Information parity on cortical functional brain networks increases under psychedelic influences

TL;DR

This study shows that psychedelic influence increases the pairwise information parity in brain networks, especially between limbic and frontal regions, suggesting altered information processing during altered states of consciousness.

Contribution

It introduces the use of information parity to quantify pairwise statistical similarities in brain networks under psychedelic influence, revealing increased symmetry.

Findings

Increased average information parity under psychedelics

Higher parity between limbic and frontal regions

Altered network symmetry during psychedelic states

Abstract

The physical basis of consciousness is one of the most intriguing open questions that contemporary science aims to solve. By approaching the brain as an interactive information system, complex network theory has greatly contributed to understand brain process in different states of mind. We study an non-ordinary state of mind by comparing resting-state functional brain networks of individuals in two different conditions: before and after the ingestion of the psychedelic brew Ayahuasca. In order to quantify the functional, statistical symmetries between brain region connectivity, we calculate the pairwise information parity of the functional brain networks. Unlike most of usual network quantification, which is done on a local or global scale, information parity quantifies the pairwise statistical similarities considering the entire network structure. We detect an increase in the average information parity on brain networks of individuals under psychedelic influences. Notably, the information parity between regions from the limbic system and frontal cortex is consistently higher for all the individuals while under the psychedelic influence.