Page 13 - NAMAH-Apr-2020

Namah What is Real ?

when these substances were made illegal. studying these two comparative MRI’s is
This unprecedented freeze on research began that right below the layer of normal human
a reversal in the 1990s, when institutions once consciousness, called our default mode
again obtained approval to undertake research network (DMN) as depicted in the placebo
studies. We are currently experiencing what slide, lies a vast world of neural connections
many consider a Psychedelic Renaissance, that can be facilitated when under the
with impressive therapeutic findings. influence of an entheogen, as demonstrated
by the MRI captured under the influence of
In January 2012, the British researcher, Dr. psilocybin. Comparatively, normal brain
Robin Cahart-Harris and a team of researchers connectivity appears vastly more limited.
captured brain-imaging slides of brain What this may suggests is that we humans
activity under the influence of psilocybin, the are hugely constrained by our DMN and not
active ingredient in magic mushrooms (2). accessing the global possibilities inherent in
human brain functioning. This may lead us to
An image often cited to illustrate these ask a host of questions, and one among many
findings is presented below. This slide depicts is, does the often-quoted adage that we only
difference in neuron pathways connectivity actively use a small percentage of our brain
of the same brain, one under a placebo, or hold some inferred validity?
normal brain function and the other under
the influence of psilocybin. We humans have developed a default mode
network (DMN), an input sensory processing
What we can observe and might infer from system through limited repeating patterns

Freer communication pathways

Placebo Psilocybin

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