How Ego Death on Psychedelics Affect the Brain

Scientists discover how different parts of the brain communicate on LSD-induced ego death

Photo by Fares Hamouche on Unsplash

Ego-dissolution is a temporary distortion of one’s sense of self as a result of taking mind-altering substances. In psychedelic culture, this term is popularly known as “ego death.”

People who take psychedelics may feel that their sense of being has dissolved, and that they are connected to everything in the universe. This phenomenon does not happen all the time and may depend on several factors, including the environment and dosage of the drug.

To some people, “losing” the ego is a potentially overwhelming and terrifying experience that leads to a “bad trip,” often characterized by anxiety and panic, and can discourage a person from retaking psychedelics.

Despite the possibility of evoking an unpleasant experience, ego-dissolution is being investigated as a potential treatment for death-related anxiety among terminally-ill patients, such as those with cancer.

Ego death has been reported with all classical psychedelics, including LSD, psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Other psychoactive substances such as ketamine and nitrous oxide have also been known to elicit the experience.

Overview of LSD

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), colloquially known as “acid,” is a classic psychedelic drug, discovered by a Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann in 1938. It is made from lysergic acid, a chemical found in the ergot fungus.

LSD is a powerful mind-altering substance that causes visual hallucinations that can last for more than 12 hours. Usually taken by mouth, the effects of the drug are commonly felt within 20–30 minutes and peaks in 2–4 hours after ingestion.

People who take LSD report seeing vivid colors, surfaces appear to ripple or breathe, crawling geometric patterns on walls, and movements in inanimate objects. Time may also seem to slow down, stop, or move faster.

Physical reactions to LSD are nonspecific and may include dilated pupils, increased heart rate, wakefulness, jaw clenching, saliva production, and mucus production. The effects vary from person to person and may also depend on the dosage.

In a study published in a British peer-reviewed journal The Lancet, LSD is considered to be 1/10th as harmful as alcohol and third to last among 20 other drugs ranked according to harm factors.

Source: David Nutt, et al. “Drug Harms in the UK: A Multicriteria Decision Analysis,” The Lancet, Nov. 1, 2010

LSD is a Schedule 1drug in the United States and is currently illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, and distribute.

Ego-dissolution on LSD

Neuroscientists studying the neurobiology of psychedelics use functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate the effects of ego-dissolution on the brain.

In a study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers administered LSD intravenously to 15 healthy volunteers to observe how brain regions interact during an ego death phenomenon.

What the researchers found: there was an increased global integration and connectivity between brain regions that are usually distinct — this means, the entire brain is activated and communicating with areas that generally function separately and don’t “talk” to each other.

The increased global connectivity has been observed in the resting state networks (RSN), which include the bilateral frontoparietal, default-mode, and salience networks. The bilateral thalamus is also involved in the cross-talk.

The brain regions communicating with each other handle different functions related to consciousness — this includes self-reflection, self-awareness, attention, memory retrieval, processing of emotions, and perception of out-of-body experiences.

The researchers posited that that increased cross-communication between independent brain networks correlate with the experience of ego death in LSD.

In summary

Ego death, known academically as “ego-dissolution,” is a phenomenon that involves a temporary loss of self-identity, commonly induced by taking psychedelic drugs.

Ego-dissolution is currently being explored as a treatment for the terminally ill using psilocybin, another psychedelic drug that has similar effects to LSD.

In a scientific study, researchers reveal heavy interconnections between distinct brain regions during LSD-induced ego death. Although there was a global integration in the brain, there was a decrease in functionality in the individual networks.

The study researchers hope to reinforce the view that psychedelic research on human subjects is safe when conducted with appropriate care, and can provide valuable insights into human neuroscience.