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Psychedelics and the science of self-experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Matthew M. Nour
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London
Robin L. Carhart-Harris
Affiliation:
Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology, Division of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
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Summary

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Altered self-experiences arise in certain psychiatric conditions, and may be induced by psychoactive drugs and spiritual/religious practices. Recently, a neuroscience of self-experience has begun to crystallise, drawing upon findings from functional neuroimaging and altered states of consciousness occasioned by psychedelic drugs. This advance may be of great importance for psychiatry.

Type
Editorials
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017 

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None.

References

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