Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates

Apr 13, 2017Current topics in behavioral neurosciences

Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: What They Feel Like and Their Brain Links

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Abstract

Psilocybin can induce complete mystical experiences in the majority of participants under controlled conditions.

Mystical-type experiences are linked to the use of classic hallucinogens.
A validated questionnaire can reliably measure mystical experiences associated with these substances.
Effects of psilocybin are dose-dependent and are specific compared to placebo and other psychoactive substances.
Participants report lasting changes in mood, attitudes, and behaviors following psilocybin experiences.
Mystical experiences during drug sessions may contribute to significant therapeutic outcomes, including reduced substance abuse and alleviation of anxiety and depression in patients with serious illnesses.
Neuroscience research suggests a functional neural model for mystical experiences involving changes in the brain's default mode network.

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This chapter begins with a brief review of descriptions and definitions of mystical-type experiences and the historical connection between classic hallucinogens and mystical experiences. The chapter then explores the empirical literature on experiences with classic hallucinogens in which claims about mystical or religious experiences have been made. A psychometrically validated questionnaire is described for the reliable measurement of mystical-type experiences occasioned by classic hallucinogens. Controlled laboratory studies show that under double-blind conditions that provide significant controls for expectancy bias, psilocybin can occasion complete mystical experiences in the majority of people studied. These effects are dose-dependent, specific to psilocybin compared to placebo or a psychoactive control substance, and have enduring impact on the moods, attitudes, and behaviors of participants as assessed by self-report of participants and ratings by community observers. Other studies suggest that enduring personal meaning in healthy volunteers and therapeutic outcomes in patients, including reduction and cessation of substance abuse behaviors and reduction of anxiety and depression in patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, are related to the occurrence of mystical experiences during drug sessions. The final sections of the chapter draw parallels in human neuroscience research between the neural bases of experiences with classic hallucinogens and the neural bases of meditative practices for which claims of mystical-type experience are sometimes made. From these parallels, a functional neural model of mystical experience is proposed, based on changes in the default mode network of the brain that have been observed after the administration of classic hallucinogens and during meditation practices for which mystical-type claims have been made.

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Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates

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