Psychedelics plus psychotherapy can trigger rapid changes in the brain. Here's how
SalonThe human brain can change – but usually only slowly and with great effort, such as when learning a new sport or foreign language, or recovering from a stroke. People may wish their brains could change faster – not just when learning new skills, but also when overcoming problems like anxiety, depression and addictions. Researchers have described cases in which subjects report profound, personally transformative experiences after one six-hour session with the psychedelic substance psilocybin, taken in conjunction with psychotherapy. Patrick Pla via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Research suggests that new skills, memories and attitudes are encoded in the brain by new connections between neurons – sort of like branches of trees growing toward each other. It's possible the brain uses its own endogenous DMT as a tool for change – as when forming dendritic spines on neurons – to encode pivotal mental states.
History of this topic
A scientist took a psychedelic drug — and watched his own brain 'fall apart'
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