Scientists have captured the world’s first detailed brain scans of people under the influence of LSD, offering unprecedented insight into how the psychedelic dramatically alters brain function.
In a landmark 2016 study led by researchers at Imperial College London in collaboration with the Beckley Foundation, 20 healthy volunteers received 75 micrograms of LSD and underwent advanced brain imaging using fMRI and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The scans showed that LSD disrupts the brain’s normal modular organization, breaking down rigid boundaries between networks and creating a more unified, integrated state of connectivity.
This increased global integration appears to underlie the profound changes in consciousness, sense of self, and emotional intensity commonly reported during psychedelic experiences. A striking finding was that participants experienced vivid, dream-like visual hallucinations even with their eyes closed, driven by increased communication between the visual cortex and memory-related regions such as the parahippocampus. These effects were further amplified when music was played.
By temporarily dissolving entrenched neural patterns, LSD may help “reset” the brain, opening new therapeutic possibilities for conditions like treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and addiction.
[Carhart-Harris, R. L., Muthukumaraswamy, S., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Droog, W., Murphy, K., Tagliazucchi, E., Schenberg, E. E., Nest, T., Orban, C., Leech, R., Williams, L. T., Williams, T. M., Bolstridge, M., Sessa, B., McGonigle, J., Sereno, M. I., Nichols, D., Hellyer, P. J., Hobden, P., Evans, J., Singh, K. D., Wise, R. G., Curran, H. V., Feilding, A., & Nutt, D. J. (2016). Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(17), 4853–4858. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518377113]
The feeling of seeing this for the first time. With the mechs walking. The snow. The music. You knew what you were about to experience would be something special. This is Final Fantasy VI.