Hi there,
In the early 2010s, a young Imperial College researcher did something nobody had really managed before: he put people on LSD and psilocybin inside a brain scanner and just watched.
What he saw upended the field.
The old assumption was that psychedelics "light up" the brain. What Robin Carhart-Harris found was closer to the opposite - they quiet down the Default Mode Network - the ruminating, self-referencing, background commentary of "me."
The DMN is thought to help hold the sense of a stable, continuous self together. Turn its activity down, and something strange happens. The rest of the brain, normally organised into tidy, separate networks, starts talking to itself in new, creative, and unsual ways. He called this brain entropy, a helpful state of disorder that loosens the rigid patterns that can keep the brain trapped in depression, addiction and anxiety. Psychedelics, by quieting the DMN and turning down the brain's well-worn prediction paths, create a temporary window where those beliefs become revisable again.
The entropy hypothesis gave psychedelic therapy something new: a plausible (and testable) scientific theory to explain its age-old efficacy. Carhart-Harris went on to run the first modern clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, and later a head-to-head trial comparing psilocybin against a standard SSRI - a trial that made global headlines when it found psilocybin performed at least as well, with participants reporting broader gains in wellbeing and meaning, not just symptom reduction. In 2019, he founded Imperial's Centre for Psychedelic Research - the first of its kind in the world.
He's now one of the biggest names in the field, and he's coming to London for a rare evening with us as part of the launch of his upcoming book, ‘How Psychedelics Work,’ - with an expanded update on his groundbreaking entropic brain model.
Join us live in London 📅 Friday 7th August, 6:15–8:45pm. This is a fireside chat and Q&A, not a lecture, so submit your questions in advance and let's shape the future of psychedelics together 💫
At the bottom of this email you will also find:
- You community discount to the incredible Medicine Festival (Aug 12-17th). Use code PSYSOC10 for 10% off - expires tomorrow!
UPCOMING EVENTS
As always, you can find all our upcoming events and retreats on our events page.
psychedelic retreats
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reconnecting to roots
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integration & holding space
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community + connection
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meditation & altered states
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Medicine Festival discount ends tomorrow
Medicine is back this August (12–17th) on the ancient woodland grounds of Wasing Estate, Berkshire, after a fallow year to let the land rest. This year's theme, Walking Together, draws on indigenous wisdom traditions - the Lakota prayer Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ, "we are all related," and the Diné Beauty Way - calling us into deeper kinship with ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human world.
Five days of sacred ceremony, talks, workshops, ancestral teachings and music - and the Psychedelic Society team will be there too, hosting workshops and dancing under the pines with the community.
As part of our partnership, Medicine Festival is offering our community access to discounted tickets from today to July 10th!
Use code PSYSOC10 for 10% off
⏰ This code is live until July 10th - it's a short window, so if Medicine's been on your radar, now's the moment.
Join our community of members!
We fund our work in community-building and psychedelic education primarily through our membership program.
By becoming a member of The Psychedelic Society community, you get access to exclusive members-only events, a discount on events, and support the development of this alternative cultural space. Membership starts from just £5/month!
🌍Where in the world are you?🌍
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