Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Altered subjective experience after psilocybin intake associates with a dynamic pattern of hyperconnected functional connectivity

View ORCID ProfileSepehr Mortaheb, Larry D. Fort, View ORCID ProfileNatasha L. Mason, Pablo Mallaroni, View ORCID ProfileJohannes G. Ramaekers, View ORCID ProfileAthena Demertzi
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.18.558309
Sepehr Mortaheb
1Physiology of Cognition, GIGA-CRC In Vivo Imaging, University of Liège, Belgium
2Fund for Scientific Research FNRS, Brussels, Belgium
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Sepehr Mortaheb
Larry D. Fort
1Physiology of Cognition, GIGA-CRC In Vivo Imaging, University of Liège, Belgium
2Fund for Scientific Research FNRS, Brussels, Belgium
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Natasha L. Mason
3Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Natasha L. Mason
Pablo Mallaroni
3Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Johannes G. Ramaekers
3Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Johannes G. Ramaekers
  • For correspondence: a.demertzi@uliege.be j.ramaekers@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Athena Demertzi
1Physiology of Cognition, GIGA-CRC In Vivo Imaging, University of Liège, Belgium
2Fund for Scientific Research FNRS, Brussels, Belgium
4Psychology & Neuroscience of Cognition (PsyNCog), University of Liège, Belgium
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Athena Demertzi
  • For correspondence: a.demertzi@uliege.be j.ramaekers@maastrichtuniversity.nl
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

To provide insights into the neurophenomenological richness after psilocybin intake, we investigated the link between brain dynamics and the ensuing alterations of reported experience. Healthy participants received either psilocybin (n=22) or placebo (n=27) while in ultra-high field 7T MRI scanning. Experiential changes were quantified using the 5-Dimensions of Altered States of Consciousness (5D-ASC) questionnaire, revealing alterations across all dimensions. Neuronally, psilocybin induced widespread increases in averaged functional connectivity. Time-varying analysis unveiled a recurrent hyperconnected pattern characterized by low BOLD signal amplitude, suggestive of heightened cortical arousal. Canonical correlation analysis linked the transition probabilities to this hyperconnected pattern with oceanic boundlessness and visionary restructuralization. We suggest that the brain’s tendency to enter a hyperconnected-hyperarousal pattern under psilocybin may represent the potential to entertain variant mental associations in a creative way. For the first time these findings link brain dynamics with subjective alterations, providing new insights into the neurophenomenology of altered states of consciousness.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted September 18, 2023.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Altered subjective experience after psilocybin intake associates with a dynamic pattern of hyperconnected functional connectivity
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Altered subjective experience after psilocybin intake associates with a dynamic pattern of hyperconnected functional connectivity
Sepehr Mortaheb, Larry D. Fort, Natasha L. Mason, Pablo Mallaroni, Johannes G. Ramaekers, Athena Demertzi
bioRxiv 2023.09.18.558309; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.18.558309
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Altered subjective experience after psilocybin intake associates with a dynamic pattern of hyperconnected functional connectivity
Sepehr Mortaheb, Larry D. Fort, Natasha L. Mason, Pablo Mallaroni, Johannes G. Ramaekers, Athena Demertzi
bioRxiv 2023.09.18.558309; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.18.558309

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4684)
  • Biochemistry (10361)
  • Bioengineering (7682)
  • Bioinformatics (26340)
  • Biophysics (13534)
  • Cancer Biology (10692)
  • Cell Biology (15445)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8501)
  • Ecology (12824)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (16867)
  • Genetics (11401)
  • Genomics (15484)
  • Immunology (10619)
  • Microbiology (25224)
  • Molecular Biology (10225)
  • Neuroscience (54481)
  • Paleontology (402)
  • Pathology (1669)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2897)
  • Physiology (4345)
  • Plant Biology (9252)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1586)
  • Synthetic Biology (2558)
  • Systems Biology (6781)
  • Zoology (1466)