Psilocybin links binocular rivalry switch rate to attention and subjective arousal levels in humans
Open accessAbstract
Rationale Binocular rivalry occurs when different images are simultaneously presented to each eye. During continual viewing of this stimulus, the observer will experience repeated switches between visual awareness of the two images. Previous studies have suggested that a slow rate of perceptual switching may be associated with clinical and drug-induced psychosis. Objectives The objective of the study was to explore the proposed relationship between binocular rivalry switch rate and subjective changes in psychological state associated with 5-HT2A receptor activation. Materials and methods This study used psilocybin, the hallucinogen found naturally in Psilocybe mushrooms that had previously been found to induce psychosis-like symptoms via the 5-HT2A receptor. The effects of psilocybin (215 microg/kg) were considered alone and after pretreatment with the selective 5-HT2A antagonist ketanserin (50 mg) in ten healthy human subjects. Results Psilocybin significantly reduced the rate of binocular rivalry switching and increased the proportion of transitional/mixed percept experience. Pretreatment with ketanserin blocked the majority of psilocybin's "positive" psychosis-like hallucinogenic symptoms. However, ketanserin had no influence on either the psilocybin-induced slowing of binocular rivalry or the drug's "negative-type symptoms" associated with reduced arousal and vigilance. Conclusions Together, these findings link changes in binocular rivalry switching rate to subjective levels of arousal and attention. In addition, it suggests that psilocybin's effect on binocular rivalry is unlikely to be mediated by the 5-HT2A receptor.
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Pretreatment with ketanserin did not attenuate binocular rivalry switching or effects on attentional tracking performance.
“did not attenuate binocular rivalry switching [18] or effects on attentional tracking performance [19].”
From Molecular and Functional Imaging Studies of Psychedelic Drug Action in Animals and Humans. (2021) · cites this paper as [18]
Pretreatment of volunteers with the selective 5HT2A/C antagonist ketanserin largely abolished the hallucinations elicited by psilocybin.
“Indeed, pretreatment of volunteers with the selective 5HT2A/C antagonist ketanserin (7), while largely abolishing the hallucinations elicited by psilocybin (2), did not attenuate binocular rivalry switching [18] or effects on attentional tracking performance [19].”
From Molecular and Functional Imaging Studies of Psychedelic Drug Action in Animals and Humans. (2021) · cites this paper as [18]
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- Authors
- Carter, O. L., Hasler, F., Pettigrew, J. D., Wallis, G. M., Liu, G. B., & Vollenweider, F. X.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich (CH)
- University of Southern Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Carter, Olivia L.
- Venue
- Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2007-09-14
- Volume
- 195
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 415-424
- ISSN
- 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-2072
- OpenAlex
- W2104493382
- Cited by
- 146
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 5.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.zora.uzh.ch
- Licence
- other-oa
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- psilocybin, binocular rivalry, 5-HT2A receptor, ketanserin, subjective arousal, attention, hallucinogens, psychosis-like symptoms, sustained attention
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arousal, Attention, Double-Blind Method, Drug Combinations, Female, Hallucinogens, Humans, Ketanserin, Male, Psilocybin, Vision, Binocular, Vision Disparity, Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Agonists, Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists
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