New study sheds light on how LSD’s entropic effects on the brain impact language production

Language produced under the influence of the psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) displays increased levels of entropy and reduced semantic coherence, according to new research published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition. In other words, people tend to have more disorganized speech while under the effects of LSD and are more likely to jump from one topic to another.

Entropy is a measure of uncertainty and randomness in a system. The concept was originally developed by physicists to measure lost energy in mechanical systems, but more recently it has been used to quantify spontaneous activity in brain networks.

“A few years ago, together with Robin Carhart-Harris and other colleagues, we proposed that the effects of psychedelic drugs are mediated by increased disorganization (or entropy) of brain activity patterns. The increased entropy of brain activity is thus the physical counterpart of the less predictable contents of consciousness that are manifest under the acute effects of psychedelic drugs,” said study author Enzo Tagliazucchi, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires and director of the Consciousness, Culture And Complexity Lab.
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