Altered States
Eduardo E. Icaza, George A. Mashour
Anesthesiology September 21, 2013 DOI: 10.1097/01.anes.0000435635.42332.ee (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Consciousness Neuroimaging Altered state General anesthetics Cognitive science Hallucinogen |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key findings | Psilocybin and general anesthetics produce similar patterns of decreased cerebral blood flow and functional disconnections in the brain, despite generating opposite subjective experiences. |
Abstract
Abstract The psychedelic experience has been reported since antiquity, but there is relatively little known about the underlying neural mechanisms. A recent neuroimaging study on psilocybin revealed a pattern of decreased cerebral blood flow and functional disconnections that is surprisingly similar to that caused by various anesthetics. In this article, the authors review historical examples of psychedelic experiences induced by general anesthetics and then contrast the mechanisms by which these two drug classes generate altered states of consciousness.