Restructuring consciousness –the psychedelic state in light of integrated information theory
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience June 12, 2015 Andrew R. Gallimore 52 citations
Classic psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin produce a fascinating but poorly understood state of consciousness. Modern functional neuroimaging has revealed some of their neural effects, but many phenomenological features remain unexplained. Integrated information theory (IIT), a leading mathematical theory of consciousness, can account for both the quantity and quality of conscious experience. Applying IIT to neuroimaging data on the psychedelic state yields a model that explains unconstrained cognition, altered concept structure and meaning, and expanded awareness. The model suggests that while cognitive flexibility, creativity, and imagination increase, this comes at the cost of cause-effect information and the brain's ability to organize, categorize, and differentiate conscious experience. It generates testable predictions using functional imaging, similar to studies of anesthesia and brain injury.