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Phenomenology, Structure, and Dynamic of Psychedelic States

  • Chapter
Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 36))

Abstract

Classic serotonergic hallucinogens or psychedelics produce an altered states of consciousness (ASC) that is characterized by profound alterations in sensory perception, mood, thought including the perception of reality, and the sense of self. Over the past years, there has been considerable progress in the search for invariant and common features of psychedelic states. In the first part of this review, we outline contemporary approaches to characterize the structure of ASCs by means of three primary etiology-independent dimensions including oceanic boundlessness, anxious ego-dissolution, and visionary restructuralization as well as by 11 lower-order factors, all of which can be reliably measured by the altered state of consciousness questionnaire (APZ-OAV). The second part sheds light on the dynamic nature of psychedelic experiences. Frequently, psychedelic subjects progress through different stages over time and levels of changes along a perception-hallucination continuum of increasing arousal and ego-dissolution. We then review in detail the acute effects of psychedelics on sensory perception, emotion, cognition, creativity, and time perception along with possible neural mechanisms underlying them. The next part of this review outlines the influence of non-pharmacological factors (predictors) on the acute psychedelic experience, such as demographics, genetics, personality, mood, and setting, and also discusses some long-term effects succeeding the acute experience. The last part presents some recent concepts and models attempting to understand different facets of psychedelic states of consciousness from a neuroscientific perspective.

The original version of this chapter was revised: Revised manuscript has been processed. The erratum to this chapter is available at 10.1007/7854_2017_477

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Acknowledgements

This article is dedicated to my dear friends—Dr. Dan Stoicescu and Dr. Bill Linton without whom much of this work would not have been possible (FXV).

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  1. Neuropsychopharmacology and Brain Imaging Unit, Heffter Research Center Zurich Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland

    Katrin H. Preller & Franz X. Vollenweider

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  1. Katrin H. Preller
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  2. Franz X. Vollenweider
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Correspondence to Katrin H. Preller or Franz X. Vollenweider .

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Adam L. Halberstadt

  2. Psychiatric University Hospital, Heffter Research Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Franz X. Vollenweider

  3. Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    David E. Nichols

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Preller, K.H., Vollenweider, F.X. (2016). Phenomenology, Structure, and Dynamic of Psychedelic States. In: Halberstadt, A.L., Vollenweider, F.X., Nichols, D.E. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 36. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2016_459

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