神经科学与心理学2019nature.com
用多变量 EEG 评估 DMT 体验的神经相关物
Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG
进阶 · 约 45 分钟读完前置知识：神经科学基础、EEG 信号处理、多变量分析方法
导读
这篇论文用多变量 EEG 分析研究 DMT（二甲基色胺）引起的强烈意识改变状态的神经相关物。研究发现 DMT 体验伴随 alpha 波功率下降等脑活动变化，为理解这种常被比作梦境、并常让人感到进入'另一个维度'甚至遭遇'实体'的迷幻体验提供了脑机制层面的证据。
HN 关注点：psychedelics 神经科学研究，讨论焦点在于 DMT 体验与做梦的异同、alpha 波的意义，以及这类体验是否真的带来持久的认知改变。
HN 评论精选
这几条评论里：质疑 1 补充 2 亲历 1
补充Alpha 波下降与 REM 睡眠相似：大脑关闭执行功能、进入故事生成模式，可用于观察自己的情绪化行为
Alpha 功率下降是迷幻剂神经影像研究中非常一致的发现。Alpha 与高级心理功能、自上而下的预测加工及相关反馈连接有关，而这些在血清素类迷幻剂作用下都会被打乱。有趣的是，REM 睡眠中也出现同样的现象：大脑关闭执行功能，进入极端的'故事生成模式'，而你自己是故事中的角色。这是做梦最被忽视的有趣之处——我们能在梦中观察不受执行功能约束的自己，从而了解纯粹情绪化的行为，甚至发现其不适应之处。（我对此有偏向，因为我写过一篇相关论文）
FailMore查看英文原文
> Decreased alpha power is a particularly consistent finding in neuroimaging research with psychedelics7,8,11. Alpha is the most prominent rhythm of the resting-brain, particularly in humans, and particularly in adulthood30. Alpha has been linked with high-level psychological functioning31,32, top-down predictive processing18,33 and related feedback connectivity34 - all of which have been found to be disrupted under serotonergic psychedelics35,36,37 In regards to this, the same thing is found during REM sleep. The brain shuts down the executive functions, while the brain goes into extreme 'story generation mode'. A story in which you are a character. I think this is one of the most overlooked and interesting parts of dreaming. We are able to observe ourselves in our dreams acting without the constraints of our 'executive functioning' brain. This means we get to learn about our purely emotional behaviour, and perhaps spot where it is maladaptive. (I am very bias on this subject, as I have written a paper on this topic - https://psyarxiv.com/k6trz, which was discussed here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19143590)
亲历亲历观察：身边喝死藤水的人自称蜕变，但实际人生轨迹并无异于常人的改变，支持唯物主义解释
我是巴西人，在一个有两个饮用死藤水宗教团体的城市长大。我 20 多岁时有很多朋友试过，有人频繁使用甚至成为正式成员。对比他们使用前后的变化，和其他药物没什么不同：都说经历了改变人生、扩展意识的体验，但我看不出任何我或别的朋友通过读书、艺术、音乐、哲学或单纯成长成熟所没能达到的改变。最讽刺的是，那个最热衷宣扬自己'蜕变'、声称感受到'植物之灵的智慧'、认为现实是'梦境'的家伙，几年后当了警察；另一个朋友现在是富有的公司律师。认识这些喝死藤水的人，反而成了支持唯物主义解释的有力论据：你喝下去，产生幻觉，它给你一种'比这个现实更真实'的强烈而持久的印象。
EL_Loco查看英文原文
I'm brazilian, and lived a big part of my life in a city where there were two religious groups who did ayahuasca. In my 20's, I had quite a lot of friends who tried it, with some doing it quite frequently and a few even joining the groups as full members. The experience I had with knowing them before and after ayahuasca not too different than with other drugs/hallucinogens: my friends related life-changing events, consciousness expanding trips etc, yet I could never figure out any change they had that I or different friends achieved through literature, art, music, philosophy, or plain just growing older and trying to become smarter or a better person. The funniest thing is, the guy who was most outspoken about his transformation, about feeling 'the wisdom of the plant spirits', and how all this here was 'a dream reality', after a few years became a cop. Another friend is today a wealthy corporate lawyer. I know I might get a lot of downvotes, but knowing all these people who took ayahuasca became actually a strong argument for a materialistic view of the whole thing. You drink it, you hallucinate, it gives you the lasting, powerful impression that it was more real than this "other" reality.
补充澄清研究贡献：不是发现 DMT 类梦，而是找出区分 DMT 幻觉与做梦的脑活动；DMT 独特之处在于体验感觉真实到动摇现实观
这项研究并不是'发现 DMT 产生类似梦境的状态'——这早已是共识。它识别的是区分这种幻觉与做梦的细微脑活动差异。DMT 之所以特别，在于它不只是留下你知道是胡说八道的奇怪记忆，而是创造出感觉真实、并促使你质疑自己对现实的理解的体验——人们常描述进入一个完全'他者'的维度，遭遇有知觉的'实体'或'存在'。
deckar01查看英文原文
> The present study’s findings significantly advance our understanding of the brain basis of one of the most unusual and intense altered states of consciousness known – previously likened to dreaming... This study does not "find that DMT produces a dream-like state"; that was already well established. This study identifies the subtle brain activity that differentiates the hallucinations from dreaming. > This experience is often characterized by a sense of entering into an entirely ‘other’ ... dimension. It is not uncommon for people to describe encounters with sentient ‘entities’ or ‘presences’ within this perceived other world and for the experience to subsequently challenge beliefs about the nature of reality and consciousness. These effects are what makes this drug so interesting and differentiates it from most hallucinogens and dreaming. It doesn't just leave you with strange memories you know are nonsense. It creates experiences that feel real and invokes thoughts that cause you to question your understanding of reality.
质疑指出标题误导：研究用的是静脉注射 DMT，而非口服的死藤水
标题不准确：这项研究使用的是静脉注射 DMT，而不是 Ayahuasca（死藤水）——后者是 DMT 与 MAOI（单胺氧化酶抑制剂）的口服混合物。不过研究本身仍然很有意思。
azmenak查看英文原文
Title is inaccurate, this study used intravenous DMT, as opposed to Ayahuasca which is a oral concoction of DMT and an MAOI. Interesting nonetheless.
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