What Psychedelics Actually Do in the Brain, Explained by a Neuroscientist

Dr. Chloe West is a psychedelic neuroscientist who studies how psychedelics change the way the brain processes information and updates its beliefs about the world. Her path began at age ten, when her family moved from a small town in Georgia's Bible Belt to Kawakawa in New Zealand's Northland, and she encountered atheism, evolution and ayahuasca in the same disorienting year. Brad and Chloe explore why beliefs absorbed in childhood are so hard to shift, how psychedelics raise neural entropy and soften the brain's certainty in its own predictions, and why the weeks after an experience matter as much as the experience itself. They also consider mystical states reached without substances, the risks of a challenging trip, and whether psychedelics helped shape the world's religions. - Psychedelics act like fresh snow on a sledding hill, letting the mind carve new paths beyond the rigid grooves of PTSD, depression and addiction. - Perception is a "controlled hallucination," and psychedelics temporarily loosen the brain's predictions so old beliefs can update. - Chloe's research suggests a window of openness in the weeks after an experience, when setting and support shape what takes hold. - Breathwork, meditation and flicker light can open similar states without any substance at all. **Dr. Chloe's Links** - Born Again Again (Substack): https://drchloewest.substack.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloewestjacobs - Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HGfgbJMAAAAJ&hl=en **Brad's Links** - Brad Hook on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhook - Brad Hook on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhook - Attend a live experience: https://flame.live - Discover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.com - Values Institute: https://values.institute