Cited by 503Psychedelics and Drug StudiesFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesHallucinations in medical conditions

Increased global functional connectivity correlates with LSD-induced ego dissolution

Open access
Tagliazucchi, Enzo, Roseman, Leor, Kaelen, Mendel, Orban, Csaba, Muthukumaraswamy, Suresh D., Murphy, Kevin, Laufs, Helmut, Leech, Robert +8 more·2016·Current Biology

Abstract

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a non-selective serotonin-receptor agonist that was first synthesized in 1938 and identified as (potently) psychoactive in 1943. Psychedelics have been used by indigenous cultures for millennia [1]; however, because of LSD's unique potency and the timing of its discovery (coinciding with a period of major discovery in psychopharmacology), it is generally regarded as the quintessential contemporary psychedelic [2]. LSD has profound modulatory effects on consciousness and was used extensively in psychological research and psychiatric practice in the 1950s and 1960s [3]. In spite of this, however, there have been no modern human imaging studies of its acute effects on the brain. Here we studied the effects of LSD on intrinsic functional connectivity within the human brain using fMRI. High-level association cortices (partially overlapping with the default-mode, salience, and frontoparietal attention networks) and the thalamus showed increased global connectivity under the drug. The cortical areas showing increased global connectivity overlapped significantly with a map of serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor densities (the key site of action of psychedelic drugs [4]). LSD also increased global integration by inflating the level of communication between normally distinct brain networks. The increase in global connectivity observed under LSD correlated with subjective reports of "ego dissolution." The present results provide the first evidence that LSD selectively expands global connectivity in the brain, compromising the brain's modular and "rich-club" organization and, simultaneously, the perceptual boundaries between the self and the environment.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.010

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The strongest specific correlation with ego dissolution was decoupling of the parahippocampal cortex (in the MTL) from the precuneus-a key DMN node anatomically adjacent to the PCC.

    “The strongest specific correlation with ego dissolution was decoupling of the parahippocampal cortex (in the MTL) from the precuneus—a key DMN node anatomically adjacent to the PCC.”

    From Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience (2017) · cites this paper as Tagliazucchi et al. 2016

    The Discussion (p. 6) reports correlations between ego dissolution and increased connectivity in the temporo-parietal junction and insula. It does not identify parahippocampal–precuneus decoupling as a correlate, let alone the strongest specific one. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Tagliazucchi et al. (2016) found that ego dissolution induced by LSD correlated with increased global functional connectivity, with these increases resulting from a breakdown in the integrity of resting-state networks.

    “Most recently, Tagliazucchi et al. (2016) found that ego dissolution induced by LSD correlated with increased global functional connectivity, with these increases resulting from a breakdown in the integrity of resting-state networks.”

    From Self unbound: ego dissolution in psychedelic experience (2017) · cites this paper as Tagliazucchi et al. 2016

    The Highlights (p. 1) and Discussion (p. 7) report that increased global connectivity under LSD correlated with ego-dissolution ratings and coincided with decreased within-module integrity. But the paper does not establish that the connectivity increases resulted from a breakdown in resting-state network integrity; its Summary (p. 2) instead describes expanded connectivity as compromising modular organization. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tagliazucchi, E., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Orban, C., Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., Murphy, K., Laufs, H., Leech, R., McGonigle, J., Crossley, N., Bullmore, E., Williams, T., Bolstridge, M., Feilding, A., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R.
Affiliations
  • Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NL)
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • University of Auckland (NZ)
  • Cardiff University (GB)
  • University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (DE)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom) (GB)
  • Beckley Foundation (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Tagliazucchi, Enzo
  • Carhart-Harris, Robin
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-04
Volume
26
Issue
8
Pages
1043-1050
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2341558148
Cited by
503
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 55 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 9
FWCI
57.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • KNAW Research Portal (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (acceptedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Wellcome Trust (WT090199, 093875)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research
  • Royal Society Te Apārangi
  • AXA Research Fund
  • Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
Keywords
lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, ego dissolution, intrinsic functional connectivity, 5-HT2A receptor, default mode network, salience network, frontoparietal attention network, thalamus, brain network integration, rich club, self-perception, psychedelics
MeSH terms
Brain, Consciousness, Ego, Hallucinogens, Humans, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, Neural Pathways, Self Concept, Functional Neuroimaging

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review