The neuroscience of psychedelic, near-death and mystical experience Pascal Michael, University of Greenwich

Event details

York Psychedelics in Medicine Society

The psychedelic renaissance has seen the success of psychedelic agents used in treating psychiatric illnesses such as depression, PTSD and addiction, as well as a resurgence in phenomenology, with the exploration of exotic states of mind using psychedelics. With the new wave of neuroimaging technology, we are able to study the brain in these altered states, and cast light on the mechanisms of consciousness itself.

The ‘mystical experience’ engendered by the psychedelic experience has become a cornerstone of psychotherapeutic efficacy, with its neural underpinnings beginning to be well characterised. Additionally, the near-death state is an example of another profound experience, and here too, the neurosciences appear to be capable of explaining away much of what is perceived, beyond the veil perhaps not of reality but of the sphere of one’s own brain and mind. As such, this presentation hopes to survey all the neural architecture of the psychedelic, mystical, therapeutic and near-death states. 

About the speaker