Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics
This review article argues that psychedelics may (re)mediate (dys)functional prediction coding that underlies many psychiatric disorders.
Authors
- Katrin Preller
Published
Abstract
As a continual source of sensory input and fundamental component of self-referential processing, the body holds an integral modulatory role in cognition. In a healthy state, predictive coding of multisensory integration promotes the construction of a coherent self. However, several psychiatric disorders comprise aberrant perceptions of the bodily self that are purported to involve discrepancies in the integration and updating of multisensory systems. Changes in functional connectivity of somatomotor and high-level association networks in these disorders could be successfully remediated through 5-HT2A receptor agonism via psychedelics. Reported alterations of bodily self-awareness during psychedelic experiences allude to a potentially central role of the bodily self. In this article, we bridge the domains of (aberrant) bodily self-awareness and psychedelics by discussing the predictive coding mechanisms underlying the bodily self and psychedelics. Furthermore, we propose that psychedelically-induced desynchronization of predictive coding might involve modulation of somatomotor, sensorimotor, and high-level association networks that could remediate aberrant perceptions of the bodily self.
Research Summary of 'Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics'
Introduction
Ho and colleagues frame the bodily self as a continuous, multisensory construct that is central to cognition and vulnerable to disruption in several psychiatric disorders. Earlier work links disturbances in body-related awareness to failures of multisensory integration and updating of internal models; conventional treatments such as SSRIs do not reliably remediate those disturbances. The introduction highlights that classical psychedelics, notably via agonism at the 5-HT2A receptor, produce pronounced alterations of bodily self-awareness and have shown preliminary therapeutic effects in conditions marked by aberrant body experience. This paper sets out to bridge two literatures: theoretical and empirical accounts of the bodily self (including predictive coding and embodied cognition) and the neuropharmacology and phenomenology of psychedelics. Rather than reporting a systematic meta-analysis, the authors adopt a hybrid narrative approach: they review phenomenology, predictive coding models and neuroimaging findings relevant to bodily self disorders, then propose a hypothetical model in which psychedelics remediate such disorders through 5-HT2A receptor-mediated modulation of multisensory and associative networks. The intent is both to synthesise existing evidence and to generate testable hypotheses for future empirical work.
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Ho, J. T., Preller, K. H., & Lenggenhager, B. (2020). Neuropharmacological modulation of the aberrant bodily self through psychedelics. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 108, 526-541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.12.006
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