How Do Hallucinogens Affect The Brain?

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Hallucinogens distort reality. Despite this, these drugs are some of the most popular recreational substances today. Even though they’re often used at festivals, parties, and concerts, the way hallucinogens affect the brain isn’t fun and exciting. Hallucinogens distort the perception of reality, causing people to see and believe things that aren’t real. Hallucinogens can also have long-term effects on the brain that can cause memory problems, paranoia, and impaired judgment.

What Are Hallucinogens?

Hallucinogens are a group of drugs that alter a person’s awareness of their surroundings as well as their thoughts and feelings. When people use hallucinogens, they tend to see images, hear sounds, and feel sensations that appear to be real but are not. Hallucinogens can be found in some plants and mushrooms, but they can also be man-made. Generally, hallucinogens fall into one of two categories: classic hallucinogens and dissociative drugs. Even though both types of drugs can cause hallucinations, dissociative drugs can make people feel disconnected from their bodies and the environment.

Common classic hallucinogens include:

Common dissociative hallucinogens include:

All these drugs, whether hallucinogens or dissociative substances, affect the brain.

How Do Hallucinogens Affect The Brain?

Even though scientists and researchers don’t fully understand how hallucinogens affect the brain, they do know that:

Hallucinogens Can Interfere With Activity In The Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex helps us process complicated thoughts, set and achieve goals, focus our attention, deal with uncertainty, manage emotional reactions, process information, predict consequences, and plan for the future. When hallucinogens interfere with this part of the brain, individuals struggle to focus, process information, and pay attention to certain things. Instead of being able to accurately focus their attention on a blank wall, for example, individuals taking hallucinogens may interpret the blank wall as moving and swirling, or perhaps, covered in insects. Cognition levels decline, which causes individuals to remain trapped in a hallucinatory state of mind until the effects of the drug wear off.

Hallucinogens Can Interfere With Neural Circuits In The Brain That Use Serotonin

Neural circuits are groups of neurons that work together to carry out specific functions in the brain. When hallucinogens interfere with neural circuits that use serotonin, they start to affect normal functions that rely on that chemical messenger. When this happens, an individual’s mood, appetite, and need for sleep may change. Their body temperature can fluctuate drastically and they may have trouble controlling their muscle movements. In addition, their sensory perception may decline. When this happens, individuals may find themselves experiencing:

Hallucinogens Can Disturb Glutamate Levels

Dissociative hallucinogens tend to interfere with glutamate, a brain chemical that helps regulate emotions, learning, memory, responses to the environment, and pain perception. When hallucinogens interfere with glutamate levels, individuals have abnormal responses to environmental stimuli. These abnormal responses are typically responsible for the dissociative effects that individuals experience. Some individuals, for example, feel like they are floating after taking dissociative hallucinogens, while others feel like they are being pulled down beneath the ground.

Hallucinogens can also have long-term effects on the brain.

Long-Term Effects of Hallucinogens

Even though these effects are rare, heavy and persistent use of hallucinogens can cause:

Even though neither ailment is common, they can occur unexpectedly and simultaneously.

Brain-Focused Care You Can Trust

Here at StoneRidge Centers, we know that hallucinogens affect the brain. We also know that thanks to neuroplasticity, the brain can rewire itself to function more optimally. That’s why we incorporate brain science into our addiction treatment programs. Let us help you overcome an addiction to hallucinogens and heal your brain. We want to help you live a healthy, thriving, and productive life. Contact us today to learn more.

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