Psychedelic compound psilocybin appears to diminish the 'self-representational system' in the brain.
In a groundbreaking study, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland, Baltimore have discovered that the psychedelic compound psilocybin reduces activity in the claustrum, a deep-seated part of the brain. This finding brings us a step closer to understanding how psilocybin affects the brain and could potentially lead to new treatments for conditions like depression and substance use disorder.
The study, published online in the journal NeuroImage, was conducted using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to detect brain activity in the claustrum. Robin L. Carhart-Harris, the researcher who developed the approach to study the claustrum, led the investigation.
The claustrum, an extremely thin sheet of neurons, reaches out to every other region of the brain. Despite its importance, the claustrum's true purpose remains unknown, with researchers speculating about its functions. However, the reduced activity in the claustrum observed after psilocybin use is linked to stronger subjective effects of the drug, such as emotional and mystical experiences.
Psilocybin changes the way the claustrum communicates with brain regions involved in hearing, attention, decision-making, and remembering. Specifically, the study found that psilocybin reduced neural activity in the claustrum by 15% to 30%. This reduction in activity is associated with feelings of being connected to everything and reduced senses of self or ego, typical effects of psychedelic drugs.
Dr. Francis Crick, a renowned biologist and neuroscientist, once believed the claustrum to be the seat of consciousness. While this theory remains to be proven, the current findings provide valuable insights into the claustrum's role in psychedelic experiences.
The team plans to study the claustrum in people with depression and substance use disorder to see if it plays a role in these conditions. Additionally, they plan to observe the claustrum's activity when under the influence of other psychedelics, such as salvinorin A.
The study involved 15 participants who were given either psilocybin or a placebo. The researchers compared brain scans of people after they took psilocybin with their scans after taking a placebo. The findings bring us one step closer to understanding the complex workings of the human mind and the potential therapeutic applications of psychedelic substances.
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