Psychedelics: a window into perceptual processing
OpenAlex – September 13, 2024
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Psilocybin-induced visual distortions and impaired executive function originate in temporary disruptions of attentional mechanisms, a key finding for cognitive psychology. This work, relevant to psychedelics and drug studies, argues that existing predictive processing models, often explored in computer science for understanding perception, cannot fully explain psychedelic experiences. Instead, a new "Gist Theory of Perception" is proposed. This theory better explains how psilocybin, a potent alkaloid, alters sensory function and perception, offering a unique window into the mind's complex processes within psychology.
Abstract
Abstract This chapter presents findings indicating that psilocybin-induced visual distortions and impaired executive functioning originate in temporary disruptions of attentional mechanisms. It then revisits a predictive processing account of neural processing and argues that this lacks the resources to provide a unified model of the perceptual mechanisms underpinning psychedelic experiences caused by classic hallucinogens such as psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and mescaline. Lastly, an alternative theory of perceptual processing is proposed—the Gist Theory of Perception—that can better explain how the psilocybin-induced disruptions of attentional mechanisms may elicit psychedelic experiences.