How Psychedelics Affect the Brain: A Modern Scientific View
For much of neuroscience’s history, the brain was studied as a collection of isolated regions—each responsible for a specific task. Modern psychedelic research is helping dismantle that model, replacing it with a network-based understanding of brain function.
Using fMRI and advanced imaging, researchers have observed that psychedelics appear to reduce the dominance of rigid neural pathways while increasing communication across normally separated brain regions. This effect is sometimes described as the brain becoming more globally integrated.
Institutions such as Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University have documented decreases in activity within the Default Mode Network (DMN), a system associated with self-referential thinking and rumination. When this network quiets, other systems communicate more freely, allowing perception and cognition to reorganize.
Importantly, this does not “shut down” the brain. It rebalances it.
This network flexibility may explain why experiences feel expansive, reflective, and personally meaningful. The brain isn’t overloaded—it’s reorganized.
Key insight: Psychedelics don’t distort brain function; they reveal its flexibility.
Further reading:
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/psychedelic-research-centre/
https://hopkinspsychedelic.org
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