Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Robin Carhart-Harris

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences

Visiting Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7992r.carhart-harris

 
 
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Assistant

 

Miss Bruna Cunha +44 (0)20 7594 7992

 
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Location

 

Burlington DanesHammersmith Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Carhart-Harris:2016:10.1073/pnas.1518377113,
author = {Carhart-Harris, RL and Muthukumaraswamy, S and Roseman, L and Kaelen, M and Droog, W and Murphy, K and Tagliazucchi, E and Schenberg, EE and Nest, T and Orban, C and Leech, R and Williams, LT and Williams, TM and Bolstridge, M and Sessa, B and McGonigle, J and Sereno, MI and Nichols, D and Hellyer, PJ and Hobden, P and Evans, J and Singh, KD and Wise, RG and Curran, HV and Feilding, A and Nutt, DJ},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1518377113},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
pages = {4853--4858},
title = {Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518377113},
volume = {113},
year = {2016}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the prototypical psychedelic drug, but its effects on the human brain have never been studied before with modern neuroimaging. Here, three complementary neuroimaging techniques: arterial spin labeling (ASL), blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) measures, and magnetoencephalography (MEG), implemented during resting state conditions, revealed marked changes in brain activity after LSD that correlated strongly with its characteristic psychological effects. Increased visual cortex cerebral blood flow (CBF), decreased visual cortex alpha power, and a greatly expanded primary visual cortex (V1) functional connectivity profile correlated strongly with ratings of visual hallucinations, implying that intrinsic brain activity exerts greater influence on visual processing in the psychedelic state, thereby defining its hallucinatory quality. LSD’s marked effects on the visual cortex did not significantly correlate with the drug’s other characteristic effects on consciousness, however. Rather, decreased connectivity between the parahippocampus and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) correlated strongly with ratings of “ego-dissolution” and “altered meaning,” implying the importance of this particular circuit for the maintenance of “self” or “ego” and its processing of “meaning.” Strong relationships were also found between the different imaging metrics, enabling firmer inferences to be made about their functional significance. This uniquely comprehensive examination of the LSD state represents an important advance in scientific research with psychedelic drugs at a time of growing interest in their scientific and therapeutic value. The present results contribute important new insights into the characteristic hallucinatory and consciousness-altering properties of psychedelics that inform on how they can model certain pathological states and potentially treat others.
AU  - Carhart-Harris,RL
AU  - Muthukumaraswamy,S
AU  - Roseman,L
AU  - Kaelen,M
AU  - Droog,W
AU  - Murphy,K
AU  - Tagliazucchi,E
AU  - Schenberg,EE
AU  - Nest,T
AU  - Orban,C
AU  - Leech,R
AU  - Williams,LT
AU  - Williams,TM
AU  - Bolstridge,M
AU  - Sessa,B
AU  - McGonigle,J
AU  - Sereno,MI
AU  - Nichols,D
AU  - Hellyer,PJ
AU  - Hobden,P
AU  - Evans,J
AU  - Singh,KD
AU  - Wise,RG
AU  - Curran,HV
AU  - Feilding,A
AU  - Nutt,DJ
DO  - 10.1073/pnas.1518377113
EP  - 4858
PY  - 2016///
SN  - 1091-6490
SP  - 4853
TI  - Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging
T2  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518377113
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/50366
VL  - 113
ER  -
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