Lessons for meditation based on psychedelic experience research

As a long-time daily meditator -- I've been doing this for 55 years -- I found an article in the October 2024 issue of Scientific American interesting both for what it says about the use of psychedelics like LSD, ketamine, and psilocybin, and meditation that doesn't involve any psychoactive substance. 

The title of the online version of the article by Gary Stix is provocative: "What Makes a Psychedelic Experience? Not Always a Drug, it Turns Out." I'll share a PDF file of the article for non-subscribers.
Download What Makes a Psychedelic Experience? Not Always a Drug It Turns Out | Scientific American

How could that be? Seemingly a psychedelic experience requires a psychedelic drug. Conversely, doesn't taking a psychedelic drug always result in a psychedelic experience?

Well, from my extensive experience with LSD and mescaline during my college days in the 1960s, I can confidently say that the answer to the second question is no.

As I may have related before on this blog, once I took four college friends to Sequoia National Park in California, as I grew up in Three Rivers, a little town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains that is at the gateway to the park.

We hiked five miles or so to a scenic area away from other people. After spending a night in our sleeping bags, each of us took the same dose of mescaline. I wandered off with a guy who I felt close to. We had a great time walking through the woods, climbing to a scenic granite overlook, marveling at a jet that zoomed past high overhead.

Our psychedelic experience was very different from the three people who stayed where we were camping. Asking how they were doing when we got back to them, they complained, "It was a bummer. We never came on." Meaning, they didn't have any psychedelic experience from the same drug that we'd taken.

The article is an interview with an anesthesiologist. Here's how it starts out:

A debate has long percolated among researchers as to what happens after a person takes a psychedelic drug. The experience may stem at least in part from the placebo effect, which is rooted in the belief that taking psilocybin or ketamine will somehow be transformative.

Boris D. Heifets, an associate professor of anesthesiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has been tackling this question amid his broader laboratory investigations of what exactly happens in mind and brain when someone takes a psychedelic.

How much of their sometimes life-altering experience is chemical or empirical, and how much is mental and subjective? It turns out the effects may consist of a lot more than just a simple biochemical response to a drug activating, say, the brain’s serotonin receptors.

The first question posed to Heifetz was this:

Are we coming any closer to understanding how psychedelics work, including in the context of therapy? Are we closer to using these transfor­mational experiences to treat psychia­tric disorders?

Having been in this field for a while, I still face this inescapable problem of how to study psychedelics. One framework that I find very useful is thinking about it in three categories.

There’s the biochemical drug effect, which involves basic brain biology—chemicals interacting with receptors on cells. That happens whether or not you can “feel” the effect of the drug. Then there is the conscious experience related to changes in sensation and revelatory, hallucinatory and ecstatic feelings. These experiences are closely tied to taking the drug, and usually we think of them as caused by the drug. But it is quite difficult to say whether a lasting change in mood or outlook was a result of the drug—a biochemical effect—or of the trip itself, the experiential effect.

The third factor, then, is all those aspects of the overall drug experience that are independent of the drug or trip, the nondrug factors—what psychologist and psychedelics advocate Timothy Leary called the “set and setting.” How much do your state of mind and the setting in which you take a drug influence the outcome?

This category includes expectations about improvement in, say, your depression, expectations about the experience, the stress level in the environment. It would also include integration: making sense of these intense experiences afterward and integrating them into your life. And it’s useful to put each of these things in its own box because I think each of them is somewhat isolated. The goal is to make each box smaller and smaller, to really deconstruct the pieces.

Heifetz found that when ketamine was given to depressed patients under general anesthesia, which they were getting as part of surgery for medical problems unrelated to their depression, so they didn't have any experience of getting ketamine, this group had their depression markedly reduced. But so did a placebo group that didn't get ketamine, yet went through the same pre-operation interviews and such. 

Heifetz observes:

What I take from that is that these nondrug effects, such as expectations of a particular outcome, are almost certainly present in most psychedelic trials and are independently able to drive a big therapeutic effect.

Now, here's how I see this research applying to meditation. Meditation obviously isn't a drug, but it still changes the brain. Every experience changes the brain, of course. Thinking is neurons firing. Not thinking is neurons not firing, or perhaps other non-thought areas of the brain firing. So meditation has physical effects, just as a psychedelic drug does.

It also seems clear that the expectations of meditators also plays a role in the effect meditation has. For example, if a mantra is given to someone by a respected guru or teacher, there may be a strong expectation that repeating the mantra in meditation will lead to positive experiences. 

If these occur, it is very difficult, if not impossible to separate out the different effects of (1) meditation itself, and (2) expectation itself. Just as people who didn't get ketamine during surgery felt less depressed just by the attention they got from someone else, along with an expectation that the study they were a part of could benefit them, likely followers of a guru or other spiritual teacher feel better just by being part of a like-minded community, regardless of whether they meditate as instructed.

Here's another interesting question and answer:

How does giving an actual psychedelic drug to someone in a clinical trial relate to the three categories you mentioned earlier?

Let’s circle back to this idea that psychedelic transformation could rely on the biochemical effect, the experience of the trip itself or nondrug factors. Our study of ketamine during anesthesia really highlighted the role of nondrug factors such as expectation but didn’t really get at the question of “Is it the drug or the trip?”

To answer that, some of my scientist colleagues are testing “nonpsychedelics,” or nonhallucinogenic psychedelic derivatives, to see whether patients with depression, for example, get better after treatment with a drug that can cause some of the same biochemical changes as a classical psychedelic but doesn’t have a “trip” associated with it. That’s “taking the trip out of the drug.”

But what if you could “take the drug out of the trip,” meaning creating an experience that is reproducible across people that checks many of the same boxes as a classic psychedelic-induced trip but doesn’t actually require the use of a psychedelic molecule? So what, in this context, you provide people with is a profound experience that can even be somewhat standardized so you can study it. And it would be powerful and vivid and revelatory, with a long-lasting impact. Do you get the same effects without a psychedelic?

That would not be definitive evidence. But it would strongly suggest that maybe there’s nothing intrinsically special about the activity of a drug that activates a particular receptor that mediates the effects of psychedelics. What that would do is put front and center the role of human experience in psychological transformation.

So maybe a meditator can benefit from their meditation even if they don't have any sort of profound experience. That would be akin to "taking the trip out of the drug."

And it seems obvious that people can achieve the same experiential benefits that meditation provides by doing things that have nothing to do with meditation, like volunteering at a food bank or concentrating on a jigsaw puzzle. That would be akin to "taking the drug out of the trip."

Comments

[Ron E.]

@ Brian; - “How much of their sometimes life-altering experience is chemical or empirical, and how much is mental and subjective? It turns out the effects may consist of a lot more than just a simple biochemical response to a drug activating, say, the brain’s serotonin receptors.”
As put to Heifetz is the question comes down to: - “Are we coming any closer to understanding how psychedelics work, including in the context of therapy? Are we closer to using these transformational experiences to treat psychiatric disorders?”
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I thought the value of using psychedelics was already established. David Nutt, director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London says: - “It creates a “very, very disorganized brain,” ultimately breaking down normal boundaries between the auditory, visual, executive and sense-of-self sections of the mind – thus creating a state of “altered consciousness.” And it’s that disorganization that is ultimately therapeutic, according to Nutt: “De-pressed people are continually self-critical, and they keep ruminating, going over and over the same negative, anxious or fearful thoughts.”

And Kevin Nelson (The God Impulse) - “Offers the first, comprehensive, empirically tested, peer-reviewed examination of the reasons we are capable of NDE's, OBE's and other mystical states.” But, by no means does he decry spiritual states, regarding them as a valuable aspect of human life and possibly, for some at certain times, helpful.

As to meditation. I’d reckon that Brian’s last statement here about meditation benefits – ‘doing things that have nothing to do with meditation’ is valid and reflects somewhat Joan Toliffson’s observations that the present moment goings-on of everyday life, in awareness, is all that is needed – in fact, all there is.

But that cannot be apparent for everyone and doesn’t retract from the fact that psychedelics or/and meditation can be valuable as a therapeutic aid when appropriate

[sant64]

Chat gpt:

Yes, there is scientific research comparing the benefits of meditation to activities like doing crossword puzzles, though the comparison is complex because these activities impact the brain and well-being in different ways.

Meditation vs. Crossword Puzzles: Key Differences in Impact
Cognitive Benefits:

Meditation: Regular meditation practice, especially mindfulness and focused attention meditation, has been shown to improve various cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, and emotional regulation. Studies suggest that meditation can enhance brain plasticity, particularly in areas like the prefrontal cortex (responsible for executive functions) and the hippocampus (linked to memory). Long-term meditators often show improved attention, better task-switching abilities, and a reduction in cognitive decline with aging.
Crossword Puzzles: Engaging in crossword puzzles is a form of cognitive exercise, primarily stimulating memory, problem-solving, and language skills. Studies have found that crossword puzzles, and other forms of mental stimulation, can help maintain cognitive function and delay the onset of dementia in older adults. However, the cognitive benefits of crossword puzzles are generally more limited to the skills directly involved in solving the puzzles (e.g., verbal fluency, knowledge recall).
Stress Reduction and Emotional Well-Being:

Meditation: One of the most well-researched benefits of meditation is its impact on reducing stress and improving emotional regulation. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has been shown to lower cortisol levels (a stress hormone) and improve mood by fostering a sense of calm, acceptance, and emotional resilience. Regular meditators report lower levels of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Crossword Puzzles: While crossword puzzles can be enjoyable and stimulating, they don't offer the same deep stress-relief benefits as meditation. They might temporarily distract you or provide a sense of accomplishment, but they do not typically lower physiological stress markers in the same way meditation does. However, some people find that engaging in crossword puzzles provides a break from stress and offers a sense of mental relaxation.
Neuroplasticity and Long-Term Brain Health:

Meditation: Meditation, especially practices like mindfulness or loving-kindness meditation, has been linked to long-term changes in brain structure. Studies using neuroimaging techniques (such as MRI) show that long-term meditation can increase gray matter density in areas related to learning, memory, and emotional regulation. Meditation also enhances connectivity between different brain regions, improving overall brain function.
Crossword Puzzles: While engaging in crossword puzzles can promote cognitive engagement and may help in maintaining mental sharpness, it is unlikely to induce the same deep neuroplastic changes that meditation does. Puzzles can help maintain existing cognitive function, but they may not lead to significant brain reorganization in the same way that mindfulness practices can.
Mindfulness and Self-Awareness:

Meditation: One of the unique aspects of meditation, especially mindfulness and self-compassion practices, is the focus on increasing awareness of the present moment, cultivating non-judgmental attention, and fostering a deeper understanding of one's thoughts and emotions. Over time, this can lead to improved mental health, better stress management, and enhanced overall well-being.
Crossword Puzzles: Crossword puzzles, on the other hand, tend to focus more on cognitive skills and problem-solving. While they can improve concentration and mental agility, they don't typically engage the emotional or mindful aspects of self-awareness.
Which is "More Effective"?
If you are looking for cognitive stimulation, both meditation and crossword puzzles offer benefits, but they target different aspects of the brain. Meditation enhances attention, emotional regulation, and overall brain health, while crossword puzzles are more geared towards language skills and memory recall.

If your goal is to reduce stress, improve emotional well-being, or foster greater self-awareness, meditation is likely to be more effective. It has a broader, more holistic effect on mental and emotional health.

If your aim is cognitive maintenance or delay of cognitive decline, crossword puzzles are certainly beneficial, especially in older adults, but meditation may offer more long-term benefits for overall brain health and functioning.

Conclusion:

In short, there is more robust evidence supporting meditation as a tool for enhancing emotional well-being, cognitive flexibility, and long-term brain health. Crossword puzzles, while great for maintaining certain cognitive functions, don’t offer the same broad psychological and neurological benefits that meditation can provide. For optimal mental health and cognitive longevity, a combination of both—meditation for mindfulness and stress reduction, and crossword puzzles for mental exercise—could be ideal!

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S64 side note: Please donate to the Kamala campaign to cover its $20 million shortfall and ensure that their staffers are paid.