New study explores link between psychedelics and consciousness

Now, a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine examines the question of whether hallucinogens alter attributions of consciousness to a range of living and non-living things

The findings were published March 28 in the journal Frontiers in Psychology

"This study shows that when beliefs change after a psychedelic experience, the tendency to ascribe consciousness to a different entity increases," said Sandeep Nayak, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Psychedelic and A postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Consciousness Research and one of the researchers involved in the study

For the study, researchers analyzed data collected between August 2020 and January 2021 on 1,606 people who had experienced belief-altering psychedelics

Study participants completed a web-based survey in which questions focused on altered beliefs caused by a single psychedelic experience of a classic psychedelic substance (eg, psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca)

The study found that among those who had only one psychedelic experience that altered their beliefs in some way, there was a substantial increase in attributing awareness to a range of animate and inanimate things

"On average, participants reported a change in their beliefs eight years before they were surveyed, so these belief changes could be long-term," Nayak said

Classic psychedelics -- pharmacological compounds including psilocybin and LSD -- produce visual and auditory illusions and profound changes in consciousness, altering a person's awareness of their surroundings, as well as their thoughts and feelings awareness

"The findings suggest that a single psychedelic experience can make it easier to attribute awareness to something else, which raises interesting questions about what innate or experiential mechanisms may exist behind this belief change

Journal Reference :

1. Sandeep M.