Psychedelic-information-theory-Shamanism-in-the-age-of-Reason

pixel groups may correspond to actual hot-spots of neural activity in thecolumns of the visual cortex. These hot-spots are producedspontaneously in the wake of stimulus, creating a flood of glutamatewherever shafts of apical dendrites intersect with lateral projectionsfrom proximal neural columns. 18 Glutamate flooding at dendriticcolumns of pyramidal neurons is presumably the result ofasynchronous glutamate release in the wake of 5-HT 2A receptoragonism. 19Figure 19. Muscles of the eye. Some subjects on psychedelics report pulsationsin optic muscles that adjust and control focus, specifically the lateral rectus andinferior oblique. These pulsations may be directly related to frequency ofhallucinogenic interrupt. From Grey’s Anatomy.It is widely assumed that geometric hallucinations and flickerphosphenes originate between the optic track and cortex, but somesubjective reports of psychedelic experimentation also describe a fastpulsation or rhythmic jitter felt in the muscles around the eyes. Thissensation is most acute in the outside corner of the visual periphery,specifically along the lateral rectus and the junction where the inferioroblique passes over the inferior rectus (Fig. 19). This optical pulse maybe difficult to discern in early parts of a psychedelic session, butbecomes more acute and easier to sense as the session wears on. Thisrapid pulsation may be related to modulatory interrupt and saturation