Me, myself, bye: regional alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissolution with psilocybin

So far I've shared quite a bit about ego dissolution on Neuro Psychedelic. By now you probably know that ego dissolution, or ego death, is the reduction in one's sense of self and self-world boundaries, along with an increase in feelings of unity with others’ and one’s surroundings. Ego dissolution is a characteristic phenomenon of the psychedelic experience. Little is known, however, of the neurobiological underpinnings of ego dissolution. It has been postulated that ego dissolution arises from disrupted cortical network connectivity and synchronization. With particular focus on the default mode network where some researchers argue that the "sense of self" arises from.

In this 2020 Nature article, regional alterations in glutamate and the experience of ego dissolution with psilocybin, the authors propose a novel mechanism for ego dissolution. Using neuroimaging techniques, these researchers show that ego dissolution is correlated with glulamate levels. In the present study, compared with controls, participants who received psilocybin demonstrated higher relative glutamate concentration levels in the mPF, and lower relative glutamate concentration levels in the hippocampus. Analyses indicated that region-dependent alterations in glutamate were also correlated with different dimensions of ego dissolution. Whereas changes in mPFC glutamate were found to be the strongest predictor of negatively experienced ego dissolution, changes in hippocampal glutamate were found to be the strongest predictor of positively experienced ego dissolution. This provides us with greater insight into psychedelic ego dissolution's mechanism of action and glutamate's potential role.

Click here read the referenced article.