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  5. Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging
 
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Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging
File(s)
PNAS-2016-Carhart-Harris-4853-8.pdf (1.6 MB)
Published version
OA Location
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.151837711
Author(s)
Carhart-Harris, RL
Muthukumaraswamy, S
Roseman, L
Kaelen, M
Droog, W
more
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the prototypical psychedelic drug, but its effects on the human brain have never been studied before with modern neuroimaging. Here, three complementary neuroimaging techniques: arterial spin labeling (ASL), blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) measures, and magnetoencephalography (MEG), implemented during resting state conditions, revealed marked changes in brain activity after LSD that correlated strongly with its characteristic psychological effects. Increased visual cortex cerebral blood flow (CBF), decreased visual cortex alpha power, and a greatly expanded primary visual cortex (V1) functional connectivity profile correlated strongly with ratings of visual hallucinations, implying that intrinsic brain activity exerts greater influence on visual processing in the psychedelic state, thereby defining its hallucinatory quality. LSD’s marked effects on the visual cortex did not significantly correlate with the drug’s other characteristic effects on consciousness, however. Rather, decreased connectivity between the parahippocampus and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) correlated strongly with ratings of “ego-dissolution” and “altered meaning,” implying the importance of this particular circuit for the maintenance of “self” or “ego” and its processing of “meaning.” Strong relationships were also found between the different imaging metrics, enabling firmer inferences to be made about their functional significance. This uniquely comprehensive examination of the LSD state represents an important advance in scientific research with psychedelic drugs at a time of growing interest in their scientific and therapeutic value. The present results contribute important new insights into the characteristic hallucinatory and consciousness-altering properties of psychedelics that inform on how they can model certain pathological states and potentially treat others.
Date Issued
2016-04-26
Date Acceptance
2016-03-01
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016, 113 (17), pp.4853-4858
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/50366
DOI
https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518377113
ISSN
1091-6490
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Start Page
4853
End Page
4858
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
113
Issue
17
Copyright Statement
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
LSD
serotonin
consciousness
brain
psychedelic
STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY
HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS
VISUAL HALLUCINATIONS
1ST-DEGREE RELATIVES
ANTIPSYCHOTIC-DRUGS
PSYCHEDELIC STATE
PREFRONTAL CORTEX
BRAIN-FUNCTION
ALPHA-ACTIVITY
LYSERGIC-ACID
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2016-04-11
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