Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin

Michael M. Schartner; Robin L. Carhart-Harris; Adam B. Barrett; Anil K. Seth; Suresh D. Muthukumaraswamy

doi:10.1038/srep46421

journal article Open Access Apr 19, 2017

Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin

Michael M. Schartner Robin L. Carhart-Harris Adam B. Barrett Anil K. Seth

Suresh D. Muthukumaraswamy

Scientific Reports Vol. 7 No. 1 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1038/srep46421

Abstract

AbstractWhat is the level of consciousness of the psychedelic state? Empirically, measures of neural signal diversity such as entropy and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity score higher for wakeful rest than for states with lower conscious level like propofol-induced anesthesia. Here we compute these measures for spontaneous magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals from humans during altered states of consciousness induced by three psychedelic substances: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD. For all three, we find reliably higher spontaneous signal diversity, even when controlling for spectral changes. This increase is most pronounced for the single-channel LZ complexity measure, and hence for temporal, as opposed to spatial, signal diversity. We also uncover selective correlations between changes in signal diversity and phenomenological reports of the intensity of psychedelic experience. This is the first time that these measures have been applied to the psychedelic state and, crucially, that they have yielded values exceeding those of normal waking consciousness. These findings suggest that the sustained occurrence of psychedelic phenomenology constitutes an elevated level of consciousness - as measured by neural signal diversity.

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Published: Apr 19, 2017
Vol/Issue: 7(1)
License: View

Authors

M

Michael M. Schartner

R

Robin L. Carhart-Harris

Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science,; School of Informatics and Engineering, and

S

Suresh D. Muthukumaraswamy

Cite This Article

Michael M. Schartner, Robin L. Carhart-Harris, Adam B. Barrett, et al. (2017). Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin. Scientific Reports, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46421

Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin

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