How Ayahuasca (DMT) Affects the Inner Workings of the Brain Explained
Ayahuasca hyper activates the Neo-cortex, the brain region where we perceive, reason, and make decisions. It also activates the amygdala which stores our early emotional memories, in particular the very significant ones such as a death in the family. It also activates the Insula which forms a bridge between our emotional urges and our ability to make decisions. The Insula is where "feeling states" are created. Our brains try to understand new experiences in terms of previous ones that are stored, especially those that are very strong or traumatic. This creates imprints in the brain which are essentially pathways of repeated responses. The more often the input is met and the pathway is activated, the stronger the pathway becomes. They are built up like scar tissue. Ayahuasca hyper activates the entire part of the brain that stores and processes emotional memories, and it may uncover memories that had been forgotten. When hyper activated the brain is able to consciously over ride these entrenched pathways and create new responses to stimulii. This often results in people who have used Ayahuasca gaining new perspectives on past experiences and being freed from earlier entrenched responses that where not serving them.
Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness
"A large body of evidence, including longitudinal analyses of personality
change, suggests that core personality traits are predominantly stable
after age 30. To our knowledge, no study has demonstrated changes in
personality in healthy adults after an experimentally manipulated
discrete event. Intriguingly, double-blind controlled studies have shown
that the classic hallucinogen psilocybin occasions personally and
spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict long-term
changes in behaviors, attitudes and values. In the present report we
assessed the effect of psilocybin on changes in the five broad domains
of personality – Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness. Consistent with participant claims of
hallucinogen-occasioned increases in aesthetic appreciation,
imagination, and creativity, we found significant increases in Openness
following a high-dose psilocybin session. In participants who had
mystical experiences during their psilocybin session, Openness remained
significantly higher than baseline more than 1 year after the session.
The findings suggest a specific role for psilocybin and mystical-type
experiences in adult personality change."
