from the stage straight into my body.
The beat was pumping through the ground and it needed something to escape through. I realized that was my job. It was my responsibility to let the music out. I needed to dance in order to let the beat out of the ground!
I felt invincible with my friend group, like going to the festival was a team sport, and I loved everyone there.
I felt like my senses were normally small straws that I used to sip up the world around me. But in that moment, they became 10 foot wide industrial pipes that were pouring the concert straight into my head.
Whatever we decide to measure units of happiness in, it feels appropraite that “bliss” is the maximum amount of happiness you can experience per unit of time.
#recreation#lifestyle#feelings-to-words#drugs/psychedelics
·tyler.cafe·
Dense happiness
Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley.
Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley.
Users rely on drug dealers for ecstasy and most other psychedelics, or in elite cases, they employ chemists. One prolific drug dealer in San Francisco who serves a slice of the tech world is known as “Costco” because users can buy bulk at a discount, according to people familiar with the business. “Cuddle puddles,” which feature groups of people embracing and showing platonic affection, have become standard fare.
#recreation#drugs#startups#vc#silicon valley#culture#business#drugs/psychedelics
·wsj.com·
Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley.