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hallucinations

·April 14, 2025·5 min read

LSD-Inspired Drug Reverses Psychosis Brain Damage Without Hallucinations

A new LSD-derived compound called JRT shows promise for treating schizophrenia and other brain disorders without inducing hallucinations. Developed by researchers who altered just two atoms in LSD’s structure, JRT maintains the psychedelic’s neuroplastic effects while avoiding its psychosis-linked risks.

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·April 12, 2025·9 min read

Delusions Often Appear Before Hallucinations in Early Psychosis

A new study has found that delusions typically emerge before hallucinations in individuals at high risk for psychosis, overturning a long-standing belief that hallucinations drive delusional thinking. By analyzing symptom progression across three large cohorts, researchers consistently observed that delusions were the earliest symptom, reappearing even before hallucinations during relapses.

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·December 18, 2024·5 min read

Study Ties Visual Errors to Paranoid Beliefs

A new study suggests complex beliefs like paranoia may have roots in visual misperception. Participants prone to paranoia or teleological thinking were more likely to wrongly identify one moving dot as chasing another in a visual task.

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·November 14, 2024·6 min read

Brain Circuits Behind Psychedelics’ Anti-Anxiety Power Decoded

New research has identified distinct neural circuits for the anti-anxiety and hallucinogenic effects of psychedelics. Using the psychedelic DOI in mice, researchers demonstrated that anxiety reduction persists long after hallucinatory effects subside.

This shows a woman and psychedelic swirls.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 3, 2024·4 min read

Psychedelics Reduce Anxiety Without Hallucinations

New research has pinpointed the specific brain region and neuron type responsible for reducing anxiety using the psychedelic drug DOI, without triggering hallucinations. The study revealed that DOI targets serotonin2A receptors on parvalbumin-positive neurons in the ventral hippocampus, decreasing anxiety behaviors in animal models.

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·October 3, 2024·2 min read

Faulty Brain Processes Behind Hearing Voices in Schizophrenia

A new study reveals that auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia may be caused by two faulty brain processes: a failed suppression of self-generated sounds and an overactive response to internal noises. The research showed that patients with hallucinations had a "broken" corollary discharge and an enhanced response to unintended sounds, compared to those without hallucinations. These findings suggest that future treatments for auditory hallucinations could target these disrupted processes.

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·September 10, 2024·5 min read

How Flickering Light Induces Hallucinations

A new study reveals how flickering lights can trigger hallucinations by causing standing waves in the brain's visual cortex. Researchers observed that high-frequency flickering lights create ripple-like waves of neural activity, which turn into standing waves at higher frequencies.

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·March 12, 2024·6 min read

Hallucinations Enhance Social Number Misjudgment

Hallucinations, particularly presence hallucinations often experienced by individuals with Parkinson's disease, can lead to an increased overestimation of social numbers, such as the number of people in a room. This phenomenon does not extend to inanimate objects like boxes, underscoring the social nature of this overcounting.

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·June 30, 2023·5 min read

Early Hallucinations in Parkinson’s Tied to Faster Cognitive Decline

Early hallucinations in Parkinson's disease patients might signal a faster cognitive decline. Through comprehensive neuropsychological interviews and electroencephalography measurements, researchers were able to link minor hallucinations, typically underreported, to more rapid deterioration of frontal executive function in subsequent years.

This shows a long road stretching off into the sunset

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·April 7, 2022·4 min read

Recalled Experiences Surrounding Death: More Than Hallucinations?

Due to advances in resuscitation and critical care, many people are surviving near-death experiences. Survivors' recalled experiences are not consistent with hallucinations, but instead, follow a specific narrative arc involving perception.

This shows a drawing of a brain with squiggles showing the communication deficits

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 23, 2022·4 min read

Brain Communication Defect in Psychotic Disorders

Reduced activation of gamma waves in the brain was associated with the emergence of psychosis symptoms prior to the full-blown disorder appearing.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 11, 2022·4 min read

Sleep Deprivation Increases Serotonin 2a Receptor Response in Brain

Sleep deprivation increases the levels of serotonin 2A neurotransmitter receptors within 6 - 8 hours. Abnormal serotonin 2A receptor function is associated with hallucinations, cognitive impairment, and is linked to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.