How Consciousness-Altering Experience Enhance Creativity

Connection Between Psychedelic Use and Creative Insight (and Expression)

It’s not uncommon to emerge from psychedelic experiences with not only the desire but the duty to create. You’ve reconnected with the part of you that is inherently creative, your Self, and have likely acquired some nuggets of wisdom. Indigenous cultures speak of the responsibility of the gift, which is certainly how I view all I’ve received from plants (and self-inquiry) over the years. What’s the point of all of it if not to share? To make the world a little more beautiful, more connected, more real?

Letters to a Young Artist:
“There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to do art; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to do art. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I do art? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity.”

Psychedelics and Neurological Workings Explained

There’s a growing body of evidence that illuminates the creativity-enhancing neurological states enabled by altered states.

Here’s a selection of research:

• James Fadiman’s 1966 study was the first of its kind, showing that psychedelic agents such as LSD and mescaline facilitate creative problem-solving
• Robin Carhart-Harris’s 2016 study proves that the brain on LSD shows higher resting state functional connectivity between the visual cortex and the rest of the brain
• This 2016 study from the Beckley / the Imperial Research Program found that LSD increased “global entropy”, which enhances changes in openness which is further linked to “imagination, aesthetic appreciation, novelty-seeking, non-conformity, and creativity”
• This 2018 study shows that psychedelics such as LSD and DMT promote structural and functional neural plasticity
• A 2021 study shows that seven days after a psilocybin journey, the number of novel ideas increases, substantiated by brain imaging which found acute and persisting effects within- and between-network connectivity of the default mode network
• This study published in 2022 confirmed that brain network modularity is “significantly reduced one day after psilocybin therapy,” which researchers say implies an increase in functional connectivity between the brain’s main intrinsic networks, which is foundational for creative thinking.
• Another 2022 paper suggests that LSD increases novelty and symbolic thinking while decreasing utility and convergent thinking

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