Study unpacks how LSD lowers brain’s barriers

According to new research, psychedelic drugs put the brain into a state where it can flow more freely, unconstrained by prior beliefs of how the world is supposed to work. The findings also have implications for treating anxiety and depression, the researchers said.

But it’s only recently that scientists have begun to grapple with what exactly LSD does to the brain, and they've found evidence that it really does blow open your mind. According to new research, psychedelic drugs put the brain into a state where it can flow more freely, unconstrained by prior beliefs of how the world is supposed to work. The findings also have implications for treating anxiety and depression, the researchers said. "When you’re a child your brain is very malleable, you don’t have all of these models for your whole life yet, you’re more able to continuously update your beliefs." Parker Singleton, a doctoral candidate at Cornell University in New York, told Live Science. "At some point those models harden, and they become more difficult to shape. Under psychedelics we open up a new window to do that."