Psychedelics, Spirituality, and Fundamentalism: A Brain Network Approach to Cognitive Flexibility and Rigidity.

Xiaohui Wang, Anjian Yang, Xinyou Lv, Hongshuang Wang

Journal: ACS chemical neuroscience 2025;16(15):2750-2752

PMID: 40702747

Full Text on American Chemical Society View on PubMed

Abstract

This viewpoint reconceptualizes mysticism and fundamentalism as brain network disorders, with psychedelics like psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine offering potential to modulate these states. By disrupting rigid neural patterns, psychedelics may foster cognitive flexibility, challenge inflexible belief systems, and offer therapeutic value for extremism and mental health disorders.

Address: Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.; School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.; Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.; Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.; Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.; School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.; State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China.

DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.5c00509

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https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.5c00509

MeSH Terms: Humans, Hallucinogens, Cognition, Brain, Spirituality, Psilocybin, Mysticism, Cognitive Flexibility