Summary

“The Neuroscience: Your Brain on Psychedelics.” In this chapter, Pollan explores in detail an issue, or set of circumstances, that he has hitherto only glanced at. This is the question of what it is about the chemistry of psychedelics (e.g. the scientifically measurable events triggered by their use) that triggers what he has come to accept, or understand, as a spiritual experience (i.e. something that cannot be measured). First, he analyzes the chemistry of the brain, likening the composition and function of psychedelics to the hormone serotonin, common and multifunctional in the human body. These considerations lead him to consider the nature and qualities of consciousness: “What neuroscientists and philosophers and psychologists mean by consciousness,” he says, “is the unmistakable sense we have that we are, or possess, a self that has experiences” (293). After further consideration, he offers the thought that...