Your Brain on Psychedelics

[Music]

[Applause]

i’m a scientist

at university of zurich and yale

university

and i’m drawn to study things that very

few do

the two substances i’ve worked with the

most in the last 10 years

are psilocybin and lsd both are classic

psychedelics which have been used in the

treatment of psychiatric disorders

in the 1950s and 60s for political

reasons

research and therapy with these

substances was put on hold almost

completely

after they were made illegal in the

early 1970s

within the last decade however interest

in the effects of these substances has

re-emerged

psychedelics induce a strong altered

state of consciousness

unlike almost any other substance people

describe

vivid visual illusions things in their

environment might start to move or

change color or form

the room may appear smaller or larger

time passes very differently and the

body may feel different

some describe it like being in a fairy

tale for others it’s more like a trip

into their own soul

often people also describe the feeling

of being very connected to the rest of

the world

nature and other people what do these

substances do in the brain

first of all they stimulate a certain

receptor the so-called serotonin-2a

receptor

this changes how the cells in our brain

communicate with each other

a lot of cells together form different

brain structures

one important structure is the thalamus

it filters information from our

environment

and only the important information will

pass through and reach our cortex for

further processing

what happens to the thalamus when we are

under the influence of a psychedelic

we know that the thalamus is more

strongly connected to specific parts of

the brain

especially those which are responsible

for processing

sensory information and for processing

ourselves

much of the back of our brain is

dedicated to processing visual input

we have seen increased connectivity

between these areas and the thalamus

under the influence of psychedelics the

posterior single leg cortex the red dot

on the slide is directly involved when

we are processing information about

ourselves

in a study with lsd we have seen that

the

thalamus is sending more information to

the posterior cingulate cortex

indicating that it is filtering less

information about ourselves

this can lead to a decreased self-other

distinction

and a much stronger feeling of being

connected to the world

this slide here shows changes in

connectivity or communication patterns

induced by psychedelics

lsd and psilocybin compared to placebo

the red and yellow colors mean increased

connectivity

the blue colors mean decreased

connectivity

under the influence of psychedelics

areas which are responsible for

processing sensory information like our

visual cortex our auditory cortex our

somatosensory cortex

are far more connected with each other

these are the areas in red and yellow

but of course we do not process our

visual input

separate from touch or auditory input in

the brain these perceptions need to be

integrated into a coherent perception

so we can understand it and react to it

this integration is happening in our

associative regions

these regions are less connected

under the influence of a psychedelic

these are the blue regions in this slide

and that means that the way we put all

this information together

is different under the influence of a

psychedelic

so because we know that the thalamus is

sending

more information to areas which are

responsible for for example processing

ourselves

and at the same time the integration of

this information

is different we experience the world and

ourselves in a new way

and here’s where it becomes interesting

for patients suffering from depression

anxiety or addiction

the challenge in their therapy is to get

patients to process their realities in a

more constructive and hopeful way

psychedelics may help them to break free

from pathological thinking patterns

and paved the way for finding new

insight into problems

this has been reported by patients who

underwent

psychedelic assisted therapy in various

studies for the treatment

of depression anxiety and addiction

psychedelics also change how we interact

with other people often participants

report that they feel more connected to

other people

and react differently to their behavior

there are many studies which have shown

that psychedelics increase empathy

and that people behave more

altruistically

also they are less sensitive to social

rejection

and these are all things that may help

people suffering from depression anxiety

and addiction

i believe studying these effects with

patients is very useful

because it may allow patients to feel

more connected

to their environment and their

therapists depressed patients for

example react more strongly to negative

social encounters and psychedelics show

signs of normalizing this negative bias

allowing them to engage in social

interaction without strong negative

feelings

depressed and addicted patients also

often feel isolated from their family

and loved ones

psychedelics seem to allow them to feel

closer to them again

which likely has a positive influence on

depressive symptoms

my experience with studying these

substances is profound

while it will take more studies i

believe that eventually

psychedelic assisted therapy may become

an accepted and effective treatment

approach for psychiatric disorders

there are many open questions that still

need to be addressed in future studies

but what can be said already is that the

studies suggest

that these molecules can bring relief to

people suffering from addiction

depression and anxiety it is my great

hope that my work and the work of others

at johns hopkins university

imperial college london and various

academic centers all over the world

testing these substances in clinical

studies will help people who are

suffering

and who are urgently waiting for novel

treatment approaches

thank you for listening