The document summarizes research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. It discusses how psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and ketamine were widely used in psychotherapy in the 1950s and 1960s to treat addiction and depression, with largely positive results. However, psychedelics were banned in the 1970s. Recent research has started exploring psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy again. Studies discussed show psilocybin-assisted therapy helped alcoholics stay sober and helped smokers quit. Ketamine therapy was more effective for treating heroin addiction with multiple sessions compared to a single session. The document also reviews neuroscience research on how psychedelics affect brain activity and connectivity, particularly reducing activity in regions linked to depression.

1. David Nutt FMedSci
Imperial College London
d.nutt@imperial.ac.uk
profdavidnutt@twitter.com
Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy -
New neuroscientific approaches to
addiction and depression

2. Psychedelics are an enduring feature of human
existence

3. Maybe also fueled Christianity?

4. LSD – the big breakthrough
LSD
 synthetic and more potent psychedelic
 wide medical and research use
Albert Hoffman – the
discoverer of LSD and
psilocybin - at 100

5. If the doors of perception were cleansed every
Thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all
Things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.
William Blake, 1793
Aldous Huxley and mescaline
Peyote cactus
“The brain is an
instrument for focusing
the mind”

6. DepressionAddiction
The brain reconstructs
the image to what it
expects
But always with limitations
“Man sees thro’ the chinks of
his cavern” William Blake
1793
Neuroscience proves Huxley and Blake right

7. Early Psychiatric Uses for LSD
1. Psychotomimetic
2. Self-experimentation by mental health
professionals
3. Psychedelic Psychotherapy
• High dose single drug session
• Mystical / Peak experience
• Favoured in the US
4. Psycholytic Psychotherapy
• Low doses
• Frequent, regular sessions
• Favoured in the UK
7Ben Sessa

8. “To sink in hell or soar angelic
You’ll need a pinch of psychedelic”
Ronald David Laing: UK
Humphrey Osmond: UK CanadaUSA
Advice for those wishing to
become a psychoanalyst:
1.Read the works of Freud
2.Undergo personal analysis
3.Take LSD
Psychiatry protagonists

9. Clinical Interest in LSD in the
1950s and 1960s
• Hundreds of psychiatrists worldwide
• 140 NIH grants
• 1000 clinical papers
• 40,000 patients
• 40 books
• 6 International conferences
Results were overwhelmingly positive, describing safe and
effective treatments.
(Masters and Houston, 1971)

10. Pooled analyses in the 1960s
• 44 psychiatrists, 5000 subjects and 25,000 drug sessions:
Rate of psychosis: 0.2%
Rate of suicide of 0.04%
(Cohen S. (1960) LSD: side effects and complications. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders 130: 30-40)
• 700 psychedelic drug sessions:
One case of prolonged psychosis
(Chandler Al. & Hartman Ma. (1960) LSD-25 as a Facilitating Agent in Psychotherapy. AMA Arch Gen Psychiatry; 2(3):286-299)
• 350 patients over four years of outpatient treatments:
One attempted suicide
(Ling TM, Buckman J (1963) The Treatment of Anxiety with Lysergic Acid and Methylphenidate. Practitioner 191: 201-4)
• Review of 20 years of psychedelic therapy in the UK, 4000 patients and
50,000 psychedelic drug-assisted sessions.
Two completed suicides
Thirty-seven patients with a prolonged psychosis
(Malleson, N. (1971) ‘Acute Adverse Reactions to LSD in clinical and experimental use in the UK.’ Br J Psychiatry. 18(543): 229-30)
"Treatment with LSD is not without acute adverse
reactions, but given adequate psychiatric supervision
and proper conditions for its administration, the
incidence of such reactions is not great,"

11. Psychedelics for alcoholism?
Some years after his atropine-induced
sobriety conversion Bill Wilson, founder
of AA, came to believe that LSD could
help “cynical alcoholics” (those who did
not believe in a higher power”) achieve
spiritual awakening

12. Wilson’s psychedelic experience
“Suddenly the room lit up with a great white
light. I was caught up in an ecstasy which there
are no words to describe.
It seemed to me in my mind's eye, that I was on
a mountain and that a wind not of air but of
spirit was blowing.
And then it burst upon me that I was a free
man.”

13. And he was right re alcoholism!

14. 6 LSD trials in alcoholism
Effect size > = all current therapies
Since the banning – one clinical trial + only two neuroscience
studies - all in last two years

15. Psychedelics, used responsibly and with proper caution,
would be for psychiatry,
what the microscope is for biology and medicine,
or the telescope is for astronomy
Stan Grof
- but how do they work?
A necessary research tool?

16. Why were psychedelics banned?
Because the CIA were worried
about American youth refusing
to fight in Vietnam – and
cultural change (flower power)
Scare stories e.g. trying to fly

17. The lies the media told!

18. LSD scares in the
film media
The usual cocktail of sex
drugs and youth
 moral outrage in the
old

19. LSD and all other psychedelics banned in
face of opposition from senators
Bobby Kennedy:
Why if [clinical LSD projects] were worthwhile
six months ago, why aren’t they worthwhile
now? . . . We keep going around and
around. . . . If I could get a flat answer about
that I would be happy. Is there a
misunderstanding about my question?
I think perhaps we have lost sight of the
fact that LSD can be very, very helpful in
our society if used properly.”
quoted in Lee & Shlain, 1985, p. 93)
Has there ever been a worst example of research
censorship?
Well not since …….

20. The banning of the telescope!
1616 The papal Congregation of the Index banned all books
advocating the Copernican system of explaining planetary motion
Not revoked until 1758
Galileo
Galilei
1564-1642
Giordano Bruno
1548-1600
Nicolaus
Copernicus
1473-1543

21. How the UN Conventions on drugs destroyed research

22. Read more about it
Nature reviews
Neuroscience 2013
March 2015

23. Fighting back – psychedelics for addiction
Modern replication study
Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: A
proof-of-concept study
J Psychopharmacol March 2015 29: 289-299, first published
on January 13, 2015
Bogenschutz MP1, Forcehimes AA2, Pommy JA2, Wilcox
CE2, Barbosa PC3, Strassman RJ2.

24. Psilocybin for alcoholism

25. Psilocybin and smoking cessation

26. Psilocybin and smoking cessation - Results

27. Krupitsky et al. Ketamine Psychotherapy for Heroin Dependence
Single Versus Repeated Sessions of
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy for
People with Heroin Dependence†
Evgeny M. Krupitsky, M.D., Ph.D.*; Andrei M. Burakov, M.D., Ph.D.**;
Igor V. Dunaevsky, M.D., Ph.D.***; Tatyana N. Romanova, M.S.****;
Tatyana Y. Slavina, M.D., Ph.D.***** & Alexander Y. Grinenko M.D., Ph.D.******
Abstract— A prior study found that one ketamine-assisted psychotherapy session was significa nt ly
more effective than active placebo in promoting abstinence (Krupitsky et al. 2002). In this study of the
efficacy of single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in promoting abstinence
in people with heroin dependence, 59 detoxified inpatients with heroin dependence received a ketamine-
assisted psychotherapy (KPT) session prior to their discharge from an addiction treatment hospital, and
were then randomized into two treatment groups. Participants in the firs t group received two addiction
counseling sessions followed by two KPT sessions, with sessions scheduled on a monthly interval
(multiple KPT group). Participants in the second group received two addiction counseling sessions
on a monthly interval, but no additional ketamine therapy sessions (single KPT group). At one-year
follow-up, survival analysis demonstrated a significa nt ly higher rate of abstinence in the multiple KPT
group. Thirteen out of 26 subjects (50%) in the multiple KPT group remained abstinent, compared to
6 out of 27 subjects (22.2%) in the single KPT group (p < 0.05). No differences between groups were
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 13 Volume 39 (1), March 2007
Abstract— A prior study found that one ketamine-assisted psychotherapy session was significa nt ly
more effective than active placebo in promoting abstinence (Krupitsky et al. 2002). In this study of the
efficacy of single versus repeated sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in promoting abstinence
in people with heroin dependence, 59 detoxified inpatients with heroin dependence received a ketamine-
assisted psychotherapy (KPT) session prior to their discharge from an addiction treatment hospital, and
were then randomized into two treatment groups. Participants in the firs t group received two addiction
counseling sessions followed by two KPT sessions, with sessions scheduled on a monthly interval
(multiple KPT group). Participants in the second group received two addiction counseling sessions
on a monthly interval, but no additional ketamine therapy sessions (single KPT group). At one-year
follow-up, survival analysis demonstrated a significa nt ly higher rate of abstinence in the multiple KPT
group. Thirteen out of 26 subjects (50%) in the multiple KPT group remained abstinent, compared to
6 out of 27 subjects (22.2%) in the single KPT group (p < 0.05). No differences between groups were
found in depression, anxiety, craving for heroin, or their understanding of the meaning of their lives. It
was concluded that three sessions of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy are more effective than a single
session for the treatment of heroin addiction.
Keywords—hallucinogens, heroin addiction, ketamine, psychedelics, psychotherapy, treatment
†This study was supported by the Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Sarasota, Florida, USA and by the Heffter
Research Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The authors are also very
thankful to Rick Doblin, Lisa Jerome, Valerie Mojeiko, and Dr. George
Greer for assistance in editing the manuscript, and to Tatyana Volskaya,
M.A., for data management.
*Chief of the Research Laboratory, St. Petersburg Regional Center of
Addictions and Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical
University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
**Psychiatrist, St. Petersburg Regional Center of Addictions and
Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University, St.
Petersburg, Russia.
***Anesthesiologist, St. Petersburg Regional Center of Addictions
and Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University,
St. Petersburg, Russia.
****Clinical Psychologist, St. Petersburg Regional Center of
Addictions and Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical
University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
*****Psychiatrist and Medical Director, St. Petersburg Regional
Center ofAddictions and Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov
Medical University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
******Director, St. Petersburg Regional Center of Addictions and
Psychopharmacology, St. Petersburg State Pavlov Medical University, St.
Petersburg, Russia.
Please address correspondence and reprint requests to Evgeny M.
Krupitsky, M.D., Ph.D., St. Petersburg Regional Center of Addictions and
Psychopharmacology, Novo-Deviatkino 19/1, Leningrad Region 188661,
Russia. Email: kru@ek3506.spb.edu
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy utilizes the acute
psychological effects of psychedelic, or hallucinogenic,
drugs to enhance the normal mechanisms of psychotherapy.
Many studies carried out in the 1950s and 1960s suggested
that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy might be an effic
i
ent
treatment for alcoholism and addictions (Grinspoon &
Bakalar 1979). However, it is difficu l t to generalize across
these studies because of differences in methodology. After
they were scheduled in 1970, the use of psychedelic drugs
in research was strictly limited, significantly curtailing
Ketamine for heroin addiction

28. Ketamine one –v- three doses
heroin abstinence
Krupitsky et al. Ketamine Psychotherapy for Heroin Dependence
emotional support for the participant and carried out psycho-
therapy during the ketamine session. The psychotherapy was
existentially-oriented, focusing on assisting the participant
to consider and formulate a purposeful or meaningful life,
but also took into account the participant’s individuality,
ending or apocalypse, and often ended in an experience of
rebirth associated with oceanic, or positively experienced,
ego loss and boundlessness. All of these experiences were
emotionally intense and compelling. Many people reported
great diffic
u
l ty in expr essing their experiences in words. It
FIGURE 1
Kaplan-Meier Survival Analysis
P < 0.01
Krupitsky et al
2007

29. Ketamine for alcoholism
• Krupitsky, E. M., Grinenko, A. Y., Berkaliev, T. N., Paley, A. I., Tetrov, U. N.,
Mushkov, K. A., & Borodikin, Y. S. (1992). The combination of psychedelic
and aversive approaches in alcoholism treatment: The affective contra-
attribution method. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 9(1), 99-105.
doi:10.1300/ J020V09N01_09
MRC-funded UK study in alcoholism underway in
UK
Celia Morgan and Val Curran with Krupitsky

30. The Beckley Foundation/Imperial College
Psychedelic Research Programme
Fighting back

31. LSD
Mescaline
Affinity for
5-HT2A
Potency in
manGlennon et al. 1984. Human dose data from Shulgin 1978
Resurrecting psychedelic research with psilocybin
All these drugs stimulate 5HT2A receptors
Psilocybin – magic mushrooms
Short acting if used iv = 30 min effect

32. PET image
[11C]Cimbi-36
5HT2A receptor
agonist
Copenhagen
5HT2A receptors most densely expressed cortex
Human brain has highest density of any brain
The 5-HT2A receptor in human brain revealed by
PET

33. Psilocybin fMRI: ONLY DECREASES in brain activity
+ regionally specific
Posterior
Cingulate
Thalamus
Anterior
cingulate
Carhart-Harris et al PNAS 2012

34. Psilocybin uncouples frontoparietal
connectivity (default mode network, DMN)
Saline – strong
correlations in
activity in these
regions
Psilocybin –
correlations lost
or even negative
Seed regionCarhart-Harris et al PNAS 2012

35. LSD disrupts default mode network
Carhart-Harris et al PNAS 2016

36. The default mode network & depression
A) PCC functional
connectivity
B) Greater PCC to SCC
(subgenual cingulate
cortex) connectivity in
depression
PCC - SCC functional
connectivity predicts
rumination
(Berman et al. 2011)

37. Brain sites of depression – PET imaging
“It is a positive and active anguish, a sort of
psychical neuralgia wholly unknown to normal life.
Cg25
F9 F9Cg24
Treatment Resistant
Depression
William James, revisited
So can we selectively
turn the active anguish
OFF?
Mayberg et al 2005 Neuron
Red = overactive region
Blue = underactive region

38. z = -4
z = +4
L
Deep Brain Stimulation – stops overactivity
Cg25
mF10
oF11
Cg24
hth
Cg25
F9
ins
F46
mF
ins
3 months DBS
CBF Change
Responders
Cg24
vCd
sn Cg25 Cg25
Cg24 F9F9
F47
hth
Baseline
CBF PET
All PT vs NC
Cg25
mF10
oF11
Cg24
hth
bs
Cg25
mFF9
ins
F9
F46
Cg31
6 months DBS
CBF Change
Responders
Helen Mayberg

39. Cg24
vmF
dmF
Hth
Cg25
Antidepressants also switch off
this region
bs
Cg31
Hth
Cg25
bs
Cg31
DBS SSRI antidepressant
Helen Mayberg

40. Psilocybin
attenuates activity in
the brain region
linked to depression
Carhart-Harris PNAS 2012
fMRI BOLD image
Psilocybin attenuated mPFC activity
As do treatments for depression
SSRIs Kennedy et al. 01
CBT Goldapple et al. 04
Sleep deprivation Gillin et al. 01
ECT Bonne et al. 96
Placebo Mayberg et al. 02
Deep brain stimulation Mayberg et al. 05
Ketamine Deakin et al. 08

41. Meditation reduces DMN activity - basis of mindfulness therapy?
Coloured
bars
reflect
different
sorts of
meditation
Yale group

42. Mood and wellbeing
• Users often report enduring effects
• Formal studies – Roland Griffiths John
Hopkins – confirm this
• As did our subjects
Single high dose of psilocybin:
Two-thirds of participants rated
their experience as one of their top
5 most meaningful life experiences
(Griffiths et al. 2006)
Is this an antidepressant effect?

43. Our MRC psilocybin depression trial
Grant awarded 2012
Ethics – took 3 iterations – 1 year
Drug supply – 30 months
Regulatory approvals – 32 months
Cost per dose = £1500!

44. 0
1
2
3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Baseline 1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 5 weeks 3 months 6 months
Effectsize(Cohen'sd)
QIDSScore DepressionSeverity (QIDS) P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
P6
P7
P8
P9
P10
P11
P12
P13
P14
P15
P16
P18
P19
P20
MEAN
Cohen's d
Psilocybin for resistant depression
Carhart-Harris et al Psychopharmacology 2017

45. Fearful
Amygdala – Faces - SSRIs
Depression > “Healthy”
SSRIs reduce activity

46. Antidepressants and amygdala - meta-analysis
a et al. (2015), Molecular psychiatry
Reduced activity to negative emotional faces

47. Fearful Happy Neutral
Baseline and 1-day after therapy (“after-glow”)
Passively viewing
Blocks of 15 seconds
Amygdala in psilocybin assisted therapy
Roseman et al submitted

48. Fearful Happy Neutral Fearful>Neutral
y=-5 y=-2 y=-3 y=1
3.5Z=2.3
Amygdala activation increased
after psilocybin-assisted therapy
1-day after therapy > Baseline
Roseman et al submitted

49. More amygdala activation  better
clinical outcome
Fearful > Neutral
Remitters (n=11) > Non-remitters (n=8)
y=-1
x=20
Remission (No depression)
BDI <= 9
1 week
3.5Z=2.3
Roseman et al submitted

50. Anti-depressant
Psychedelic-
assisted therapy
Amygdala
Fearful
Decrease Increase
Amygdala
Happy
Mixed Increase
Strategy of therapy
Relieve negative
emotions
Confront and work
through emotions
Result = opposite to antidepressants

51. Carhart-Harris and Nutt – Journal of
Psychopharmacology 2017 – free download
5-HT receptors in depression - our current model

52. Psilocybin changes attitude
They can change patients’ outlook
Normalised
post-treatment
P < 0.01
P < 0.01
Pessimism bias
pre-treatment
P < 0.01
“My outlook has changed significantly. I'm more aware now that it's
pointless to get wrapped up in endless negativity. I feel as if I've
seen a much clearer picture.”
[Patient from depression trial, male, aged 52, >20yrs depression]
Watts et al Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2017, Vol. 57(5) 520

53. It was like when you defrag the hard drive on your
computer, I experienced blocks going into place, things being
rearranged in my mind, I visualized as it was all put into
order, a beautiful experience with these gold blocks going
into black drawers that would illuminate, and I thought my
brain is bring defragged, how brilliant is that! (P11)
My mind works differently [now]. I ruminate much
less, and my thoughts feel ordered, contextualized.
Rumination was like thoughts out of context, out of
time; now my thoughts feel like they make sense,
with context and logical flow. (P11) “
“
Another quote
Watts et al Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2017, Vol. 57(5) 520

54. Self worth/self love: ‘I had an
experience of tenderness towards
myself, a feeling of true compassion I’d
never felt before (P16)
New perspectives: ‘She was so
eloquent, she kept calling me ‘my
darling’: “Life is to be lived my
darling” She talked to me in such a
loving way, all these things to say
about my life’ (P12)
Activities: ‘I started writing music again’
(P1) (jobs, driving, acting, building, flying,
volunteering, travel)
Inner therapist: ‘Its like ingesting your
own psychotherapist’ (P19)
“
“
Connected to self
Watts et al Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2017, Vol. 57(5) 520

55. Connection to the world
Connection to work 7
Connection to nature 11
Connection to spiritual principle 9
Before I enjoyed nature, now I feel part of it.
Before I was looking at it as a thing, like TV
or a painting. You’re part of it, there’s no
separation or distinction, you are it. (P1)
Watts et al Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2017, Vol. 57(5) 520

56. Talking therapy: disconnection:
I’m sick to the back teeth of telling people again and again the backstory.
All the talking therapies, each time you go for an 8 or 6 week course of
that stuff, you spend the first few weeks going over the stuff, they ask all
the questions again then its session 4, and then, you think who’s learning
something here, ‘cos I’m not. You are! (P13)
They all seemed to be trying to fit a person into a preconceived set of
patterns: ‘try to do this’, ‘make this your goal, and we’ll measure it’. But
just having these goals set for you is more pressure and when you don’t
meet those goals, you feel even worse because you’re letting them down,
and you already feel let down yourself! (P1)
TOO DIRECTIVE
TOO SHORT
“
“
I got up the courage to tell him, I’d never told anyone. And [the
psychiatrist] just looked at his shoes.’ (P16)
DON’T ADDRESS TRAUMA:
“

57. “Those who cannot change their minds cannot
change anything”
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Can our research help change peoples’ mind about psychedelics?
 a new Enlightenment perhaps.....

58. Acknowledgements
Mendel Kaelen, Leor Roseman, Mark Bolstridge, Chris Timmermann, Tim Williams,
David Erritzoe, Ben Sessa, Suresh Muthukumuraswamy, Richard Wise, Luke Williams,
Kevin Murphy, Robert Leech, Eduardo Schenberg, Neiloufar Family, Matt Wall, Val
Curran, Karl Friston, Rosalyn Moran, David Nichols, Robin Tyacke, James Stone,
Laurence Reed, Nadar Abbasi, Enzo Tagliazucchi, Dante Chialvo, Roland Griffiths,
Katherine MacLean, Matt Johnson, Charlie Grob, Bill Richards, Jeff Guss, George
Goldsmith, Ekaterina Malievskaia, Celia Morgan, Mitul Mehta, Alexander Lebedev,
Pete Hellyer, Csaba Orban, John McGonigle, Remi Flechais, Michael Bloomfield, Steve
Pilling, Matt Brookes, Tim Nest, Paul Expert, Giovanni Petri, James Rucker, Camilla Day,
Shlomi Raz, Catherine Scrace, Kabir Nigam, John Evans, Peter Hobden, Wouter Droog,
Yvonne Lewis, Mark Tanner, Ineke de Meer; Alison Diaper, Ann Rich, Sue Wilson,
volunteers, patients and more…
Robin Carhart-Harris Amanda Feilding

59. Brain sites of depression – PET imaging
“It is a positive and active anguish, a sort of
psychical neuralgia wholly unknown to normal life.
Cg25
F9 F9Cg24
Treatment Resistant
Depression
William James, revisited
So can we selectively
turn the active anguish
OFF?
Mayberg et al 2005 Neuron
Red = overactive region
Blue = underactive region

60. z = -4
z = +4
L
Deep Brain Stimulation – stops overactivity
Cg25
mF10
oF11
Cg24
hth
Cg25
F9
ins
F46
mF
ins
3 months DBS
CBF Change
Responders
Cg24
vCd
sn Cg25 Cg25
Cg24 F9F9
F47
hth
Baseline
CBF PET
All PT vs NC
Cg25
mF10
oF11
Cg24
hth
bs
Cg25
mFF9
ins
F9
F46
Cg31
6 months DBS
CBF Change
Responders
Helen Mayberg

61. Cg24
vmF
dmF
Hth
Cg25
Antidepressants also switch off
this region
bs
Cg31
Hth
Cg25
bs
Cg31
DBS SSRI antidepressant
Helen Mayberg

62. Bhagwager et al 2006 Am J Psychiatry
Recovered depressed patients have
increased 5HT2A receptors
Maybe an attempt to make up for deficiency of 5HT?
So would psilocybin
replace what’s missing ?

63. Figure 3a. 5-HT2A binding in frontolimbic regions
correlates with trait neuroticism in 84 healthy
subjects38
.
Figure 3b. Cortical 5-HT2A binding correlates with
dysfunctional attitudes (pessimism) in medicated
free depressed patients39
.
Figure 3c. Regions where 5-HT2A binding correlates
positively with pessimism in med-free depressed
patients39
.
More 5HT2A receptors  pessimism
Meyer et al
Maybe an attempt to make up for deficiency of 5HT (serotonin)
Could psilocybin rectify this?

64. “The future may teach us
how to exercise a direct
influence, by means of
particular chemical
substances, upon …the
neural apparatus. It may
be that there are other
still undreamt of
possibilities of therapy.”
From An Outline of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud
London 1938.
64
But we were not the first!
Was Freud the forefather of psychedelic therapy?

65. If the doors of perception were cleansed every
Thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all
Things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.
iam Blake, 1793
Aldous Huxley and mescaline
Peyote cactus
“The brain is an
instrument for focusing
the mind”

66. DepressionAddiction
The brain reconstructs
the image to what it
expects
But always with limitations
“Man sees thro’ the chinks of
his cavern” William Blake
1793
Neuroscience proves Huxley and Blake right

67. By switching of the “control centres” psilocybin
increases brain connectivity
Petri et al J. R. Soc. Interface 11: 20140873. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0873
Normal Psilocybin