Psychedelic experience 2401-CS-MF-PS-s2

Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive substances that alter perception, affect, and cognitive processes. Depending on the dosage and the "set and setting" (the environment and the individual mindset), these substances can also produce fundamental shifts in conscious experience, including the dissolution of one's sense of self or the loss of the experience of the flow of time. These experiences have been used for centuries in religious and healing rituals, and are now being studied for their potential therapeutic benefits in mental health treatment. This course explores both classical and cutting-edge research on psychedelics, focusing on what they can teach us about the computational principles underlying consciousness and cognition. The course consists of a series of lectures and concludes with a final quiz to assess understanding of the material.

Course outline (list of lecture topics):

1. Introductory lecture: The four case studies.

2. Foundations & history, part 1: Defining psychedelics via neurochemistry and their "mind-revealing" properties.

3. Foundations & history, part 2: History of psychedelics: From ancient rituals to late capitalism.

4. Phenomenology of psychedelic experiences, part 1: From visual distortions to fully immersive entity encounters.

5. Phenomenology of psychedelic experiences, part 2: Cognitive and emotional experience: Noetic quality, the beginner's mind, awe, and negative psychedelic experiences.

6. Phenomenology of psychedelic experiences, part 3: Mystical experiences: Ineffability, ego loss, and atemporality.

7. Cognitive science of psychedelics, part 1: Psychedelics and cognition: Attention, cognitive flexibility, and creativity.

8. Cognitive science of psychedelics, part 2: Neural architecture: Cortical-subcortical loops, the thalamus, and the claustrum.

9. Cognitive science of psychedelics, part 3: Neurodynamical theory of psychedelics and the Entropic Brain.

10. Cognitive science of psychedelics, part 4: RElaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics (REBUS) and the predictive mind.

11. Psychedelic therapy, part 1: What is psychedelic therapy and what we know about its effectiveness.

12. Psychedelic therapy, part 2: The mechanisms of psychedelic therapy.

13. Philosophy of psychedelics, part 1: Transformative experiences and metaphysical beliefs.

14. Philosophy of psychedelics, part 2: Epistemology of psychedelics.

15. Final quiz