Psychedelic substances such as LSD They have always been involved in controversy about their use, but there is no doubt that their effect on the body reveals interesting aspects about the human brain.
Many people who regularly use these drugs, in fact, claim that under their influence they notice that they access other planes of reality. It is not simply that they see strange things, impossible things; It’s that they really believe that, in their own way, the world they can see, touch, and hear exists, and remains hidden when they don’t use these substances.
This phenomenon is very similar to what happens when we dream. Ultimately, dream events, no matter how surreal they may seem objectively, seem valid to us at the time, and we rarely question them just when we perceive them. But recent research has revealed that the similarity between the effect of LSD and dreams goes further of this resemblance.
The use of the psychedelic drug LSD, well known for its recreational use In areas such as concerts or music clubs, it causes the world of those who consume it to change completely for several hours in a row. Everything you see around you changes, but the beliefs and ideas you have about yourself (that is, your self-concept) also change.
This powerful effect on people’s minds is, in part, a mystery to be revealed. The interaction between drugs and the human brain is a very complex process, and it is very difficult to distinguish what exactly it is. what is happening in our brain when we use LSD
Fortunately, a study carried out by a team of scientists from the University of Zurich has found the causes behind the dream-like states of consciousness that appear after the consumption of LSD.
This group of researchers has been working to understand the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances known to generate hallucinations, that is, they cause altered states of consciousness Specifically, they focused on the effects of LSD, which last between 12 and 17 hours, and those of psilocybin, another similar substance whose effects are noticeable for about 4, 5 or 6 hours.
And although we use the term “drugs” to refer to various substances, their mechanisms of action are usually very different, and those of psychedelic substances, in particular, are easily distinguishable from those of consumables such as cannabis or alcohol. Now… what exactly causes dreams to appear in the waking state after taking LSD?
The therapeutic potential of LSD
The study conducted by these Swiss researchers was carried out with the participation of 25 volunteers, some of whom received only a placebo. Generating the phenomenon to be studied in laboratory conditions (the effect of LSD on the nervous system), these scientists analyzed the data obtained and published their conclusions in the scientific journal Psychopharmacology.
Rainer Kraehenmann, a member of the team of researchers who carried out the study, points out that measuring altered states of consciousness, comparable to the dream episodes we experience when dreaming were measured using the marker called cognitive surrealism based on real-time descriptions of what is experienced.
But what people who have taken LSD experience does not simply consist of strange events. These experiences are much more vivid than what an adult without diagnosed mental disorders experiences without the effects of a drug, and a clear pattern of less relational thinking also appears, in a certain way creative and less bound to rigid schemes.
Precisely these last properties are what make LSD a potentially useful tool in some therapies especially those in which you combat a pattern of thinking in which perceived limits generate anxiety.
How do dream states appear with LSD?
It has been known for years that LSD It acts by enhancing the effect of a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain Neurotransmitters are microscopic elements that neurons use to communicate with each other, and LSD causes the receptors of these nerve cells to capture a greater amount of these tiny particles.
Kraehenmann and his colleagues have taken this hypothesis about how LSD works on neurons into more detail by observing that a drug called ketanserin blocks the dreamlike potential of LSD. Ketanserin cancels the working capacity of serotonin 2A receptors so that it prevents the possibility of external substances magnifying the effects of the neurotransmitter.
