Psychedelics and Consciousness: Distinctions, Demarcations, and Opportunities
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology May 10, 2021 Natalie Gukasyan, David B. Yaden, Matthew W. Johnson et al. 56 citations
Psychedelic substances produce unusual changes in conscious experience, leading some to propose they offer unique insights into consciousness. However, psychedelics are unlikely to provide information relevant to the "hard problem of consciousness," which involves explaining how first-person experience emerges. Instead, they bear on multiple "easy problems of consciousness," involving relations between subjectivity, brain function, and behavior. This review discusses common meanings of "consciousness" regarding psychedelics and considers models of their effects on the brain linked to explanatory claims about consciousness. It calls for epistemic humility about psychedelic research's potential to explain the hard problem while noting ways psychedelics may advance study of specific aspects of consciousness.