![]() "So LSD may be doing the same thing with that area of cortex, but since that area is, for him, connected with other senses, those experiences - such as sound, touch or sense of self in space - are altered." "I expect that the cortical 'real estate' that would have housed vision does not do so in Mr. Instead, it rewires to process sound and touch. But in the absence of early visual experience, which is the case for people born blind, the visual cortex doesn't develop normally. The visual cortex develops into a fully functioning system during early life in response to sensory information from the eyes. This connectivity was correlated with the complex visual hallucinations reported by the participants. In that study, when people took LSD, the researchers observed that the visual cortex was unusually activeand showed greater synchronous activity with many areas of the brain. The first studyto look at the brain effects of LSD using modern technology was published recently, in 2016, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The visual hallucinations are likely a result of LSD stimulating these receptors in the visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes light, color and other visual information. Specifically, LSD latches onto receptors for serotonin, one of the neurotranmitters neurons use to communicate. The details of what exactly LSD does in the brain are still unclear, but research suggests that the drug’s psychedelic effects occur because LSD alters neuronal communication in the brain. "But it might provide greater motivation or interest in the sensory impact of psychedelic compounds," she told Live Science. Jerome, who is visually impaired herself, said she is unconvinced that having a visual impairment provides any special insight on how LSD alters sensory processes. "It is next to impossible to gain 'general' insights from individual narratives," said Ilsa Jerome, a clinical researcher for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) who was not involved with the report. Still, there's only so much to be gleaned from a qualitative report based on a single person. Blue Pentagon appeared to experience a similar phenomenon, but rather than mixing sound and sight, it involved the senses that were available to him: sound and touch, the researchers suggested. This overlap of senses may ocurr because of cross communication between brain networks processing each sense, scientists have proposed.Īs numerous anecdotal reports suggest and a few studies have documented, LSD causes auditory-visual synesthesia, an experience in which sounds and sights influence each other. Synesthesia is a rare condition in which one sense is perceived in the form of another for example, a person may "hear" colors or “taste” sounds. ![]() Blue Pentagon's experience with the drugmay give unique insights about how novel synesthetic experiences through multiple senses are concocted by the brain - especially a brain that is wired differently due to lack of vision, according to the researchers from the University of Bath in the U.K. MHRA 'Albany Therapeutic Riding Center', All Acronyms, 1 April 2023, Bluebook All Acronyms, Albany Therapeutic Riding Center (Apr. Albany Therapeutic Riding Center, All Acronyms, viewed April 1, 2023, MLA All Acronyms. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from Chicago All Acronyms. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Quote Copy APA All Acronyms.
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