to normal and abnormal brain functions, ”says neuroscience researcher Andrea Luppi of the University of Cambridge.
The new research is part of the study of dynamic functional connectivity - the theory that brain phenomena demonstrate states of functional connectivity that change over time, in the same way that our flow of consciousness is dynamic and always fluid. When this happens, and the human brain is processing information, it must integrate that information into some form of amalgamated understanding - but at the same time separate the information, keeping the distinct sensory flows separate from each other, so that they can be processed by particular neural systems.
This distinction - the dynamics of brain integration and segregation - is particularly affected by psychedelic drugs, and with the advent of brain imaging technology, we can observe what happens when our regular functional connectivity is disrupted. . In the study, a group of 20 healthy volunteers underwent brain scans in two separate sessions, fifteen days apart.
Temporal property of brain substates under placebo and LSD. Left: proportion of total time spent in the predominantly integrated substate. Right: entropy of the alternation between integrated and divided substates.
In one session, participants took a placebo before entering the fMRI scanner, while in the other window, they received an active dose of LSD. By comparing the results of the two sessions, the researchers found that LSD detaches functional connectivity from the constraints of structural connectivity, while simultaneously altering the way the brain manages the balance between integration and segregation of information. .
LSD: it increases the functional complexity of the brain
Indeed, the drug-related altered state of consciousness could be seen as an abnormal increase in the functional complexity of the brain - with data showing times when the brain revealed mainly separate functional connectivity patterns. In other words, the dissolution of the ego during a psychedelic delirium could be the subjective experience of your brain increasing its dynamics of segregation, decoupling the structure of the brain from its functioning - which means a decrease in the ability to integrate. and merging separate information streams into a unified whole.
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Graphs showing the increase in functional complexity for integrated and split substates, for groups on LSD. © Andrea I. Luppi et al. 2021
“ Thus, LSD appears to induce particularly complex patterns of functional connectivity (FC) by inducing further decoupling of FC from the underlying structural connectome, precisely at those times when structural-functional coupling is already at its lowest. Due to the effects of LSD, the brain is free to explore a variety of functional connectivity patterns, which go beyond those dictated by anatomy - presumably resulting from beliefs and unusual experiences reported during the psychedelic state ” , conclude the researchers.
This is a very interesting piece