The role of self-representation

Psychedelic therapy works primarily by disrupting and revising mental representations of the self. Three lines of evidence support this hypothesis: psychological insight during therapy, which is often autobiographical, correlates with positive outcomes; psychedelics enhance mindfulness capacities for an open, non-reactive attentional stance toward inner experience, which involves changes in the sense of self; and positive clinical outcomes are linked to changes in the Default Mode and Salience networks, both implicated in self-representation. These findings can be integrated into a cohesive account by considering the cognitive functions of the neural systems affected by psychedelics.

Study at a glance

Abstract

‘The role of self-representation’ presents three lines of evidence in support of a simple hypothesis: the central mechanism of psychedelic therapy is the disruption and revision of mental representations of the self. One line of evidence connects experiences of ‘psychological insight’ to positive clinical outcomes, and the insights in question are often autobiographical in character. A second line of evidence shows that psychedelics can elevate mindfulness-related capacities for taking an open, non-reactive attentional stance toward inner experience. These capacities centrally involve changes in the sense of self. A third line of evidence links positive clinical outcomes to changes in two neural systems, the Default Mode and Salience networks. Both are implicated in self-representation by considerable independent evidence. This chapter argues that one can combine these psychological and neurobiological findings into an integrative account of psychedelic therapy by attending to the cognitive or information-processing functions of the neural systems affected by psychedelics.