Psychedelics and the therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness

Lucie Berkovitch (GHU Paris Psychiatrie & Neurosciences)

We are pleased to invite you to the next session of the Empirically Informed Philosophy of Mind online Seminar 

Who: Lucie Berkovitch (Université de Paris, GHU Paris Psychiatrie & Neurosciences)
When: Thursday, March 12th, 2026 — 5–6:30 pm (CET)
Where: Online via Zoom:
https://pantheonsorbonne.zoom.us/j/92782580594?pwd=a5p3WfunQQxJICrjJaUenFJFzmllbx.1
What: Psychedelics and the therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness

Psychedelics (LSD, hallucinogenic mushrooms, ayahuasca, mescaline, etc.) are psychoactive substances which can induce intense acute subjective effects including perceptual distortions, altered perception of time and space, mystical or transcendental experiences, and, in extreme cases, ego dissolution, i.e., the feeling of no longer existing as a separate being. These effects have been described as altered states of consciousness. Consciousness can be defined as the ability to generate mental representations that are accessible and reportable to others. The brain mechanisms of consciousness have been extensively studied. Awareness seems to begin when information is sufficiently intense and amplified by attention. This allows it to be broadcast across different brain areas throughout a neuronal network, allowing us to keep it in mind but also to manipulate it. Taking psychedelics drastically alters brain activity: some regions usually connected to each other are no longer connected, and conversely, new connections appear between regions that are usually independent of each other. In this presentation, we will discuss how neuroscience can be used to try to explain the subjective effects of psychedelics using consciousness theories and frameworks. Then, we will attempt to link these effects on conscious perception to the therapeutic potential of these molecules, which has recently been rediscovered. Finally, we will talk about potential limitations associated with psychedelic use in clinical practice notably because of the altered state of consciousness they induce.

For any questions, please contact:
Sacha Behrend — [email protected]
Elodie Boissard — [email protected]

Program

• 17 Sept 2025: Géraldine Carranante — Can we list what we can see?
• 1 Oct 2025: Jérôme Dokic — Two levels of confusion between Imagination and Memory
• 12 Nov 2025: Margherita Arcangeli — Episodic Memory through the lens of Aphantasia
• 3 Dec 2025: James Grayot — How do embodied and extended minds internalize contents?
• 13 Jan 2026: Raphaël Künstler — Is the human mind receptive to reasons? A confrontation with experimental social psychology
• 4 Feb 2026: Constant Bonard — Can a Belief–Desire Theory Explain All Affective States?
• 12 March 2026: Lucie Berkovitch — Psychedelics and the therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness
• 2 April 2026: Piotr Kozak — Attentional Templates, Mental Imagery, and Rigidity of Imaginative Content
• 13 May 2026:Juliette Vazard — TBA
• 4 June 2026:Francesco Iani — TBA

Organizers:

Sacha Behrend — Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) / Affiliated Researcher, Institut d’histoire et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques (IHPST), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Elodie Boissard — Postdoctoral Researcher, Bordeaux Neurocampus Department / Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d’Aquitaine (UMR 5287), Université de Bordeaux, CNRS