A Brief Introduction to Psychedelics, pt. II: The Experience

In the previous post, we covered the basic chemistry behind how psychedelics affect consciousness. But just what does a psychedelic experience feel like?

As is the case with nearly all drugs, psychedelic effects vary greatly based on dosage. Low doses produce a certain group of effects, while the effects produced by higher doses are generally very different. Also, despite being similar in many ways, all psychedelics are not equally potent, and the required dosage for noticeable effects vary from drug to drug. For example, drugs like DMT, psilocybin/psilocin and mescaline are noticeable when taken in thousandths of a gram, while LSD is active at such extremely low doses that they’re measured in millionths of a gram (micrograms). Trip duration also varies between drugs, and while psilocybin/psilocin, mescaline and DMT in the form of ayahuasca last for about 6-8 hours, LSD lasts for about 10-12 hours. Vaporized DMT, on the other hand, rarely lasts more than 15 minutes.

It’s important to note that all psychedelic trips are different. Effects are largely dependent on several factors like the user’s mindset, environmental setting, and who they’re with, to name a few. Still, there are certain effects that are common to the majority of trips. The following descriptions apply to LSD, psilocybin/psilocin and mescaline. DMT effects will be explained in a later post.

Representation of how a forest scene might look normally and after taking a low dose of psychedelics. Note that a trip involves all senses, so a picture can’t possibly come close to retelling the whole experience. (Artist: Chelsea Morgan)

On a low dose, users can generally expect to feel the effects coming on after about 30 minutes, marked by a strange “tingle” in the body. After an hour, distortions of the main senses becomes noticeable. Visually, colours become brighter and have more contrast, objects and lines tend to glow and look slightly “wavy”, and everything looks like it’s pulsating or “breathing”. Gentle sounds seem crisp and clean, while loud noises seem unusually harsh. The user’s body may feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, and soft to the touch on the outside. Many users report an “enhanced” state of mind wherein they feel more emotionally and intellectually involved in activites and surroundings than they normally would. For example, the user may feel a deeper connection to nature if the trip takes place in a natural setting, or a passionate urge to create music if they’re in a room with musical instruments. Generally speaking, low doses can be useful for enhancing a user’s normal experience of the world without greatly altering it.

What a forest scene might look like on a medium dose. (Artist: reddit user “ilikehippos”)

An example of 2D closed-eye visuals. (Artist: Jann Merese)

With a medium dose, a strange bodily tingle or “buzz” sets in after 30 minutes; many users report feeling uncomfortable or agitated (it’s important for the user to remain calm and positive during this period; trying to fight the effects or “abort” the trip usually only makes things worse). This feeling is replaced after about 15 minutes by a mild euphoria that begins to travel through the body in a wave-like fashion. Many users feel happy, excited and fascinated at this point. Everything in the user’s field of vision becomes wavy and multicolored, all colors are greatly intensified, and edges of objects look fuzzy or out-of-focus. Geometric patterns become visible in and around surfaces, edges and lines; textures appear to repeat themselves in a symmetrical way. Closing one’s eyes produces different visuals; brightly colored lines and patterns move around at great speed, although usually only in two dimensions. Sound, particularly music, is perceived as rich, deep and beautiful; an exaggerated version of the “chills” many people experience when listening to their favorite music is widely reported. Objects may feel moist or soft to the touch. The user often feels blissful, fascinated and puzzled at the same time. It is at this point that many feel a deep sense of connection to the universe, stemming from a partially disconnected sense of “self”. This temporary disconnection helps many users to adress problems and ideas from a fresh perspective, unrestrained by the habitual self-criticizing that normally takes place inside their mind.

An artist’s rendition of high-dose visuals. (Artist: Adrian Salamandre)

High doses produce a different experience altogether, and many users avoid these trips due to their overwhelming intensity, which some feel is simply too much. Effects set in quickly and reach the medium-level stage after about an hour. Objects in the user’s field of vision may seem highly “fractalized” – that is, self-repeating patterns and spirals cover every surface and “grow” out of all edges. Others report melting and blending objects. Surroundings are greatly distorted and warped, and many report seeing colors they have never seen before. Sights, sounds and touch all cause intense rushes of euphoria. Closed-eye visuals are vivid and three-dimensional, but are often perceived as existing in four or more dimensions. “Ego loss”, a state of complete disconnection from one’s identity and sense of self, is common at higher doses. Intense mystical and spiritual insights are commonplace, and some even report meeting and communicating with godlike beings.

Again, it’s important to remember that it is literally impossible to give an accurate account of a trip using only words and pictures, and that all trips are different. Some may experience very few visual effects while auditory, bodily and cognitive effects may be very intense, and so forth.

A Brief Introduction to Psychedelics, pt. I: The Chemistry

“Eclipse Engaged” by Android Jones

If you’ve heard the term “psychedelic” before, chances are you’ve heard it in connection with the hippie subculture of the late 1960’s and the artistic style that bloomed within it. You may also be familiar with the fact that a certain family of mind-altering drugs and their effects on users played a key role in the formation of the hippie movement. Despite knowing this, you may still be wondering: just what does “psychedelic” refer to?

Today, the term is generally used to refer to one or all of the following:

• Psychoactive (mind-affecting) drugs with hallucinatory and “consciousness-expanding” effects
• A visual art movement that started in the mid-1960’s, distinguished by vivid colours, intricate patterns and surrealistic images
• A musical movement that originated in the rock scene of the mid-1960’s and later grew out into several different genres; distinguishable by hypnotic and experimental soundscapes
• An international culture (also referred to as psychedelia) that spawned in the mid-1960’s and includes all of the above

What all of these points have in common is that they are based on the use of a number of drugs collectively known as “psychedelics”. Perhaps most famous of all these drugs is LSD, or “acid”. However, some other famous psychedelics include psilocybin and its close relative psilocin, the active ingredients of “magic mushrooms”; mescaline, the active ingredient in Peyote and San Pedro cacti; and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.

In order to understand how these chemicals affect human consciousness, it helps to have a basic understanding of how brain cells communicate using “messenger chemicals”, or neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are a vital part of the brain’s communication systems, and in short, what they do is transmit messages between the connection points (synapses) of brain cells. If you imagine that a brain cell (neuron) is a computer, and that the whole brain (neural network) is the internet, then neurotransmitters are the e-mails, instant messages and hyperlinks that share information between the computers connected to the internet.

Two of the most important neurotransmitters that scientists have found in the brain are serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin is involved with regulating mood, appetite, and memory in the human brain. Dopamine, on the other hand, is involved with regulating reward-motivated behavior and muscle control, amongst other things.

Diagram showing the structural similarity between selected neurotransmitters and psychedelic drugs. At the top are three tryptamines (serotonin, DMT and psilocin), with the serotonin base shown in red. At the bottom are two phenethylamines (dopamine and mescaline), with the dopamine base shown in blue. In the middle is a lysergamide (LSD), whose more complex structure incorporates both dopamine and serotonin bases.

The common trait that all “classic” psychedelics share is that their molecular structure – the shape and composition of their molecules – is remarkably similar to that of serotonin and dopamine. This matters because of the way that neurotransmitters are converted into information after being passed from one neuron to another. Neurotransmitters are essentially molecules shaped in a specific way that fit perfectly into a specially shaped slot – similar to the way that a key is shaped to fit into a lock – and are sent from the “outbox” (axon) of one brain cell to the “inbox” (dendrite) of another. When they arrive, they drop into specially shaped holes (neuroreceptors), in the same way that a key fits into a lock. This “unlocking” creates a specific electrical pulse that the nervous system – which operates using electrical signals – can make use of.

Brain cells are, in a sense, bilingual; they operate using an electrical language, but communicate with each other using a chemical language. Because of how similar psychedelic molecules and neurotransmitter molecules are in both shape and composition, the brain’s chemical systems are able to interpret the psychedelics using the same language that it normally uses for its own neurotransmitters. After all, the psychedelic molecules are so similar to the neurotransmitter keys that they fit into the neuroeceptor locks, yet different enough to produce a different electrical signal upon unlocking. These minor differences, and the variety of electrical signals they produce, are what cause the changes in consciousness that users experience after taking a psychedelic drug.

So now we understand that the experienced effects of these drugs are produced because humans are born with a neural system for interpreting the same kinds of molecules that psychedelics are based on. But what kind of psychological effects does this type of neurochemistry produce?

Slowing Down Aging by Extending Telomeres

One major contributing factor to why our bodies decline in quality over time (i.e. age) is that telomeres – the protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes – become shorter and shorter with each successive cell division.

If you’re familiar with cold climates, imagine your chromosomes as your hands, and telomeres as a pair of gloves. Over time, your gloves wear out as you put them on, use them, and take them off. Eventually, they fall apart at the seams, and your hands become cold and useless. That’s what happens to telomeres over time; eventually, they become so short that the chromosome falls apart and the cell dies. In a normally functioning body, this eventually happens to every cell, triggering a variety of disorders (known as aging) that ultimately lead to death.

Now, in a groundbreaking discovery, scientists at Stanford University have figured out a way to slow the degradation of telomeres using a modified version of messenger RNA. These molecules normally act as couriers of genetic information between DNA and the ribosome, where proteins are manufactured. In the context of the metaphor used above, this is akin to stitching up the pair of gloves before they break, greatly improving their lifespan.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, once this treatment becomes suitable for human trials, it could mean that you’ll be able to slow your aging to such an extent that you will remain young and healthy far beyond today’s expectations.
This could mean that you’ll be around when scientists figure out a way to stop or even reverse aging altogether, potentially giving you the option of biological immortality.