The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology
Frontiers in Neuroscience September 28, 2017 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00539 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognition Consciousness Hypnosis Cognitive science Cognitive psychology Mechanism biology Epistemology |
| Citations | 105 |
| Key points | Proposes that psychedelic experiences arise from disruption of prefrontal cortex and default mode network, releasing lower brain discharges that activate innate cognitive processes including the mirror neuron system. |
Abstract
Neuropharmacological effects of psychedelics have profound cognitive, emotional, and social effects that inspired the development of cultures and religions worldwide. Findings that psychedelics objectively and reliably produce mystical experiences press the question of the neuropharmacological mechanisms by which these highly significant experiences are produced by exogenous neurotransmitter analogs. Humans have a long evolutionary relationship with psychedelics, a consequence of psychedelics' selective effects for human cognitive abilities, exemplified in the information rich visionary experiences. Objective evidence that psychedelics produce classic mystical experiences, coupled with the finding that hallucinatory experiences can be induced by many non-drug mechanisms, illustrates the need for a common model of visionary effects. Several models implicate disturbances of normal regulatory processes in the brain as the underlying mechanisms responsible for the similarities of visionary experiences produced by psychedelic and other methods for altering consciousness. Similarities in psychedelic-induced visionary experiences and those produced by practices such as meditation and hypnosis and pathological conditions such as epilepsy indicate the need for a general model explaining visionary experiences. Common mechanisms underlying diverse alterations of consciousness involve the disruption of normal functions of the prefrontal cortex and default mode network (DMN). This interruption of ordinary control mechanisms allows for the release of thalamic and other lower brain discharges that stimulate a visual information representation system and release the effects of innate cognitive functions and operators. Converging forms of evidence support the hypothesis that the source of psychedelic experiences involves the emergence of these innate cognitive processes of lower brain systems, with visionary experiences resulting from the activation of innate processes based in the mirror neuron system (MNS).
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cooperation between the default mode network and the frontal–parietal network in the production of an internal train of thought | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 63
- Unifying Theories of Psychedelic Drug Effects Frontiers in Pharmacology March 2, 2018
- Modulation of Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor by a Single Dose of Ayahuasca: Observation From a Randomized Controlled Trial Frontiers in Psychology June 4, 2019
- Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution Frontiers in Psychology September 29, 2021
- Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience. Scientific Reports May 24, 2022
- Introduction: Evidence for entheogen use in prehistory and world religions Journal of Psychedelic Studies June 1, 2019
and 58 more in the library
Cites 65
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance Psychopharmacology July 7, 2006
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Human Brain Mapping January 24, 2008
and 60 more in the library