The First-Ever Brain Scans Of LSD’s Mind-Altering Effects. Drug Creates a More “Unified” Mind.

[vkkv]

Source: HuffPo

The research, which was conducted by the Beckley/Imperial Research Programme in the U.K., showed that LSD reduces connectivity WITHIN brain networks and boosts connectivity BETWEEN brain networks that don’t normally interact.

What does a more “unified” brain feel like? According to Carhart-Harris, it involves more fluid, flexible thinking, unusual associations and perceptions, vivid visions and perhaps enhanced creativity.

Our thinking in childhood starts out being more fluid and flexible, and tends to get more rigid and focused as we age, the researchers said. LSD, then, might help some users return to a childlike sense of wonder and imagination.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lsd-brain-scans-effects_us_570e5e8ae4b03d8b7b9ef83c

---

Sounds about right... TRIPPY !!

[NV Whino]

1. Maybe we could send a truckload to Camp Weathervane.

[Helen Borg]

2. Sorry, but that is hand waving by the authors (or the journalist)

If you look at the brain of someone having an epileptic seizure, you'll also find a lot of extra activation all over the place, lots of areas talking to each others in unusual and intense ways..

[Bonobo]

4. Have you taken LSD? nt

[Helen Borg]

6. That is irrelevant.

The point I'm making is that the brain imaging results tell us nothing of interest. We know what the subjective experience of taking LSD is. We don't need neuroscience for that and neuroscience adds nothing to that. At least not at this level.

[Bonobo]

8. I agree with that! nt

[vkkv]

15. Brain mapping the affects from ANY stimuli is forward thinking if it helps us all

to understand how the brain responds similarly to varying input. Knowing how the puzzle is put together not only solves one mystery but can answer other questions as well.

Did you read the attached article?

Sure, we do not need a gas-gauge to tell us we've run out of gas, but it's nice to measure how much we have in the tank.

Also, that table in your kitchen is just an illusion. It is not actually solid you know... it may look solid, but there is more space than particles. I ain't 'trippin'.

[Helen Borg]

33. It's early stages, I know.

Mostly because of the ridiculous war on drug that has prevented good research in this field. Just saying that this is a pretty useless study in terms of what it tells us. More a PR thing for the group who did it, really.

[vkkv]

44. So, finding how brain networking is changed is just "PR for the group who did it".. got it.

[LiberalLovinLug]

46. I just wanted to say hi

Because your avatar is of one of my favorite albums ever.

Talk about mind expanding!

On topic: I probably tried LSD maybe 6 or 7 times, decades ago now. Mine were mostly all positive experiences. I don't know why anyone would be against research of LSD and the brain effects or think nothing else is to be learned so why bother.

And your table example is a good one. I would add that someone that has never taken LSD might shrug this off as "everybody knows that, I don't have to take LSD to understand that". But there is a real difference between knowing it in the traditional school book way, and "knowing" it on an LSD trip. Appreciating, understanding and actually experiencing how awesome that fact is. And of course many other things. The general connectivity of the universe; that one part, including oneself, is connected to every other part. That kind of revelation stays with you long after you come down. And like the table example, its one thing for someone to tell you that, but its another thing to physically feel the truth of that.

[vkkv]

66. Thanks. Close to the Edge is amazing. The 15 min song "Awaken" on Going For The One was really under

appreciated.. as was the entire Relayer album.. Going For The One was that 'come-back album' after Wakeman's return after Patrick Moraz' Relayer recording period

[LiberalLovinLug]

69. Gorgeous song

Great minds think alike. Relayer and Going for the One along with Close to the Edge are my 3 favorite albums by Yes. And Tales often gets criticized but I also can get lost in that sheer epic awesomeness as well.

Anyways probably not the thread for this. I just noticed there is a Music Apreciation thread. Maybe we could discuss Yes and more sometime.

ps. I know it doesn't translate, but I often thought that a person who is progressive politically, should naturally be drawn to progressive rock music.

[hobbit709]

9. Sounds about right to me and I've done more than my share of acid.

It definitely makes the neurons interact.

[Bonobo]

10. Yes, I agree with that too. nt

[Helen Borg]

34. But many substances do!

And many illnesses do as well! Just because more cortex "lights up" tells us very little.

[cheapdate]

76. Took LSD many times, but always liked mushrooms better.

[elljay]

81. Oh but the taste! Gag! nt

[cannabis_flower]

82. It's been years but here's how we did it.

Take Dramamine first to reduce the urge to vomit. Simmer shrooms in a small amount of water. Put through a sieve and throw and throw away the leftover pulp. Add Hawaiian Punch Concentrate. Drink

[elljay]

85. That would have been better!

Only tried shrooms once. (very hard to get where I lived, unlike pharmaceuticals). My friend put them between two slices of white bread and we choked it down. My god it was terrible!

[RAFisher]

19. This was the first study ever looking at the brain while on LSD

It's very interesting that they found that a decrease in connectives between the parahippocampus and retrosplenial cortex lead to loss of ego. It seems to enlightens us a little more on how the brain works and how out identities are formed. This study certainly seems to have value.

[Duppers]

38. I agree.

Thanks.

[jtuck004]

25. That's a bit like saying we shouldn't space travel 'cause we can already see it's mostly empty,

with an occasional rock.

The reason is for what we don't know.

You are correct, a single data point such as this is not going to change the laws of physics. It is data, however, of something we know damn little about.

So lets go get more.

[HuckleB]

74. Indeed. This is a rather "kind" way to put the results.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lsd-may-chip-away-at-the-brain-s-sense-of-self-network/

[Bonobo]

3. This was covered VERY well by Alduous Huxley's "Doors of Perception". nt

[bemildred]

13. Yes, old stuff.

But the pictures flesh it out some. I took acid a couple times, but I didn't like it. Of course I was trying to ride a motorcycle at the time ...

But I survived. And I never wanted to take acid again. I've had a number of friends that swear by it though.

I think what it does is regress you mentally for a while, growing up is largely a matter of pruning the connections in your brain to the useful ones, along with adding new ones, and when you need to think anew it can be good to get rid of that for a while, you will see things you might ignore in your normal state.

I'm already a bit "odd" upstairs, I see too many connections as it is, I think that is why it didn't work for me, it solves the wrong problem.

[GliderGuider]

16. Despite having a few classic bad trips, I was an enthusiast.

Out of somewhere between 50 and 100 experiences with it, I had perhaps four bad trips, mostly related to my mental "set" at the time. The others were all amazing. I now completely understand the word "Wow!"

Tripping seriously is hard work though, and takes a fair amount of time. And like many other psychonauts I found that the vein of gold got mined out after a while, so my desire to do more just died away on its own.

The things I learned on those trips stayed with me though, and have played a great role in my recent non-dualist development. When Advaita teachers say the self is an illusion, I understand what they mean, right down to my toenails.

[bemildred]

17. Yeah, the Law of diminishing returns sets in.

I finally figured that out about the illusory nature of the ego, too. It's what you use to deal with other people, a learned construct. Handy, but not really the boss. Outside of social settings, you don't use it.

And it makes lots of trouble if you don't slap it around once in a while.

Edit: like trying to ride a motorcycle on LSD.

[vkkv]

24. Interesting, thanks. Also, no ego or "I" or "me" exists in pure consciousness..

During the best of trips I wasn't thinking "I like this", it was more an experience of "there it is", very present and involved with my surroundings.

[bemildred]

32. Matthew 18:3

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

[randr]

62. I got that part also

Those that know, know. Those that do not know, don't.

[bemildred]

65. +1.

I've thought that was what he meant for a long time.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. "I'm already a bit odd upstairs"

I knew there was reason I liked you.

[bemildred]

20. It's pretty obvious if you live it.

I'm very functional in real life, but I've always gotten along well outsiders, geeks, and "crazy" people too. Most of my friends fall in that category.

[awoke_in_2003]

21. Same here. nt

[Baclava]

7. Until they get to the part where each part of the brain thinks it owns the place

Ego - Be quiet - I was talking

Id - No I was talking, you go sit in a corner till I tell you it's safe to come out

Superego - Hey you kids - get off my lawn!

[GliderGuider]

12. +1

Higher Self: "Whatever you want, kids."

[snort]

53. Nirvana Self:

Vote Bernie!

[bemildred]

14. Pretty much. nt

[GliderGuider]

11. Yep, that's what it felt like to me.

Brain all lit up, able to see, feel and be everything, everywhere, all at once. Indescribable beauty.

[Phlem]

23. +1 Spot on.

[snooper2]

80. until your ass has sunk into the couch and you are stuck and can't fucking move

[DisgustipatedinCA]

84. Or you decide it would be funny to go through the Wendy's drivethrough backwards.

Only to laugh at the food and not eat it.

[Phlem]

22. Read this the other day.

In my abused troubled youth, I took mushrooms a couple of time.

It was the best experience of my life. My unforgiving PTSD melted away and I was able to forgive and become more one with the universe. I know that sounds hoaky but without it, I would have grown up with a skewed perspective of life.

I accepted everyone for who they were and was at peace with it and a lot of things.

Take that however you may but it the most positive experience I've ever had and it lasted for years.



PS. I would like to add that it didn't dumb me down as I was quite acutely aware of everything around me including all that was wrong in the world. I empathy cup was just over filled.

[GliderGuider]

28. There's a lot of talk now about using mushrooms and MDMA to treat PTSD.

There are other psychotropics out there that could be very useful, like ibogaine for treating addiction to drugs like heroin and cocaine.

Acid was also proposed as an alcohol addiction therapy by the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, who apparently had really good results with it, but it was a bridge too far for a mainstream organization.

We're missing out on a LOT of crucial healing because of the actions of fearful, constricted old racists like Harry J. Anslinger.

[Phlem]

40. I know. I was trying to quit drinking as an adult,

but in my youth I had long stints of drinking and binge drinking (my birth father was an alcoholic). After one dose of mushrooms I had no desire to drink again period. No withdrawal symptoms, no pain or irritation, the urge was just gone, instantly and lasted till for years.

Thanks for Ibogaine link. I've done everything that doesn't involve a needle but have managed to quit it all too, including smoking cigarettes. I seem to able to deal with more pain than most, must be the PTSD.

I've recently quit drinking using the brute force method (which was fucking tough) and I would not do it again. Tried looking for mushrooms but you know things like that are harder and harder to find.

Fucked up drug laws make you feel like a criminal for try to make yourself better.

I've been smoking weed to combat my PTSD symptoms since junior high (Although I've switched to vaporizing years ago) so I'm glad it's legal in my state.

Our laws our outdated and still reside in Victorian era understanding.

[GliderGuider]

50. I used brute force to quit smoking

Cold turkey off 3 packs a day, back 30 years ago. It was the single hardest thing I've ever done, and it used up about all of my will power. Addictions are vicious, and we should be making everything possible available to make the process of kicking them easier.

Did you know that growing your own shroom is easier than growing good weed? The spores are quite legal in many places - where I live, spore syringes of many strains are available in good head shops. Just sayin'!

[Phlem]

58. You know I was reading that.

Just worried that the Spores101 package might be traced to my residence and that I would be on watched. Otherwise I'd be all over it.

I agree. Smoking was hard going cold Turkey. My wife tried to buy me a pack of cigarettes cause she couldn't stand me anymore. I love her so much for hanging with me though.

You're a good friend GliderGuider. Thanks so much for being understanding and the great advice.

[GliderGuider]

60. You're welcome.

I came up with a quotable quote a few years ago: "A single connection is the quantum unit of the sacred."
That's what stuff like this is all about.

back.

[Duppers]

39. Excellent. Same here.

I regret that time has melted those feelings away but it did alter my perspective forever.

[Phlem]

41. +1 Spot on.

[northernsouthern]

26. I have read this a few times.

None of them seem to address flash backs or the length of time in the system? Are they testing a better strain of it? Have they concluded flashbacks and bad trips are not really an issue? I would be a nice to see an unbiased study on all side effects and bonuses.

[GliderGuider]

29. "Flashbacks" are a bullshit scare tactic.

And bad trips, while real, do no lasting damage, provided one isn't borderline psychotic going in.

IMNSHO

[ghostsinthemachine]

30. Where are those flashbacks they promised me anyway?

No such thing. Propaganda pure and simple. I've taken LSD and every other psychedelic substance possible for 50 years and never had a flashback. Only what you could describe as a bad trip twice and both times more due to alcohol than LSD.

[vkkv]

31. Did you read the attached link? eom

[Duppers]

43. I think those vary from person to person.

I never had a bad experience or flashbacks.

[northernsouthern]

56. I want to believe that but...

In an AP psychology class (AP being pertinent since they went in to far greater detail) our professor did talk about them, and she was not a person to lie about drugs. She was completely in to the subject and loved all the aspects of the effects of drugs and such on the brain and how it functions in altered states. I don't use drugs for my creative projects because I feel like it is dosing in a weird way, but I have nothing against them. The fact they are showing the that it may help is something I think is worth looking in to. We have criminalized many things far too long. If I remember our section on LSD correctly it lingers int the fatty tissue of the brain, so that is why people can experience a flash back many years later, but from what I read here it may have been partially bs and partially another condition that is brought on by LSD along with other drugs.

http://www.hightimes.com/read/does-lsd-stay-your-spinal-cord-forever

[jman0war]

75. 100% false

The link you provided even says it's false (that LSD remains in the body).

The mystery of LSD is that the dosage is so, so small. Tiny.
The body totally breaks it down very very quickly.
Yet even though it's gone completely from the body, it produces such a profound "cascading effect" on our consciousness.

It's not the same thing as alcohol and cannabinoids, which are like a 'fuel' that your body uses up before the effects wear off.

LSD is in a class all by itself.

[northernsouthern]

77. Yes it says it is metabolized with in 4 hours I think it said.

But not sure how biased high times is either. They seemed like a good place to get a counter punch from. But you can see in my last post I cited that and that they think it has to do with that weird reaction that people can have very rarely where the effects are echoed indefinitely, and can't really be cured as of yet. I had not even heard of that. But it makes sense that people may mistake it for that. The article also mentioned flashbacks, but said that there was no good study of them and due to their nature they will be hard to nail down.

[blackspade]

63. I've had 'flashbacks' but they were never bad.

I'm guessing they are a result of metabolizing LSD remnants stored in fat.
They just consisted of trails and a slightly altered sense of consciousness.
I had them for several years after I lost interest in LSD and they were always a nice bonus to my day.....

[northernsouthern]

67. Lol.

The reason I ask is I could see one downside if a person had bad flashbacks later on while doing work. But I after refer madness I trust things a bit less. That being said I still hope our local pot heads don't over do it, all smoke leads to cancer I think if over done (even wood stove and bbqs I think.

[retread]

78. Saw a propaganda film when I was in the military where this guy takes LSD and has a bad trip.

Years later he is driving in a city, at night, with his wife and 3 young children. An oncoming headlight
triggers a flashback and he totals the car killing his wife and children.

Flashback tales were bullshit then and remain bullshit now.

[SpankMe]

27. LSD can be medically beneficial

About 2 years ago I was listening to an episode of TED talks on NPR. It was about a team neuro-psych people who were using psychedelic mushrooms in conjunction with specialized phycho therapy to treat PTSD. They say they were able to actually CURE the PTSD in 7 of the 8 patients they were working with.

They gave them small doses of the substance and immediately began a therapy session while the subjects were under the effects of the drug. After 6 to 8 of these sessions, they were able to actually cure PTSD in almost all of the patients.

I have never been able to locate those talks, or any data about them. Their absence from the Internet is so complete that I'm suspicious about someone with an agenda (read: drug companies) successfully suppressing them.

The lecture was fascinating and convinced me that LSD and mushrooms are effective in treating certain mental illnesses when handled by experts and in conjunction with talk therapy.

The U.S. must open up and allow more research on this.

[klook]

86. Is this the talk?

http://reset.me/video/graham-hancocks-banned-ted-talk-on-psychedelic-medicines/

There was also a New Yorker mag article last year ("The Trip Treatment" by Michael Pollan, Feb. 2, 2015) that I found pretty interesting.

[Duppers]

35. Was hoping someone would do an OP on this.

I posted this the other day as a comment but got no reply.

From The New Scientist...



http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1228&pid=46522

[bemildred]

37. Lots of orange in the neocortex, it looks like. nt

[Phlem]

42. New Scientist. Love that publication.

Must subscribe again. Currently getting Scientific American which is great too.

[vkkv]

45. Thank you...... eom

[McCamy Taylor]

36. If it could be patented, it would be direct advertised on TV.

[wordpix]

47. glad researchers are exploring this - LSD worked for me

I took it as a teen into my early 20's. At the time I was depressed, slightly overweight and lacked confidence. On LSD, I made friends, lost weight, and figured out some things about my family. I became a happier, creative, more focused adult. I quit b/c I had a bad batch. I think it would help anyone with mental health and addiction issues, in a clinical setting, that is.

[SHRED]

48. No wonder it's so intense

When compared with our "normal" day to day use of our brains.

[Lint Head]

49. "Everything is Everything" Clyde A Scope

[GliderGuider]

51. :-) nt

[Jackie Wilson Said]

52. Put it in the water supply and somehow make it so nobody under age gets any

and you would eliminate a large percentage of right wing thinking.

[PufPuf23]

54. Dose Congress!!!! kr

[TIME TO PANIC]

57. Not a bad idea.

Things would more than likely improve.

[PufPuf23]

59. I am Sirius!!

On days I am not Spartacus !!!!

Dose Congress for (the) POTUS !!!

[Bohemianwriter]

55. No wonder...

I wrote a poem that was exhibited in a Belfast gallery when having a very mild trip on acid for the first time.

Well, it didn't work the first time. The 2nd time, I wrote the poem that got me on the map in Belfast.

Just had to put out some self bragging on this one....

As an honor to all the stoners and trippers out there: Some classic George Carlin!

&index=1&list=WL&nohtml5=False

[blackspade]

61. Interesting findings.

[Monk06]

64. Enhanced creativity? Two words, Moody Blues

[madokie]

68. I resemble that

not tooting my own horn but I'm way more creative than most and I'm also a person who went on many trips without leaving the farm, if you get my drift

[joshcryer]

70. LSD and shrooms probably have more mental health benefits...

...than harm. We just haven't explored either sufficiently.

[crim son]

71. Ummm, that's not how I remember it. n/t

[Odin2005]

72. A more "unified" mind is not necessarily a good thing.

There is a hypothesis that psychotic disorders and autism are different ends of a spectrum between abnormally high (for people with psychotic disorders) and abnormally low (for autistic people) connectivity between different parts of the brain. So if you have a family history of Schizophrenia or Bipolar using LSD may not be the best idea.

[vkkv]

73. Hmm, that's something to consider. However, this lab was reporting on comparing the brain activity

of brains given a placebo vs. brains given actual LSD. The findings of a "unified" mind were simply the results of the brain scans.

Since the drug's effect is temporary, there could be a unknown benefit to those with a disorder, yes?

[Odin2005]

87. That could be true, too.

It was just something that popped into my head!

[Sunlei]

79. Thats why music with visuals, on LSD is sooooo, Fantastic!

Fantasia, 1940 clip

[sofa king]

83. I remember people talking about this 25 years ago.

Back then the baby-talk explanation for synesthesia among day-trippers was very similar: LSD erodes the barriers between brain pathways, allowing signals to cross and be interpreted in different ways than they normally would be.

And they were right, ha ha! How about that? Gutter drug knowledge makes good, for once.