This is your brain on psychedelics: Neuroimaging study sheds light on cortical network effects

MedicalXpress | Apr 06, 2026

Psychedelic drugs are being investigated as scientific and clinical tools, but the brain mechanisms behind their effects remain unclear. Earlier brain imaging studies in small cohorts from single centers produced inconsistent findings, which made it difficult to identify effects that were reliable across studies and drugs. Understanding how psychedelics influence the brain's functional connectivity—how activities in different parts of the brain fluctuate together over time—has therefore been unclear.