Humans have been consuming psychedelic substances for millennia, but only in the past century have we made significant progress in understanding how they affect the brain and our psychology.

We have learned, for example, that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin, LSD, and DMT cause psychedelic experiences primarily by affecting a particular type of serotonin receptor, while other drugs like ketamine and PCP primarily affect the glutamate system.

But there remain open questions about how these biological effects contribute to profound psychological changes in people who take psychedelics. One answer seems to center on how the drugs spark communication between different brain regions. What’s more, psychedelics seem to encourage greater neuroplasticity, meaning the brain becomes primed to learn new things in the wake of a psychedelic experience.

Check out this Big Think interview with Matthew Johnson, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University who explains how psychedelics work, and what researchers hope to uncover about the substances in the future.

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About Matthew Johnson:

Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins. Working with psychedelics since 2004, he is one of the world’s most widely published experts on psychedelics. He has published research on psychedelics and mystical experience, personality change, tobacco smoking cessation, cancer distress treatment, and depression treatment. In 2021 he received as principal investigator the first grant in 50 years from the US government for a treatment study with a classic psychedelic, specifically psilocybin in treatment of tobacco addiction. He is also known for his expertise in behavioral economics, addiction, sexual risk behavior, and research with a wide variety of drug classes. He’s been Interviewed by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, Fox News, Fox Business News, BBC and in Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind.

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