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Brain Scans Reveal How Psychedelics Change Perception
Study analyzes how drugs like LSD, psilocybin affect brain activity and communication.
Apr. 10, 2026 at 7:00pm by Ben Kaplan
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Brain scans reveal the complex neural effects of psychedelic drugs, shedding light on their potential therapeutic benefits.San Francisco TodayScientists have conducted a comprehensive study analyzing over 500 brain scans from 267 people across five countries to better understand how psychedelic drugs like LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, and ayahuasca affect brain activity and communication between different regions of the brain.
Why it matters
Understanding the neurological effects of psychedelics could help explain their potential therapeutic benefits for treating mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The findings provide reliable benchmarks for how these drugs impact the brain, which is crucial as dozens of new psychedelic-like drugs are in development.
The details
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that psychedelics increase communication between parts of the brain that usually work more independently, including areas involved in senses, abstract thought, and self-reflection. This may help explain why users report strong visual changes, emotional experiences, and a sense of losing themselves. Researchers say the effects are more complex than previously thought, with psychedelics not simply breaking down certain brain networks.
- The study was published on April 6, 2026.
- The research analyzed brain scans collected since 2012.
The players
Manesh Girn
A neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco and the lead author of the study.
Joshua Siegel
A researcher at the NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine in New York City who worked on the study.
What they’re saying
“If psychedelics are going to become part of medicine, we need reliable bench marks for how they actually affect the brain.”
— Manesh Girn, Neuroscientist
“For each of these drugs, there are questions like: Is it a psychedelic? What brain networks does it hit? Is it having the same brain effects? Having consensus on the brain biomarkers is going to be useful for the 150 new psychedelic-like drugs that are in development.”
— Joshua Siegel, Researcher
What’s next
More research is needed to better understand how factors like age and sex may affect how people respond to psychedelic drugs.
The takeaway
This comprehensive study provides crucial insights into how psychedelic drugs impact brain activity and communication, which could help unlock their potential therapeutic benefits for mental health conditions. As dozens of new psychedelic-like drugs are in development, establishing reliable neurological benchmarks will be essential.
