What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review
Research on psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, LSD or DMT, is a burgeoning field, with an increasing number of studies showing their promise in treatment of mental disorders as well as examining their mechanism of action. Determining their effect on the brain is crucial from clinical standpoint,...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1606798/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850110903627808768 |
|---|---|
| author | Michal Beneš Michal Beneš Tomáš Páleníček Tomáš Páleníček Jiří Horáček Jiří Horáček |
| author_facet | Michal Beneš Michal Beneš Tomáš Páleníček Tomáš Páleníček Jiří Horáček Jiří Horáček |
| author_sort | Michal Beneš |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, LSD or DMT, is a burgeoning field, with an increasing number of studies showing their promise in treatment of mental disorders as well as examining their mechanism of action. Determining their effect on the brain is crucial from clinical standpoint, but also offers highly promising avenues of advancement in basic neuroscience—functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most useful techniques to do so, with a number of newly published studies increasing every year. Here we present a scoping review of existing fMRI studies of serotonergic psychedelics to date, with a focus on finding unifying themes among them, in order to comprehensively grasp current directions within this field. We cluster the existing studies by fMRI modality and find several lines of developing concepts complementing the established models of psychedelic actions on the brain: namely, we describe a general picture of de-differentiation with the default mode network at its core captured by a diverse array of different techniques, complex changes to the thalamus, amygdala and medial temporal lobe structures, and the importance of the phenomenon of ego dissolution. Finally, contrasts to phenomenologically similar states and the successful process of anchoring fMRI findings to other markers are discussed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-71fa367b245a4eb1a35d5198ce099c10 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-71fa367b245a4eb1a35d5198ce099c102025-08-20T02:37:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-07-011910.3389/fnins.2025.16067981606798What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping reviewMichal Beneš0Michal Beneš1Tomáš Páleníček2Tomáš Páleníček3Jiří Horáček4Jiří Horáček5Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaCenter for Advanced Studies of Brain and Consciousness, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, CzechiaDepartment of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaPsychedelic Research Center, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, CzechiaDepartment of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, CzechiaCenter for Advanced Studies of Brain and Consciousness, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, CzechiaResearch on psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, LSD or DMT, is a burgeoning field, with an increasing number of studies showing their promise in treatment of mental disorders as well as examining their mechanism of action. Determining their effect on the brain is crucial from clinical standpoint, but also offers highly promising avenues of advancement in basic neuroscience—functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most useful techniques to do so, with a number of newly published studies increasing every year. Here we present a scoping review of existing fMRI studies of serotonergic psychedelics to date, with a focus on finding unifying themes among them, in order to comprehensively grasp current directions within this field. We cluster the existing studies by fMRI modality and find several lines of developing concepts complementing the established models of psychedelic actions on the brain: namely, we describe a general picture of de-differentiation with the default mode network at its core captured by a diverse array of different techniques, complex changes to the thalamus, amygdala and medial temporal lobe structures, and the importance of the phenomenon of ego dissolution. Finally, contrasts to phenomenologically similar states and the successful process of anchoring fMRI findings to other markers are discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1606798/fullpsychedelicspsilocybinLSDayahuascaDMTfMRI |
| spellingShingle | Michal Beneš Michal Beneš Tomáš Páleníček Tomáš Páleníček Jiří Horáček Jiří Horáček What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review Frontiers in Neuroscience psychedelics psilocybin LSD ayahuasca DMT fMRI |
| title | What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review |
| title_full | What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review |
| title_fullStr | What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review |
| title_short | What fMRI studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect: a scoping review |
| title_sort | what fmri studies say about the nature of the psychedelic effect a scoping review |
| topic | psychedelics psilocybin LSD ayahuasca DMT fMRI |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1606798/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michalbenes whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview AT michalbenes whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview AT tomaspalenicek whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview AT tomaspalenicek whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview AT jirihoracek whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview AT jirihoracek whatfmristudiessayaboutthenatureofthepsychedeliceffectascopingreview |