Ruiyi Qiu, Scott Galeung Alexander Mann, Thiago Nascimento et al.
Ayahuasca, used religiously for centuries by Amazonian Indigenous peoples and increasingly studied for its therapeutic potential, owes its psychoactivity to two plants: Psychotria viridis supplies N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), whereas Banisteriopsis caapi supplies beta-carbolines that render DMT orally active. Here we show that the two plants have distinct genome histories: P. viridis is...
George Blackburne, Alberto Liardi, Pablo Mallaroni et al.
How do psychedelic drugs alter human brain function? Answering this question relies on our ability to understand how information is stored, transferred, and transformed across the cortex. Here, we leverage a precise mathematical framework for multivariate information decomposition to construct the first comprehensive picture of these processes across five compounds: LSD, psilocybin, ketamine,...
Miguel Castelo-Branco, Anna Gaidosch, Marta Teixeira et al.
preprint
Abstract Ayahuasca, an amazonian brew containing the serotonergic psychedelic substance N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), induces distinctive visual perceptual phenomenology, yet the neural mechanisms underlying the interplay between external visual drive and internal imagery remain unknown. Using a placebo-controlled, within-subject fMRI design, the present study investigated the impact of...
Jeronimo Herrera
preprint
Consciousness eludes unified scientific explanation, entwining subjective experience with observable brain processes. Neural thermodynamics (NT) introduces a quantitative framework to bridge this divide, modeling consciousness through neural temperature (Tneural), energy (ΔE), and entropy (ΔS). Grounded in statistical mechanics and the Free Energy Principle, NT merges neuroscience and physics...
Maria Luiza Luiz Marçal, Luiz Antônio Sodré Costa
preprint
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous psychedelic tryptamine characterizedby a short duration of action due to its rapid metabolic degradation mediated by monoamineoxidase A (MAO-A), a flavoprotein that utilizes flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) as a redoxcofactor. When ingested as part of ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian decoction containingPsychotria viridis (a source of DMT) and...
Jonas Mago, Shamil Chandaria
preprint
Minimal Phenomenal Experiences (MPEs) present a paradox for theories of consciousness.Defined by phenomenological simplicity, they are nonetheless accompanied by unexpectedly highneural signal diversity. Traditionally, entropy has been interpreted as a marker ofphenomenological richness, exemplified by psychedelic states. Yet MPEs such as advancedabsorptive meditation (jhāna) or 5-MeO-DMT...