Reduced Precision Underwrites Ego Dissolution and Therapeutic Outcomes Under Psychedelics

Evidence suggests classic psychedelics reduce the precision of belief updating and enable access to a range of alternate hypotheses that underwrite how we make sense of the world. This process, in the higher cortices, has been postulated to explain the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelics for the treatment of internalizing disorders. We argue reduced precision also underpins change to consciousness, known as ego dissolution, and that alterations to consciousness and attention under psychedelics have a common mechanism of reduced precision of Bayesian belief updating. Evidence, connecting the role of serotonergic receptors to large-scale connectivity changes in the cortex, suggests the precision of Bayesian belief updating may be a mechanism to modify and investigate consciousness and attention.

Automated summary

Evidence suggests that classic psychedelics can reduce the precision of belief updating and provide access to a range of alternate hypotheses that support our understanding of the world. This process, believed to occur in the higher cortical areas, is thought to explain the therapeutic effectiveness of psychedelics in treating internalizing disorders. We argue that reduced precision also plays a role in ego dissolution, a change in consciousness, and that alterations in consciousness and attention under psychedelics are connected through a shared mechanism of reduced precision in Bayesian belief updating. Evidence linking serotonergic receptors to large-scale connectivity changes in the cortex suggests that the precision of Bayesian belief updating may be a mechanism for modifying and investigating consciousness and attention.