PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS, MAGICAL THINKING AND PSYCHOSIS
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry August 6, 2013 R. Carhart-Harris 17 citations
A single high dose of psilocybin can produce profound, personality-changing spiritual experiences in healthy people and is effective in psychotherapy for end-of-life anxiety, yet the same drug also models psychosis by stimulating the serotonin 2A receptor. This presentation resolves the paradox by proposing that the prodromal phase of first-episode psychosis, spontaneous spiritual experiences, and the psychedelic drug state share a common neurobiological state called the primitive state. This evolutionarily regressive state features magical thinking and a breakdown in the perception of separateness, supported by brain imaging showing decreased orthogonality of brain states in psychosis, the psychedelic state, and meditation.