What Happens in the Brain on Psychedelics? Scientists Identify a Common Circuit Pattern

What happens in the brain on psychedelics? Scientists identify a common circuit pattern

Researchers combined 11 international resting-state fMRI datasets to map how psychedelic drugs reshape brain connectivity across cortical and subcortical circuits. The mega-analysis found a shared signature of stronger coupling between transmodal association networks and unimodal or sensorimotor systems, alongside selective and variable reductions in within-network connectivity.

Your brain on drugs: different psychedelics work in surprisingly similar ways

Hundreds of scans hint at how substances such as psilocybin, LSD and ayahuasca alter connections between key areas of the brain. Hundreds of scans hint at how substances such as psilocybin, LSD and ayahuasca alter connections between key areas of the brain.

This is your brain on psychedelics: Neuroimaging study sheds light on cortical network effects

Psychedelic drugs are being investigated as scientific and clinical tools, but the brain mechanisms behind their effects remain unclear. Earlier brain imaging studies in small cohorts from single centers produced inconsistent findings, which made it difficult to identify effects that were reliable across studies and drugs. Understanding how psychedelics influence the brain's functional connectivity—how activities in different parts of the brain …