Decreased mental time travel to the past correlates with default-mode network disintegration under lysergic acid diethylamide

TY - JOUR

T1 - Decreased mental time travel to the past correlates with default-mode network disintegration under lysergic acid diethylamide

AU - Speth, Jana

AU - Speth, Clemens

AU - Kaelen, Mendel

AU - Schloerscheidt, Astrid M.

AU - Feilding, Amanda

AU - Nutt, David J.

AU - Carhart-Harris, Robin L.

PY - 2016/4/1

Y1 - 2016/4/1

N2 - This paper reports on the effects of LSD on mental time travel during spontaneous mentation. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in a placebo-controlled crossover study, incorporating intravenous administration of LSD (75 μg) and placebo (saline) prior to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Six independent, blind judges analysed mentation reports acquired during structured interviews performed shortly after the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans (approximately 2.5 h post-administration). Within each report, specific linguistic references to mental spaces for the past, present and future were identified. Results revealed significantly fewer mental spaces for the past under LSD and this effect correlated with the general intensity of the drug's subjective effects. No differences in the number of mental spaces for the present or future were observed. Consistent with the previously proposed role of the default-mode network (DMN) in autobiographical memory recollection and ruminative thought, decreased resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within the DMN correlated with decreased mental time travel to the past. These results are discussed in relation to potential therapeutic applications of LSD and related psychedelics, e.g. in the treatment of depression, for which excessive reflection on one's past, likely mediated by DMN functioning, is symptomatic.

AB - This paper reports on the effects of LSD on mental time travel during spontaneous mentation. Twenty healthy volunteers participated in a placebo-controlled crossover study, incorporating intravenous administration of LSD (75 μg) and placebo (saline) prior to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Six independent, blind judges analysed mentation reports acquired during structured interviews performed shortly after the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans (approximately 2.5 h post-administration). Within each report, specific linguistic references to mental spaces for the past, present and future were identified. Results revealed significantly fewer mental spaces for the past under LSD and this effect correlated with the general intensity of the drug's subjective effects. No differences in the number of mental spaces for the present or future were observed. Consistent with the previously proposed role of the default-mode network (DMN) in autobiographical memory recollection and ruminative thought, decreased resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within the DMN correlated with decreased mental time travel to the past. These results are discussed in relation to potential therapeutic applications of LSD and related psychedelics, e.g. in the treatment of depression, for which excessive reflection on one's past, likely mediated by DMN functioning, is symptomatic.

KW - Altered states of consciousness

KW - default-mode network

KW - episodic past memory

KW - lysergic acid diethylamide

KW - mental time travel

KW - mentation reports

KW - psychedelics

KW - self

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84961242390

U2 - 10.1177/0269881116628430

DO - 10.1177/0269881116628430

M3 - Article

C2 - 26979587

AN - SCOPUS:84961242390

SN - 0269-8811

VL - 30

SP - 344

EP - 353

JO - Journal of Psychopharmacology

JF - Journal of Psychopharmacology

IS - 4

ER -