This article is based on a lecture delivered by Professor Jack Cowan at an event entitled ‘A Discussion on Scientific Research with Psychedelic Drugs’ (the conference was chaired by Professor David Nutt at Imperial College London, 12/06/2013). There are many causes of geometric hallucinations, including: Flickering lights (a phenomenon which the scientist Jan Evangelista Purkinje…
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This article is based on a lecture entitled ‘fMRI and MEG Studies With Psilocybin’, from ‘A Discussion on Scientific Research with Psychedelic Drugs’, a conference chaired by Professor David Nutt at Imperial College London (12/06/2013). Researcher Robin Carhart-Harris begins this lecture by pointing out that psilocin, a psychedelic alkaloid found in magic mushrooms along with psilocybin, is…
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This lecture, ‘Why Study Psychedelic Drugs?’, is from ‘A Discussion on Scientific Research with Psychedelic Drugs’, a conference chaired by Professor David Nutt at Imperial College London (12/06/2013). In this lecture, Professor David Nutt outlines why the scientific investigation of psychedelic drugs is worthwhile and valuable. He points to the fact that actual scientific discoveries…
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In his book Food of the Gods (1992), Terence McKenna describes one of his many controversial ideas. This idea, known as the ‘Stoned Ape Theory’, relates to how our ancestors evolved to produce language and create art. In a nutshell, the Stoned Ape Theory says that magic mushrooms sped up the evolutionary process and that, ultimately,…
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