Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T07:12:02.796Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychedelics and the science of self-experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Matthew M. Nour  and
Robin L. Carhart-Harris
Matthew M. Nour
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London
Robin L. Carhart-Harris
Affiliation:
Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology, Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Altered self-experiences arise in certain psychiatric conditions, and may be induced by psychoactive drugs and spiritual/religious practices. Recently, a neuroscience of self-experience has begun to crystallise, drawing upon findings from functional neuroimaging and altered states of consciousness occasioned by psychedelic drugs. This advance may be of great importance for psychiatry.

Type
Editorials
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 210 , Issue 3 , March 2017 , pp. 177 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017 

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None.

References

1 Carhart-Harris, RL, Leech, R, Hellyer, PJ, Shanahan, M, Feilding, A, Tagliazucchi, E, et al. The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8: 20.Google Scholar
2 Christoff, K, Cosmelli, D, Legrand, D, Thompson, E. Specifying the self for cognitive neuroscience. Trends Cogn Sci 2011; 15: 104–12.Google Scholar
3 Qin, P, Northoff, G. How is our self related to midline regions and the default-mode network? Neuroimage 2011; 57: 1221–33.Google Scholar
4 Nour, MM, Barrera, A. Schizophrenia, subjectivity, and mindreading. Schizophr Bull 2015; 41: 1214–9.Google Scholar
5 Seth, AK, Suzuki, K, Critchley, HD. An interoceptive predictive coding model of conscious presence. Front Psychol 2012; 2: 1–16.Google Scholar
6 Carhart-Harris, RL, Muthukumaraswamy, S, Roseman, L, Kaelen, M, Droog, W, Murphy, K, et al. Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2016; 113: 4853–8.Google Scholar
7 Tagliazucchi, E, Roseman, L, Kaelen, M, Orban, C, Muthukumaraswamy, SD, Murphy, K, et al. Increased global functional connectivity correlates with LSD-induced ego dissolution. Curr Biol 2016; 26: 1043–50.Google Scholar
8 Nour, MM, Evans, L, Nutt, D, Carhart-Harris, RL. Ego-dissolution and psychedelics: validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI). Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10: 269.Google Scholar
9 Grof, S. LSD Psychotherapy. Hunter House Publishers, 1980.Google Scholar
10 Northoff, G. How is our self altered in psychiatric disorders? A neurophenomenal approach to psychopathological symptoms. Psychopathology 2014; 47: 365–76.Google Scholar
11 Nordgaard, J, Parnas, J. Self-disorders and the schizophrenia spectrum: a study of 100 first hospital admissions. Schizophr Bull 2014; 40: 1300–7.Google Scholar
12 Muthukumaraswamy, SD, Carhart-Harris, RL, Moran, RJ, Brookes, MJ, Williams, TM, Errtizoe, D, et al. Broadband cortical desynchronization underlies the human psychedelic state. J Neurosci 2013; 33: 15171–83.Google Scholar
13 Josipovic, Z, Dinstein, I, Weber, J, Heeger, DJ. Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 5: 183.Google Scholar
14 Nichols, DE. Psychedelics. Pharmacol Rev 2016; 68: 264–355.Google Scholar
15 Carhart-harris, RL, Bolstridge, M, Rucker, J, Day, CMJ, Erritzoe, D, Kaelen, M, et al. Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study. Lancet Psychiatry 2016; 3: 619–27.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.