The entropic tongue: Disorganization of natural language under LSD.
Camila Sanz, Carla Pallavicini, Facundo Carrillo, Federico Zamberlán, Mariano Sigman, Natália B. Mota, Mauro Copelli, Sidarta Ribeiro, David Nutt, Robin Carhart-Harris, Enzo Tagliazucchi
Consciousness and Cognition December 8, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103070 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) |
| Dose | 75 μg |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | LSD Language Effects Speech disorganization Psychedelic neuroscience |
| Citations | 34 |
| Key findings | Language produced under LSD exhibits increased entropy and reduced semantic coherence, with speech organization changes more similar to manic psychoses than to schizophrenia. |
Abstract
Serotonergic psychedelics have been suggested to mirror certain aspects of psychosis, and, more generally, elicit a state of consciousness underpinned by increased entropy of on-going neural activity. We investigated the hypothesis that language produced under the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) should exhibit increased entropy and reduced semantic coherence. Computational analysis of interviews conducted at two different time points after 75 μg of intravenous LSD verified this prediction. Non-semantic analysis of speech organization revealed increased verbosity and a reduced lexicon, changes that are more similar to those observed during manic psychoses than in schizophrenia, which was confirmed by direct comparison with reference samples. Importantly, features related to language organization allowed machine learning classifiers to identify speech under LSD with accuracy comparable to that obtained by examining semantic content. These results constitute a quantitative and objective characterization of disorganized natural speech as a landmark feature of the psychedelic state.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution. Human participants | 2016 | Observational cohort | |
| Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin Humans | 2017 | Observational study | |
| Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population. USA adult respondents from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2012) | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 190,000 |
| Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study Randomly selected United States adults | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 135,095 |
| Whole-Brain Multimodal Neuroimaging Model Using Serotonin Receptor Maps Explains Non-linear Functional Effects of LSD. Healthy human participants | 2018 | Observational study with computational modeling |
Citations in the library
Cited by 28
- Psilocybin-Induced Mystical-Type Experiences are Related to Persisting Positive Effects: A Quantitative and Qualitative Report Frontiers in Pharmacology March 9, 2022
- Psychedelic Therapy's Transdiagnostic Effects: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Perspective Frontiers in Psychiatry December 17, 2021
- LSD, madness and healing: Mystical experiences as possible link between psychosis model and therapy model. Psychological Medicine March 1, 2023
- Prefrontal contributions to the stability and variability of thought and conscious experience Neuropsychopharmacology September 20, 2021
- LSD and creativity: Increased novelty and symbolic thinking, decreased utility and convergent thinking Journal of Psychopharmacology February 1, 2022
and 23 more in the library
Cites 29
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 11, 2016
- Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution. Current Biology April 13, 2016
- Ego-Dissolution and Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI) Frontiers in Human Neuroscience June 14, 2016
and 24 more in the library