https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-021-01603-4
Psilocin, LSD, mescaline, and DOB all induce broadband desynchronization of EEG and disconnection in rats with robust translational validity
Quote:Analyses of the mean power, topographic brain-mapping, and functional connectivity revealed that all of the psychedelics irrespective of the structural family induced overall and time-dependent global decrease/desynchronization of EEG activity and disconnection within 1–40 Hz.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....77183/full
40 Hz Light Flicker Alters Human Brain Electroencephalography Microstates and Complexity Implicated in Brain Diseases
Quote:The current study laid the foundation for the future development of 40 Hz light flicker as therapeutics for brain diseases.
(2023-03-05, 08:32 PM)Max_B Wrote: [ -> ]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-021-01603-4
Psilocin, LSD, mescaline, and DOB all induce broadband desynchronization of EEG and disconnection in rats with robust translational validity
This maybe true, but to me it rather suggests that the brain isn't creating these experiences.
I mean, what would you expect if a doctor said he needed to desynchronise your brain for a few minutes? I guess you would expect to enter some sort of stupor, or to just simply lose consciousness. That sure isn't what happens if you take one of these drugs (I'm not talking from personal experience).
In the same way, you wouldn't really expect a brain struggling with insufficient oxygen to undergo a fantastic experience such as an NDE.
I suggest you read Jurgen Ziewe's books - e.g. "Vistas of Infinity" to get some idea of what the big picture might look like.
David
(2023-03-07, 10:02 AM)David001 Wrote: [ -> ]This maybe true, but to me it rather suggests that the brain isn't creating these experiences.
I mean, what would you expect if a doctor said he needed to desynchronise your brain for a few minutes? I guess you would expect to enter some sort of stupor, or to just simply lose consciousness. That sure isn't what happens if you take one of these drugs (I'm not talking from personal experience).
In the same way, you wouldn't really expect a brain struggling with insufficient oxygen to undergo a fantastic experience such as an NDE.
I suggest you read Jurgen Ziewe's books - e.g. "Vistas of Infinity" to get some idea of what the big picture might look like.
David
The 'holes' opened up in the brains endogenous EM field, by power changes that we measure as say... Event Related Desynronisation (ERD)... could be just as important to our experiences, as the areas without the 'holes'. I'd expect that to apply to Desynronisation reported in this study. Something similar was seen in the fMRI studies on entheogens IIRC.
I would expect an energy starved brain to increase the probability of the NDE.
Psychedelic Research Raises New Questions for Mental Health
Christopher Timmermann
Quote:- New studies provide compelling evidence that psychedelics transform users' worldviews away from a “physicalist” understanding of reality.
- Instead, users tend to side more with “panpsychism,” the belief that consciousness pervades everything in the universe.
- Belief changes were linked to positive mental health outcomes while also depending on psychological factors such as age and peer conformity.
Quote:In our recent research, the intake of psychedelics (mostly ayahuasca and magic mushrooms) in retreat settings was associated with a significant shift away from “physicalism,” the belief that the fundamental nature of reality is physical or material. Simultaneously, respondents more strongly endorsed a belief in “dualism,” stating that the essential nature of reality consists of both matter and mind. We corroborated these results in a clinical trial showing that non-physicalist beliefs were more robust in patients receiving psilocybin (the active component in magic mushrooms) rather than escitalopram (an SSRI treatment).1
Quote:We also found that following the retreat, respondents more heavily endorsed “panpsychism” (the belief that mind or soul is a fundamental quality of all things in the universe) and “fatalistic determinism” (the idea that mysterious forces determine the future).
The lasting effects of belief changes were noticeable one month and six months after the psychedelic experience, attesting to the impact of these experiences and potentially its broader cultural implications.1Recent studies by researchers at John Hopkins University have replicated these findings, providing further evidence for the causal relationship between psychedelic use and changes in metaphysical beliefs.2,3
Quote:These results raise important ethical considerations. While we found better mental health outcomes in participants who rejected physicalism, our findings indicate that changes in beliefs depend on specific social and psychological conditions, such as having a certain degree of suggestibility, low age, and feeling closeness with fellow retreat members.
Considering this, it is plausible that psychedelics could be exploited for “brainwashing” or social manipulation.4Also, in the context of psychedelic therapy, these changes in beliefs may not be expected, consented to, or desired by patients.
One can't help but wonder if they might have thought it was more positive if people started believing in the physicalist faith...