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Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

nature.com

141–150 of 276 posts

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#141

This concerns Functional Connectivity[0], which is basically a measure of how temporally correlated regions are; those that fire in sync or in a strongly correlated pattern are functionally connected. Essentially, the TL;DR of this study is that psilocybin's 5-HT2A agonism seems to reduce synchronized FC activity not just in neurons but the whole brain: psilocybin makes parts of the brain overall that otherwise work…

Yeah, this is super interesting. The obvious follow up for me is what implication this desynchronization has on cognition. People who have done a lot of psilocybin tend to be quite a bit 'different' at least in my experience—they tend to be more reserved, maybe a bit more thoughtful, slower, introspective, etc. But what causes this change in personality? People who have done a lot of psilocybin seem to be a lot less…

I completely disagree with your anecdotal premise.

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#142
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry about your friend. When you say "hard drugs" are you referring to mushrooms? Where I'm from mushrooms aren't considered a hard drug, heroin and cocaine would be.

> Where I'm from mushrooms aren't considered a hard drug, heroin and cocaine would be. Yes But it is hard to understand when herion, and LSD are in the same legal category The law is an ass

It sure is.

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#143
post #138
post #2

incredibly powerful drug. we should be training a legion of mystics using psilocybin instead of criminalizing it and obfuscating the implications of its use

> training a legion of mystics Oh yeah! But what does that mean?

It means a lot of them!

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#145
post #2

incredibly powerful drug. we should be training a legion of mystics using psilocybin instead of criminalizing it and obfuscating the implications of its use

You're like 70 years late

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKUltra

    Project MKUltra was an illegal human experiments program designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used during interrogations to weaken people and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.

      [...]

    The project studied the effects of psychoactive drugs, particularly LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, cocaine, AMT and DMT on people

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the lesson of this story is the danger of having a gun in the home at all. He could have been sober and depressed and did the same just as easily thanks to having access to a gun. There's a lot of statistical evidence for how dangerous situations like depression or domestic violence can become once a gun is nearby.

Your first statement is not supported by the second. Yes, in a DV situation or a situation where someone has severe mental illness, it's probably not a good idea to have easy access to a firearm. But if you actually look at the numbers, the average firearm is not used in self-defense, nor is it used to endanger a family member. The vast majority just . . . sit there. They're machines which must be used respectfully a…

Not sure what the point here is. The vast majority of firearms that are used to hurt family members previously just sat there.

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#147

This concerns Functional Connectivity[0], which is basically a measure of how temporally correlated regions are; those that fire in sync or in a strongly correlated pattern are functionally connected. Essentially, the TL;DR of this study is that psilocybin's 5-HT2A agonism seems to reduce synchronized FC activity not just in neurons but the whole brain: psilocybin makes parts of the brain overall that otherwise work…

Yeah, this is super interesting. The obvious follow up for me is what implication this desynchronization has on cognition. People who have done a lot of psilocybin tend to be quite a bit 'different' at least in my experience—they tend to be more reserved, maybe a bit more thoughtful, slower, introspective, etc. But what causes this change in personality? People who have done a lot of psilocybin seem to be a lot less…

Suggested reading:

"How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan

https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/

There's also a multi-part Netflix series based on the book.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80229847?preventIntent=true

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#148

PSA: My buddy shot himself in the head while we were on shrooms in our twenties. He thought he meant God, took a shower picked up a gun and shot himself in the head. While I've had trips since then and do get benefits from those experiences. People without experience should be careful, especially if you have a history of mental illness. He did have a history to some degree but not overtly.

Set and setting matter. The concept is discussed in Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind."

Book and the Netflix series.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80229847?preventIntent=true

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sources?

Anecdotal, but I've tripped with two people who showed seizure like symptoms that they never had before or since. Couldn't find any data at the time. Tried to get them to submit experience reports on erowid so that there would be some data out there, but they didn't want to put anything about it in writing.

Yeah, I think data on this would be hard to get.

A tangential anecdote... I took a Pfizer COVID booster vaccine and saw my heart rate go up to resting above 100 on my calorie tracker watch. I talked with my doctor about this. He said he stayed away from the COVID boosters because they weren't a good balance of risk vs safety. I asked him whether high resting heart rates were a side effect. He said, no, there's no data for that, but there is data that it has an impact on heart rates.

I said, if there's no data, that means the vaccine isn't the source? He said, no, there's no data because I didn't report it.

Re: Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain

#150
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal, but I've tripped with two people who showed seizure like symptoms that they never had before or since. Couldn't find any data at the time. Tried to get them to submit experience reports on erowid so that there would be some data out there, but they didn't want to put anything about it in writing.

Yeah, I think data on this would be hard to get. A tangential anecdote... I took a Pfizer COVID booster vaccine and saw my heart rate go up to resting above 100 on my calorie tracker watch. I talked with my doctor about this. He said he stayed away from the COVID boosters because they weren't a good balance of risk vs safety. I asked him whether high resting heart rates were a side effect. He said, no, there's no dat…

> I took a Pfizer COVID booster vaccine and saw my heart rate go up to resting above 100

Temporarily or permanently?

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