Just How Far Can Psychedelics Push The Boundaries of How We Assign Consciousness?

A new study suggests that seeing consciousness in objects is one of the long-term effects of drug use.

Researchers looked at how much consciousness the participants attributed to living and non- living entities in the world around them, based on their responses to an online survey.

Volunteers reported seeing more consciousness in everything from rocks to chairs after the experience.

The study shows that when beliefs change following a psychedelic experience, they tend to increase.

It's not clear why, whether that might be an innate drug effect, cultural factors or whether the effects of drugs on the brain can be seen.

The study participants rated their feelings based on the experience that led to the greatest belief change in their lives. The researchers said that the experiences were the result of what they called classic psychedelic substances.

Attribution of consciousness for natural objects rose from 8 percent to 26 percent on average, and for human-made objects rose from 3 percent to 15 percent.

Individuals reported increases in seeing consciousness in plants, fungi, and insects. The changes can last after the experience.

The majority of those involved in the research were white, male, and from the US.

The belief-changing experience in question occurred eight years prior to taking the survey, so these belief changes may be long- lasting.

It's well known that the effects of the drug are both visual and auditory.

One of the ways in which research like this can be helpful is in the development of new treatments for disorders like depression and addiction, and mental health issues where the brain needs to be rewired. There are signs that controlled, managed use of the drug could improve our health.

The nature of consciousness itself, a notoriously difficult concept to examine and study, is also tackled in the study.

The results suggesting that a single psychedelic experience can produce a broad increase in attribution of consciousness to other things raises intriguing questions about possible innate or experiential mechanisms underlying such belief changes.

The topic of consciousness is a notoriously difficult scientific problem that has led many to conclude it is not solvable.

The research has been published.