DMT alters cortical travelling waves
Psychedelic drugs are potent modulators of conscious states and therefore powerful tools for investigating their neurobiology. N,N, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) can rapidly induce an extremely immersive state of consciousness characterized by vivid and elaborate visual imagery. Here, we investigated the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-10-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/59784 |
| _version_ | 1811200004685037568 |
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| author | Andrea Alamia Christopher Timmermann David J Nutt Rufin VanRullen Robin L Carhart-Harris |
| author_facet | Andrea Alamia Christopher Timmermann David J Nutt Rufin VanRullen Robin L Carhart-Harris |
| author_sort | Andrea Alamia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Psychedelic drugs are potent modulators of conscious states and therefore powerful tools for investigating their neurobiology. N,N, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) can rapidly induce an extremely immersive state of consciousness characterized by vivid and elaborate visual imagery. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of the DMT-induced altered state from a pool of participants receiving DMT and (separately) placebo (saline) while instructed to keep their eyes closed. Consistent with our hypotheses, results revealed a spatio-temporal pattern of cortical activation (i.e. travelling waves) similar to that elicited by visual stimulation. Moreover, the typical top-down alpha-band rhythms of closed-eyes rest were significantly decreased, while the bottom-up forward wave was significantly increased. These results support a recent model proposing that psychedelics reduce the ‘precision-weighting of priors’, thus altering the balance of top-down versus bottom-up information passing. The robust hypothesis-confirming nature of these findings imply the discovery of an important mechanistic principle underpinning psychedelic-induced altered states. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:57:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d694cfaf81494dac8099c9ad110b5c52 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:57:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-d694cfaf81494dac8099c9ad110b5c522022-12-22T03:52:46ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-10-01910.7554/eLife.59784DMT alters cortical travelling wavesAndrea Alamia0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9826-2161Christopher Timmermann1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2281-377XDavid J Nutt2Rufin VanRullen3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3611-7716Robin L Carhart-Harris4Cerco, CNRS Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, FranceComputational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory (C3NL), Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Centre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomCentre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomCerco, CNRS Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute (ANITI), Toulouse, FranceCentre for Psychedelic Research, Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomPsychedelic drugs are potent modulators of conscious states and therefore powerful tools for investigating their neurobiology. N,N, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) can rapidly induce an extremely immersive state of consciousness characterized by vivid and elaborate visual imagery. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of the DMT-induced altered state from a pool of participants receiving DMT and (separately) placebo (saline) while instructed to keep their eyes closed. Consistent with our hypotheses, results revealed a spatio-temporal pattern of cortical activation (i.e. travelling waves) similar to that elicited by visual stimulation. Moreover, the typical top-down alpha-band rhythms of closed-eyes rest were significantly decreased, while the bottom-up forward wave was significantly increased. These results support a recent model proposing that psychedelics reduce the ‘precision-weighting of priors’, thus altering the balance of top-down versus bottom-up information passing. The robust hypothesis-confirming nature of these findings imply the discovery of an important mechanistic principle underpinning psychedelic-induced altered states.https://elifesciences.org/articles/59784N,N, DimethyltryptamineDMTtravelling waveseeg oscillationsvisual hallucinationsconscious perception |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Alamia Christopher Timmermann David J Nutt Rufin VanRullen Robin L Carhart-Harris DMT alters cortical travelling waves eLife N,N, Dimethyltryptamine DMT travelling waves eeg oscillations visual hallucinations conscious perception |
| title | DMT alters cortical travelling waves |
| title_full | DMT alters cortical travelling waves |
| title_fullStr | DMT alters cortical travelling waves |
| title_full_unstemmed | DMT alters cortical travelling waves |
| title_short | DMT alters cortical travelling waves |
| title_sort | dmt alters cortical travelling waves |
| topic | N,N, Dimethyltryptamine DMT travelling waves eeg oscillations visual hallucinations conscious perception |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/59784 |
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