The purpose of this investigation is to ask the question of what the short-term and long-term effects of psychedelics on consciousness are and how these effects influence individuals' metaphysical beliefs, perceptions of reality, and brain functions. Information and investigations relating to this question were found through the usage of search engines like Google Scholar and Ebsco Host. While...
This exploratory study aimed to investigate the relationship between interoceptive sensibility and quality of consciousness in individuals with insomnia disorder, in order to understand how the modulation of internal states may contribute to modifying the experience of consciousness during sleep difficulties. A total of 37 patients with insomnia disorder (mean age = 46.05 ± 18.16) and 41...
Focusing on two ‘expanded’ films - Bruce Conner’s Looking for Mushrooms (1959-65) and Stan Brakhage’s Eye Myth (1967) - this paper stages an encounter between psychedelic ‘expanded’ cinema, the writings of Alan Watts, and the field of posthuman philosophy. Drawing special attention to the materiality of film and its relation to the experience of altered states of consciousness, this paper will...
Phenomenological research has focused on embodiment. This paper examines how the body is experienced in passive contemplation, understood as a finite province of meaning in Alfred Schutz’s sense. The six features characteristic of any province of meaning (epoché, form of spontaneity, tension of consciousness, sense of self, temporality, and sociality) function distinctively in each province of...
Scale-free statistics of coordinated neuronal activity, suggesting a universal operating mechanism across spatio-temporal scales, have been proposed as a necessary condition of healthy resting-state brain activity. Recent studies have focused on anesthetic agents to induce distinct neural states in which consciousness is altered to understand the importance of critical dynamics. However,...
Recent experience with off-label use of ketamine and recent challenges experienced in research with MDMA and psilocybin provide additional perspectives on how best to continue development of experimental psychedelic medications. Andrews et al. [1] provide a valuable perspective by noting the parallels between the ongoing deregulation of cannabis and what is now happening with psychedelics. The...
Psychedelics known for mankind from millennia are class of compounds that alter consciousness, affect perception and produce hallucinations. Classic psychedelics such as psilocybin, mescaline, dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have pharmacodynamic serotonergic effects. They are known to exert profound effects on neuroplasticity i.e. alteration of neuronal structure...
Nitrous oxide use is shifting from general anesthesia to sedation and pain control. Interest in novel uses of nitrous oxide in psychiatry is also growing. Thus, understanding the consequences of using nitrous oxide remains relevant. Previous quantitative research might not have fully captured the whole spectrum of nitrous oxide, whereas qualitative analysis can provide a more comprehensive...
Whether consciousness is unidimensional with states defined along a single scale or it consists of multiple fundamental dimensions has been debated. Clinical assessment of consciousness distinguishes the content of consciousness (awareness) and the level of consciousness (wakefulness or arousal), which conflates firstperson phenomenal properties with third-person observable properties. The...