Another consistent finding is a slight increase in the complexity of EEG and MEG signals during the psychedelic experience. It is not clear whether this is a consequence of enhanced causal interactions within the neocortex or more chaotic activity.

These observations refute the myth that consciousness simply arises from neurons doing their thing. Here are billions of cerebellar cells doing what comes naturally to them, firing action potentials and releasing little squirts of neurotransmitter, yet without any feelings. What matters is not the constitution of brain tissue but the way it is wire

One common observation is that psychedelics destabilize longrange cortical communication patterns and reduce activity in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus in the posterior regions of the neocortex. This is the compatible with our knowledge of the brains of people trained in mindfulness. It appears that the less these midline structures a

From the point of view of an external observer, a silent cortex and a silenced cortex resemble each other, as neither lights up with electrical activity. Yet, while a silent cortex retains its full causal power but chooses not to speak, a silenced cortex has lost its voice and is unconscious.

The fourth axiom is exclusion. It states that every experience is definite. It has the content it has, neither less nor more. It could not be otherwise. Consider that you don't see outside the border of visual space. It is not part of your visual experience. It is neither grey nor black. Rather, it simply does not exist. Or consider experiencing &q

Due to inherent and unavoidable randomness in nature, toggling tiny synapses on and off does not always lead to the same, reproducible result each time. Thus, a more general approach is to consider conditional probabilities: if ten synaptic inputs are activated, the neuron turns on 75 percent of the time and remains off the other 25 percent. The ou

It is, however, a matter of historical record that people have been impacted by their extraordinary experiences, discovering the biblical "peace of God that passeth all understanding," altering their way of life. Thus a more nuanced approach is to accept these reports as authentic and honest descriptions. They teach us that our central ne

Between intrinsic and extrinsic existence passes the most fundamental of all divides: the Great Divide of Being. This is the unbridgeable chasm between what exists in an absolute sense, in and of itself—namely conscious, intrinsic entities—and what exists only in a lesser sense, for others.

Once this Great Divide of Being, between existence for itse

Psychiatrist Judson Brewer, at the time at the Yale University School of Medicine, discovered that these "open" or "closed" states of consciousness map onto activities of the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus complex, part of the neocortical regions engaged when ruminating, introspecting, and daydreaming. Anger and anxiet