The Architecture of Ego Dissolution: A Mechanical-First Evaluation of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine at the Sigma-1 and 5-HT2A Interfaces
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) June 24, 2026 Enkhamgalan Nasanjargal
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25 results for "Meta-analysis: What does the research say about Ego dissolution?"
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Measuring the reflective self and experiential self in self-transcendent experiences
PsyArXiv Preprints June 20, 2026
This chapter proposes that self-transcendent experiences can be usefully understood through the distinction between the reflective and experiential self, originally articulated by William James and developed in contemporary philosophy and neuroscience. The reflective self involves conscious, narrative self-referential processing, while the experiential self refers to affective processing and...
Ego dissolution as a collapse of integration, not a surge of entropy
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) June 18, 2026 Sören van Krunckelsven
AbstractThe “entropic brain” hypothesis holds that psychedelic and other ego-dissolving states correspondto an increase in the entropy or signal diversity of spontaneous brain activity. Motivated by afirst-person report of a combined serotonergic–dissociative state (LSD/DMT together with nitrousoxide, N2O), we asked a sharper question: when a 5-HT2A agonist and an NMDA antagonist acttogether,...
A cross-sectional survey on depersonalization/derealization and meditation-induced alterations of the self.
Scientific Reports May 8, 2026 Erola Pons, Julieta Galante, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
Depersonalization/derealization (DPDR) involves feeling detached from one's body, thoughts, or emotions and is often triggered by trauma, stress, mental health issues, or drug use, typically causing high distress. Similar experiences are also reported in meditation contexts, where they are often described as positive, insightful, and meaningful. However, no study has systematically compared...
How Consciousness Introduces Presentism into an Eternalist Spacetime: ego-dissolution as presentism-dissolution.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) March 23, 2026 Maarten Vergucht
How Consciousness Introduces Presentism into an Eternalist Spacetime: Ego Dissolution as Presentism-Dissolution The special theory of relativity strongly suggests that the default ontological structure of the universe is eternalist: a four-dimensional block spacetime in which past, present, and future coexist. Yet our lived experience is overwhelmingly presentist. We experience time as a...
"Ego Dissolution" Nullification and Establishment of the "Identity Stability"
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) March 15, 2026 Hamzah Seyed Rasoul
Subject: Nullification of "Ego Dissolution" and Establishment of the "Identity Stability" Standard in the 165-Supercomputer Computational Level: Postdoctoral (Information Topology & 165D Cryptographic Self-Sovereignty) Under the absolute sovereign authority of Seyed Rasoul Hamzah, and in strict accordance with the 10-step protocol, the invalidation of mystical nihilism and the implementation of...
Ego Dissolution, Death Anxiety, and Impulse Regulation: A Conceptual Psychological Model of Contemplative Transformation
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) March 13, 2026 Prashant Gunjan
This conceptual paper proposes a psychological model exploring how contemplative practices facilitate transformation by influencing ego dissolution, death anxiety, and impulse regulation. Drawing on insights from mindfulness, meditation, and contemplative traditions, the study examines how the temporary reduction of egoic boundaries (ego dissolution) can diminish existential fears and improve...
LSD Relaxes Structural Constraints on Brain Dynamics and Default Mode Decoupling Tracks Ego Dissolution
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) March 5, 2026 Venkatesh Subramani, Annalisa Pascarella, Jérémy Brunel et al.
Abstract Psychedelics profoundly alter conscious experience, yet how they reshape the relationship between brain anatomy and function remains unclear. In particular, it is unknown whether psychedelic states reflect a global disruption of structure–function organization or a frequency– and network-specific reconfiguration of neural dynamics relative to the structural connectome. Here we address...
Multidimensional Ego-Dissolution Assessment (MEDA): Scale Development and Substance-Specific Comparisons
March 2, 2026 Rebekah Senānāyaka preprint
Rationale: Ego-dissolution represents a key therapeutic mechanism in psychedelic-assisted therapy, yet current measurement approaches may inadequately capture its multidimensional nature.Objective: To develop and validate the Multidimensional Ego-Dissolution Assessment (MEDA) and examine substance-specific patterns across classical psychedelics.Methods: Items from three validated scales...
Ketamine combined with psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: Real-world outcomes and the role of subjective experience.
General Hospital Psychiatry 2026 Rebeca Cohen, João Bastos, Catarina Cunha et al. 1 citation
Ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist, shows promise for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), with psychedelic doses potentially enhancing efficacy. However, its transient antidepressant effects and the need for repeated infusions raise concerns about optimal duration and long-term safety. Two clinical trials have tested the combination of ketamine with psychotherapy for depression,...
LSD, madness and healing: Mystical experiences as possible link between psychosis model and therapy model.
Psychological Medicine March 1, 2023 Isabel Wießner, Marcelo Falchi, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes et al. 53 citations
For a century, psychedelics have been investigated as models of psychosis for demonstrating phenomenological similarities with psychotic experiences and as therapeutic models for treating depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. This study sought to explore this paradoxical relationship connecting key parameters of the psychotic experience, psychotherapy, and psychedelic experience. In...
Effective Connectivity of Functionally Anticorrelated Networks Under Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
Biological Psychiatry February 1, 2023 Devon Stoliker, Leonardo Novelli, Franz X. Vollenweider et al. 49 citations
Classic psychedelic-induced ego dissolution involves a shift in the sense of self and a blurring of the boundary between the self and the world. A similar phenomenon is identified in psychopathology and is associated with the balance of anticorrelated activity between the default mode network, which directs attention inward, and the salience network, which recruits the dorsal attention network...
Neural Mechanisms and Psychology of Psychedelic Ego Dissolution
Pharmacological Reviews September 9, 2022 Devon Stoliker, Adeel Razi, Gary F. Egan et al. 83 citations
Neuroimaging studies of psychedelics have advanced our understanding of hierarchical brain organization and the mechanisms underlying their subjective and therapeutic effects. The primary mechanism of action of classic psychedelics is binding to serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors. Agonist activity at these receptors leads to neuromodulatory changes in synaptic efficacy that can have a profound...
A narrative synthesis of research with 5-MeO-DMT.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) March 1, 2022 Anna O. Ermakova, Fiona Dunbar, James Rucker et al. 83 citations
5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a naturally occurring, short-acting psychedelic tryptamine, produced by a variety of plant and animal species. Plants containing 5-MeO-DMT have been used throughout history for ritual and spiritual purposes. The aim of this article is to review the available literature about 5-MeO-DMT and inform subsequent clinical development. We searched PubMed...
Neural and subjective effects of inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine in natural settings.
J Psychopharmacol February 10, 2021 Carla Pallavicini, Federico Cavanna, Federico Zamberlán et al. 73 citations
BACKGROUND: N,N-dimethyltryptamine is a short-acting psychedelic tryptamine found naturally in many plants and animals. Few studies to date have addressed the neural and psychological effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine alone, either administered intravenously or inhaled in freebase form, and none have been conducted in natural settings. AIMS: Our primary aim was to study the acute effects of...
Me, myself, bye: regional alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissolution with psilocybin.
Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology November 1, 2020 Natasha L. Mason, K P C Kuypers, F Müller et al. 261 citations
There is growing interest in the therapeutic utility of psychedelic substances, like psilocybin, for disorders characterized by distortions of the self-experience, like depression. Accumulating preclinical evidence emphasizes the role of the glutamate system in the acute action of the drug on brain and behavior; however this has never been tested in humans. Following a double-blind,...
Ethics and ego dissolution: the case of psilocybin
Journal of Medical Ethics May 27, 2020 William Smith, Dominic Sisti 142 citations
Despite the fact that psychedelics were proscribed from medical research half a century ago, recent, early-phase trials on psychedelics have suggested that they bring novel benefits to patients in the treatment of several mental and substance use disorders. When beneficial, the psychedelic experience is characterized by features unlike those of other psychiatric and medical treatments. These...
Mystical and Other Alterations in Sense of Self: An Expanded Framework for Studying Nonordinary Experiences
Perspectives on Psychological Science February 13, 2020 Ann Taves 127 citations
Although many researchers in psychology, religious studies, and psychiatry recognize that there is overlap in the experiences their subjects recount, disciplinary silos and challenges involved in comparing reported experiences have left us with little understanding of the mechanisms, whether biological, psychological, and/or sociocultural, through which these experiences are represented and...
From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health December 16, 2019 Hannes Kettner, Sam Gandy, Eline Haijen et al. 159 citations
(1) Background: There appears to be a growing disconnection between humans and their natural environments which has been linked to poor mental health and ecological destruction. Previous research suggests that individual levels of nature relatedness can be increased through the use of classical psychedelic compounds, although a causal link between psychedelic use and nature relatedness has not...
Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on affect and cognitive thinking style and their association with ego dissolution
Psychopharmacology August 13, 2018 Malin V. Uthaug, Kim van Oorsouw, Kim P. C. Kuypers et al. 213 citations
RATIONALE: Ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant tea from South America used for religious purposes by indigenous people of the Amazon. Increasing evidence indicates that ayahuasca may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of mental health disorders and can enhance mindfulness-related capacities. Most research so far has focused on acute and sub-acute effects of ayahuasca on mental...
Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience May 23, 2017 Raphaël Millière 216 citations
There is converging evidence that high doses of hallucinogenic drugs can produce significant alterations of self-experience, described as the dissolution of the sense of self and the loss of boundaries between self and world. This article discusses the relevance of this phenomenon, known as "drug-induced ego dissolution (DIED)", for cognitive neuroscience, psychology and philosophy of mind....
Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience
Neuroscience of Consciousness 2017 Chris Letheby, Philip Gerrans 280 citations
Users of psychedelic drugs often report that their sense of being a self or 'I' distinct from the rest of the world has diminished or altogether dissolved. Neuroscientific study of such 'ego dissolution' experiences offers a window onto the nature of self-awareness. We argue that ego dissolution is best explained by an account that explains self-awareness as resulting from the integrated...
Ego-Dissolution and Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI)
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience June 14, 2016 Matthew M. Nour, Lisa Evans, David Nutt et al. 476 citations
Our results demonstrate the psychometric structure, internal consistency and construct validity of the EDI. Moreover, we demonstrate the close relationship between ego-dissolution and the psychedelic experience. The EDI will facilitate the study of the neuronal correlates of ego-dissolution, which is relevant for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and our understanding of psychosis.
Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution.
Curr Biol April 13, 2016 Enzo Tagliazucchi, Leor Roseman, Mendel Kaelen et al. 531 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a non-selective serotonin-receptor agonist that was first synthesized in 1938 and identified as (potently) psychoactive in 1943. Psychedelics have been used by indigenous cultures for millennia [1]; however, because of LSD's unique potency and the timing of its discovery (coinciding with a period of major discovery in psychopharmacology), it is generally...