Psilocybin-induced modulation of visual salience processing
Stephanie Müller, Federico Cavanna, Laura Alethia de la Fuente, Nicolás Bruno, Tomás Ariel D'Amelio, Carla Pallavicini, Enzo Tagliazucchi
Neuroscience of Consciousness 2025 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niaf060 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects, self-blinded, naturalistic design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 23 |
| Population | Human participants |
| Intervention | Psilocybin |
| Dose | low and high doses |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Salience neuroscience Gaze Visual processing Eye movement Fixation population genetics Visual perception Disengagement theory Cognitive psychology Electroencephalography N2pc Communication Consciousness Visual cortex Salient Artificial intelligence Eye tracking |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Psilocybin increases fixation on salient image regions and reduces inter-fixation distance, indicating heightened sensitivity to visual salience and more localized gaze behavior. |
Abstract
Abstract Psychedelic compounds significantly reshape conscious perception, yet the implications of these alterations for complex visual-guided behaviors remain poorly understood. We investigated how psilocybin modulates visual salience processing during natural scene perception. Twenty-three participants completed eye-tracking tasks under self-blinded low and high doses of psilocybin, in a naturalistic design with experimental conditions unknown to participants and researchers. Subjects viewed natural scenes while their gaze patterns were recorded and analyzed in relation to normative computational saliency maps generated using a deep learning model of visual attention. Results revealed increased fixation on salient image regions and reduced inter-fixation distance under the high-dose condition, suggesting heightened sensitivity to visual salience and more localized gaze behavior. The Shannon entropy of fixations on high-saliency regions indicated a more exploratory and less predictable visual scanning of the images. Complementary resting-state electroencephalography recordings showed broadband spectral power reductions and increased Lempel-Ziv complexity, with delta power negatively correlating with salience metrics. These findings indicate that psilocybin induces a shift in attentional dynamics, altering gaze behavior, and salience processing during natural scene perception.