and psilocybin, 187–88
psychedelic seminar offered by, 188–89
and psychedelics’ escape from the lab, 197
and research of previous decade, 140, 185, 189
and reunion of first wave figures, 219–20
and Richards, 53
“set” and “setting” concepts of, 151, 190
smiling persona of, 139, 199, 205, 220
“turn on, tune in, drop out” slogan of, 138, 139, 204, 206
and Wasson’s Life magazine article, 113
and Weil, 201–3
See also Harvard Psilocybin Project
Leaves of Grass (Whitman), 286
legal status of psychedelics, 3, 402, 405
Lennon, John, 114, 204
Letcher, Andy, 112
Liddy, G. Gordon, 205
Lieberman, Jeffrey, 403
Life magazine
on moral panic, 211–12
Wasson’s psilocybin article in, 2, 103–9, 113
limbic system, 307
Lincoff, Gary, 102
Linkletter, Art, 5
Los Angeles group, 152, 153, 154–58. See also Cohen, Sidney; Eisner, Betty; Janiger, Oscar
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
accidental invention of, 1–2, 22–25
and Acid Tests of Kesey, 184, 206
as alcoholism treatment, 141, 148–53, 368–69, 370
and bad trips, 209, 210
and “Bicycle Day,” 24
bootleg/underground production of, 181n, 209
and brain science, 2–3, 24, 147
casual use of, 211, 212
CIA’s research on, 59, 113n, 142, 172, 172n, 206, 207
Cohen’s ambivalence about, 158–59
creation myth of, 22–25
and creative imagination, 175
as derivative of fungus, 84
engineers’ use of, 182
“escaping from the lab,” 157–58
and Feilding’s cerebral circulation theory, 298
first LSD trips, 23–25
Hubbard on therapeutic value of, 169
legal status of, 3, 181
and Manson murders, 5, 367
misinformation about, 5
moral panic provoked by, 138–39, 209
Nutt on low risks of, 300
perceived dangers of, 209–11, 209n
and pharmaceutical companies, 400
political baggage of, 51, 333
and political upheavals of the sixties, 315
and Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 237–54
and psychotomimetic model, 153–54, 162
receptors for, 292–93
and research at Esalen Institute, 47
Sandoz’s distribution of Delysid, 142–43, 148, 152, 176
Sandoz’s withdrawal of Delysid, 143, 216–17
and schizophrenia research, 146–47
and second wave of research, 333
in Silicon Valley, 175–80
and Spring Grove’s research, 56–58, 59, 218
subversive power of, 214
as tryptamine, 291–92
youth culture’s adoption of, 25, 212
Luce, Clare Boothe, 104, 212
Luce, Henry, 104, 212
machine learning, 325–26
MacLean, Katherine, 37, 74, 346, 401, 402
Maclean’s, 148
magical thinking, 312, 314, 317, 389
Malievskaia, Ekaterina, 399
mania, 383
Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl), 352n
Manson, Charles, 5, 367
marijuana and cannabis, 36, 37, 138, 138n, 204, 299
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at Spring Grove, 52, 57, 218
Maslow, Abraham, 49, 55, 232
materialist perspective, 12, 85, 135
Mayan civilization, 274
Mazatec Indians, 83, 109, 110, 112
McClelland, David, 191, 195, 197
McDaniels, Terry, 370–72
McHugh, Paul, 76
McKenna, Terence, 97, 115–17, 121
McLuhan, Marshall, 138, 139, 204, 205
MDMA (Ecstasy)
and cardiac concerns, 236–37
Doblin’s distribution of, 36
Nutt’s conclusions on, 299
and phase 3 trials approval, 397
in PTSD treatments, 18, 36–37
Schuster on, 51
Shulgin’s synthesis of, 44
and therapeutic bond, 236–37
trials for, 48
meaning, personal
and awe-inspiring experiences, 375
and cancer patient research, 11, 63, 352–55
construction of, 354
and ego dissolution, 389
and 5-HT2A receptors, 354n
Griffiths on, 75–76
and suggestibility of psychedelics, 354
value of, 355
media
and Harvard Psilocybin Project controversy, 194–95, 196–97
and Katz’s “My 12 Hours as a Madman,” 148, 154
and LSD’s escape from the lab, 157
on moral panic, 211–12
on perils of psychedelics, 209, 209n
on psychedelics at Harvard, 202
on psycholytic LSD therapy, 156–57
medicalization of psychedelic drugs, 36, 51, 400, 402
meditation
and access to other modes of consciousness, 408–9
of Griffiths, 32–33
and mental time travel, 387
and quieting of default mode network, 305, 306, 391, 392–95
memories, 307, 317
Menlo Park, psychedelic use in
and CIA’s mind control research, 206–7
and Hubbard, 171, 177–78
at International Foundation for Advanced Study, 43–44, 177–80, 198, 217, 228
Menninger, Karl, 368
mental illness
associated with mental rigidity, 329
common underlying mechanism for, 383–84
and default mode network (DMN), 329, 386
and ego in low-entropy disorders, 313
grand unified theory of, 383–84, 385
inadequate treatments for, 335–36
potential for curing, 377
and suicides, 335
See also addiction; depression
Merry Pranksters, 206–7
mescaline
and Harvard controversy, 202
and Hubbard, 169, 173
and Huxley, 144, 150–51, 160–62
and James, 17
and Osmond’s research, 146, 147
perceived dangers of, 210
and psychotomimetic model, 162
and schizophrenia research, 146
and Weil, 201
Mesoamerican Indians, 107
Mettes, Patrick, 332, 336, 337–38, 340–44, 346, 356–57
Metzner, Ralph, 190, 191, 195
Michaux, Henri, 278n
“microdosing,” 14n, 175
middle-aged people, 7, 73, 321
Miller, Savannah, 363–64
mind wandering, 304
Miserable Miracle (Michaux), 278n
Mitchell, Edgar, 358–59
MK-Ultra experiments of CIA, 59, 113n, 172, 172n, 206, 207
Moore, James, 113n
moral panic provoked by psychedelics
effect of, on psychedelic research, 185, 205
and Leary, 138–39, 205
media coverage of, 211–12
and outlawing of psychedelics, 3
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), 35, 36–37, 191, 228, 397–99
mushrooms
identification of, 94–96, 119
lethal varieties of, 86, 94
in Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 257–58, 266
Russula, 119
stone artifacts of, 114–15
See also Psilocybes; psilocybin
Mushrooms, Russia, and History (Wasson), 114n
mycelial networks, 84n, 90–91, 118, 122
Mycelium Running (Stamets), 88, 90
mycopesticides, 89
mycoremediation, 88
mysterium tremendum, 277
Mystical Experience Questionnaires (MEQs), 282–84
mystical experiences
of agnostics and atheists, 74, 222, 284–85, 345
and awe-inspiring experiences, 375
brain-based explanations for, 76
in cancer patient research, 79, 349, 350–51
and deactivation of default mode network, 305–6
and ego dissolution, 389
in European research, 64
and expectancy effects, 143
and fanaticism/fundamentalism, 37, 81
and Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 45, 191–92
of Griffiths, 33
and Griffiths’s landmark paper, 10–11, 29–30
of Hubbard, 167
of Huxley, 161
ineffability of, 40, 54, 69, 251, 270, 285
interconnectedness in, 285, 305
language of, 285–87
in literature, 286–87
and loss of subjectivity, 305–6
noetic quality of, 41–42, 69–70, 275, 285, 305–6
and overview effect, 359
and paradoxes, 85, 345
passivity as hallmark of, 72
profundity/banality of insights from, 70–71, 251
of Richards, 53–55
science as a means to, 77–78, 81
and science-mysticism paradox, 347–48
shared traits of, 285
and smoking cessation, 361
strength of, correlated with outcomes, 361
and suggestibility of psychedelics, 64
transiency as hallmark of, 71–72
of Wasson, 111
of Zeff, 226
Nabokov, Vladimir, 349
Nagel, Thomas, 294
narcissism, 157
NASA’s photo of Earth from space, 184–85
National Institute of Mental Health, 56
Native Americans
conversion to Christianity, 112
and peyote, 27, 368
sacramental use of plants, 2, 27, 83, 108–9, 112
and Spanish suppression of mushrooms, 108–9
The Natural Mind (Weil), 159
nature
attitudes toward, 315–16, 379
Hofmann on reconnection with, 25–26
near-death experiences, 306
negative thinking, 353, 383–84
neurochemistry, emergence of, 147, 293
neuroplasticity, 320, 384
neuroscience of psychedelics, 291–330
and authority of psychedelic experiences, 365–66
and Bayesian inferences, 261–63
and children’s brains, 323–28
and consciousness, 293–95, 302, 305–6, 307–9, 311–14, 322–23
and disorganizing effect of psychedelics, 314
and expansion/contraction of consciousness, 322–23
and hallucinations, 310
and mental rigidity in mental illness, 329–30
and predictive coding, 307–8, 310, 311, 321, 325
and psychoanalysis, 296–97, 299, 311
receptors, 292–93, 314n
and rewiring of brain, 316–20, 318–19, 353–54
and rotating face mask test, 261–63, 267
and visual cortex, 365
See also default mode network (DMN); entropic brain theory
neurotransmitters, 147
New Age, 205, 224
New York Times, 7–8, 114, 349
New York University
alcoholism treatment at, 369
cancer patient research at, 8, 141, 332–33, 337–38, 349, 350
Nichols, David, 48–49, 348
Nicholson, Jack, 156
Nin, Anaïs, 156
nitrous oxide, 17, 69
Nixon, Richard, 58, 181, 219, 315
noetic quality of mystical experiences, 41–42, 69–70, 275, 285, 305–6
The Noonday Demon (Solomon), 383
Novak, Steven, 158
Nutt, David
background of, 299–300
and Carhart-Harris’s research, 295–96, 297, 300
on comparative risks of drugs, 299–300, 300n
and depression pilot study, 329
Drugs Without the Hot Air, 300n
on repression, 307
obsessive-compulsive disorder
and ego’s tyranny, 367
and excess of order in brain, 313, 329, 385
and negative thinking habits, 383
and psycholytic LSD therapy, 156
ololiuqui (seeds of the morning glory), 107
Olson, Frank, 172
openness to experience
and ego dissolution, 316n
longterm changes in, 74, 319–20
in Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 135, 137, 222, 252
opiates, 212, 369n
Osmond, Humphry
ambitions of, 194
and Commission for the Study of Creative Imagination, 174
and Hubbard, 168–69, 170, 174, 200
and Huxley, 160, 174
and Leary, 198–99, 198n
and LSD therapy for alcoholism, 148–52, 170
and mescaline, 146–47
and psychedelic therapy paradigm, 160, 163, 169, 207
and “psychedelics” term, 160, 162–63
and “psychodelytic” term, 199
and psychotomimetic model, 162, 169
and reunion of first wave figures, 219, 220
and role of environment, 151
schizophrenia research of, 146–47
Ott, Jonathan, 25, 101, 103
overdosing with psychedelics, 14
overview effect, 359–60, 366, 375, 380, 389
Pahnke, Walter
and Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 45–46, 80–81, 191–92
on modes of consciousness, 409n
and mystical experience survey, 282
and Richards, 53, 54–55
at Spring Grove, 57, 218
paranoia, 310
passivity of mystical experiences, 72
peak experiences, Maslow’s concept of, 49, 55
perceptions and senses, 308–9
Person to Person CBS news program, 113
personality disorders, 56
petrochemical waste, mycoremediation of, 88
peyote, 17, 27, 368, 404, 405. See also mescaline
pharmaceutical companies, 400
phase 3 trials for psychedelics, 397, 400
phenomenology, 42, 149
The Philosophical Baby (Gopnik), 325
placebo effect, 347, 368, 382
placebo-controlled double-blind trials, 208
platitudes, 251
Plotkin, Mark, 107
Plowman, Tim, 107
political effects of psychedelics, 315
pollution, mycoremediation of, 88
posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), 322, 387–88, 391–93
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 18, 36–37
prayer, 306
predictive coding by brain, 307–8, 310, 311, 321, 325
Previn, André, 156
primates’ consumption of mushrooms, 97–98, 123
problem solving
high/low temperature searches in, 325–27
impact of LSD on, 179, 182
and rewiring of brain, 318–19
protocols for psychedelic use, value of, 214–15
psilocin
and animals’ mushroom consumption, 123
Hofmann’s isolation of, 113
and materialist perspective, 135
measuring, 102
and mushroom identification, 95, 119
in mycelium, 122
Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies (Stamets), 101
Psilocybes
author’s early experience with, 5–6
and Aztecs, 2
consumed by animals, 93, 98, 122–23
evolutionary function of psilocybin in, 84, 121–24
as “flesh of the gods,” 2, 83, 109
habitats of, 93–94, 101
identification of, 94–96
Latin American sources of, 101
legal penalties for possession of, 118
and mushroom conferences, 102–3
Native Americans’ use of, 2, 83, 107
new species identified, 86, 101–2
P. azurescens, 86, 92, 94, 117–21, 128–34
in Pacific Northwest, 102
and Pollan’s azurescens experience, 128–37, 161–62
sacramental use of, 2, 93, 107, 109, 112
searching for, 117–21
and ’shrooms (term), 92
species of, 93
Stamets’s images of, 115
and Stoned Ape Theory, 97–98, 115–17
suppression of, 2, 59, 108–9
Wasson’s rediscovery of, 59, 101
psilocybin
arrival of, in the West, 1, 2
and CIA’s psychedelic research, 113n
and Concord Prison Experiment, 46, 190–91, 190n
discovery of, 83
effect of, on brain activity, 300–301
evolutionary function of, 84, 121–24
and Ginsberg, 193–94, 205
and Good Friday (Marsh Chapel) Experiment, 45–46, 80–81, 191
at Harvard (see Harvard Psilocybin Project)
Hofmann’s isolation of, 113
at Hopkins (see John Hopkins’s psychedelic research)
and human evolution, 116
John Hopkins’s landmark paper on, 10–11
Leary’s introduction to, 187–88
materialist/nonmaterialist paradox of, 85
and mystical experiences, 10–11
and pharmaceutical companies, 400
and phase 3 trials approval, 397
and Pollan’s psychedelic journeys, 254–72, 284
receptors for, 293
How to Change Your Mind Page 47