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