Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 171 of 171
Psychedelics as tools to study consciousness
Despite revolutionary advancements in brain imaging over the last twenty years, there exist few studies on LSD and hallucinogens using modern neuroscience techniques. Researchers are now able to measure various aspects of the neural mechanisms of LSD action using objective methods. However, exactly how the interaction of LSD with neurotransmitters leads to profound alteration of our subjective conscious experience is a mystery. This is partly due to our poor understanding of what consciousness is and how it exists in the first place. Psychedelic drugs perturb consciousness in a unique and novel way, and they are therefore powerful tools with which to study the brain mechanisms underlying consciousness. The relative lack of modern neuroscientific research on LSD and hallucinogens means that the neural mechanisms mediating all of the incredible effects of psychedelics remain largely unknown. This is changing, however, and a team of brain scientists in the United Kingdom led by Robin Carhart-Harris and David Nutt are intensely investigating how the brain reacts to psychedelics. One thing has been established: all psychedelics are serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists. What does this mean?