Pharmacologically distinct agents like psilocybin and ketamine produce opposing brain network dynamics but similar subjective effects such as ego dissolution. Current models using single measures like 'network entropy' fail to explain this paradox. A new framework orthogonalizes network Integration (I) from self-model Boundary Stability (B), showing that psilocybin and ketamine follow opposite trajectories on the I axis while both converge at a shared collapse of B. This two-dimensional heuristic offers a falsifiable mapping between network topology and self-model stability, resolving the persistent paradox.
A paradox in neuroimaging of altered states is that psilocybin and ketamine produce opposite brain network dynamics but similar experiences like ego dissolution and entity encounters. Current models using single measures like network entropy cannot fully explain how brain network structure relates to stability of the self-model. A new falsifiable framework separates network Integration from self-model Boundary Stability, showing that psilocybin and ketamine move in opposite directions on the integration axis but both lead to the same collapse of boundary stability, resolving the paradox.