# The Entropic Brain – Paper #informationtheory #entropy #energy #surprisal #brain #creativity #observations #science #psylocybin ## Notes - The psychedelic state is supposed to be an older state of consciousness than the modern, rational and "adult" state. They call it a primary state - The photographed the brain while on [[Psilocybin]] > "(We found that) the defining feature of “primary states” is elevated entropy in certain aspects of brain function, such as the repertoire of functional connectivity motifs that form and fragment across time." - A "Primary" state of consciousness, as produced by psylocybin, means that there is more chaos in specific functions of the brain. There is a greater "repertoire of connectivity motifs" in the psychedelic state which probably means, there are more and unusual connections. - This kind of over-connected chaos is kept lower in day-to-day functioning of the brain. > "It is also proposed that entry into primary states depends on a collapse of the normally highly organized activity within the default-mode network (DMN) and a decoupling between the DMN and the medial temporal lobes (which are normally significantly coupled)." - To get high on psychedelics means that what's normally connected tightly in your brain gets disconnected. ## Source Front. Hum. Neurosci., 03 February 2014 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020 - Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College London, London, UK - C3NL, Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK - Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK - The Beckley Foundation, Beckley Park, Oxford, UK - Neurology Department and Brain Imaging Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020/full