Plastic-Elastic: Why Our Brain is Psychedelic
Garnet > Lucid Studios
August 24, 2023; August 26, 2023
SUPER SUMMARY
Our brain must be able to smoothly move in and out of a variety of natural states on a regular and ongoing basis, as well as adjust its expectations, explore curious novelty and tolerate unexpected surprises.
Getting stuck at any one point creates problems. These processes can be understood in the context of neurological “plastic” and “elastic” characteristics.
CLAIM
The healthy human brain must be able to make both short-term and long-term adaptive changes.
These changes are found at the most fundamental levels of behavior, including the functional shifts that characterize our circadian cycle.
Because it is physical, it is possible to exercise our brain to improve its ability to respond to the demands of adaptive changes.
All psychedelic compounds are psycho-active agents, but not all psycho-active agents are psychedelic compounds.
Psychedelic compounds are examples of “psycho-active agents” that activate natural, innate capacities of the human brain.
The compound itself does not create the experience any more than flipping a switch creates the cold from an air conditioner.
PREMISE
Our brain is capable of navigating the demands of adaptive change that stretch far beyond the parameters of basic Darwinian survival.
The human brain has the innate capacity to move fluidly within a vast continuum of qualities and characteristics.
These adaptations vary from very quick, short-term synaptic shifts all the way to persistent, long-term structural modifications.
Our brain must be both “plastic” and “elastic”.
The range of this continuum is impressive and involves everything from the mundane repetition found in simple motor habits all the way to extraordinary, ineffable, mystical complexity.
Furthermore, simply because a state is uncommon does not make it abnormal.
Mental pathology is essentially when this adaptive movement is interrupted and our brain gets “stuck” in certain functions and features.
The inability to make change when change is required becomes the problem.
In this paper, the premise is that our brain, in and of itself, is psychedelic as an adjective—meaning it is capable of “mind-manifesting” activities and states.
The premise extends further to consider that the myriads of adaptive changes are activated by any number of “psycho-active agents”, the most fundamental of which is focused attention.
DEFINITIONS
Before we jump into the topic, we must share some understanding as to what certain key words actually mean as applied to this exploration.
1. Psychedelic
a. The term psychedelic, from the Greek for “mind-manifesting,” was coined by Humphry Osmond, a British psychiatrist working in Canada in 1957.
“To fathom hell or soar angelic / Just take a pinch of psychedelic,” he wrote in a letter to the writer Aldous Huxley.
b. As an adjective, the quality of “mind manifesting”—meaning non-ordinary or altered qualities of the brain/mind—is made more consciously evident.
c. As a noun, “a psychedelic” typically refers to a chemical compound that acts as a psycho-active agent to activate various non-ordinary or altered states of mind.
d. In the context of this paper, the term psychedelic is used as an adjective and indicates the dynamic capacity of our brain to respond creatively to the demands of adaptive change.
Hence, we have a “psychedelic brain”.
2. Plastic
a. The word plastic derives from the Greek πλαστικός (plastikos), meaning “capable of being shaped or molded,” and in turn from πλαστός (plastos), meaning “molded.”
b. Regarding our brain, the term “neuroplasticity” has become part of our common vocabulary. It is the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions or connections.
c. Basically, you can start with A and slowly shape it into B—once at B, it will stay at B, if B is reinforced.
3. Elastic
a. The Greek root of elasticity is elastos, or “flexible.”
A definition of elasticity is the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed.
b. There is a seldom-used technical term of “neuroelasticity”, which can be understood as “reversible neuroplasticity.”
c. Basically, you can start with A and shape it into B—however, once the force of change has been removed, B reverts back to A.
d. In the context of this paper, the concept of “neuro-elastic” is extended and expanded to include the ease of change when the brain must move back to a previous function or state without getting “stuck.”
e. Consequently, we have two interrelated perspectives with neuroelasticity:
- Neurological regression back to a pre-existing condition or behavior;
4. Psycho-active Agent
a. The term “psycho” has a root meaning in the word “psyche.”
The basic meaning of the Greek word ψυχή (psyche) was “life.” Some have claimed it is derived from the verb ψύχω (psycho, “to blow”).
Derived meanings included “spirit,” “soul,” “ghost,” and ultimately “self” in the sense of “conscious personality” or “psyche.”
b. Psyche was the goddess of the soul in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Born a mortal woman, her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite (Venus) and inspired the love of Aphrodite’s son, Eros, the god of desire.
c. Our current use of the term psyche is simply “mind,” which is evident in the term psychology.
Psychology derives from the roots psyche, meaning soul, and -ology, meaning scientific study of.
d. In this light, a “psycho-active agent” is any force, stimulation or process that “activates” a dynamic adaptive change in the mind (brain).
THIS PLASTIC-ELASTIC THING
A car has both forward drive and backward reverse. So does our brain.
The principle of neuroplastic change in our brain is now openly appreciated, and much attention is being given to various methods and devices that can stimulate and enhance this process.
When examined more closely, the realization is that neuroplastic behavior can cut both ways—positive and negative.
Essentially, as the saying goes, “our brain changes what matters.”
This means that where we repeatedly focus our attention and accept just a bit of challenge, our brain will interpret this as a command to make “plastic” changes to better enable these behaviors in the future.
It is how “habits” are formed—both good habits and bad habits.
In order to persist, every habit must be reinforced.
Every time you perform the action, it is further engraved in the neuroplastic patterns.
This ongoing reinforcement is necessary because the “memory of the past” has also left its imprint.
Ask any golfer trying to change his swing.
This is the basis of the common wisdom—“use it or lose it.”
This neurological tug into the past is the “neuroelastic” characteristic—reversible neuroplasticity.
Just as the formative process of neuroplasticity can be both a good thing or a bad thing—also described as good habit and bad habit—so can neuroelasticity.
Obviously, the “elastic” tug into the past can make developing a new positive neuroplastic change difficult.
However, it can also be the “conscience” that creates some resistance to repeating negative behaviors.
As we will see below, neuroelasticity is also at the heart of the timing mechanism that allows you to change brain behaviors when you must shift states that have served their purpose.
It helps us not get “stuck” when it is time to move.
And that turns out to be a very big deal.
This dual behavior is key to all adaptive systems that must share information in order to promote the changes required on a continual basis.
The determination to move forward from the past and into the future is the “feedforward” aspect of the looping of communication.
The corrective adjustment offered by experience generated in the present moment is the source of the “feedback.”
Based on the past, the neuroplastic “feedforward” believes in the future and the neuroelastic “feedback” confirms or negates that prediction using the actual experiences in the present moment.
CIRCADIAN CYCLE
Born of the Earth, our human organism is indivisible from its planetary parent.
We derive energy from the Sun while living and breathing, waking and sleeping in its rhythms.
Our Circadian Cycle provides an irresistible template of demand for dynamic change.
The two great Yin/Yang aspects of our cycle are day and night, waking and sleeping.
Any sustained violation of this oscillation results in serious illness if not death.
Active conscious waking and deep unconscious sleep also each have their own children.
Conscious waking and unconscious sleeping are not simple unitary states. They each have fluctuations and variations that are profound influences in our dance of assimilation and integration.
Deep sleep has its sleeping dreams and active waking has its waking dreams.
The regular journey along our circadian cycle requires a series of plastic/elastic adaptive changes to which our organism must surrender or suffer the consequences.
Fundamentally, the adaptive changes that occur when waking shifts to sleeping and sleeping shifts to waking are not absolute and sudden.
There are intermediate states that help bridge these two territories.
These intermediate states are highly sensitive to influences and also provide portals into system modifications that are normally shielded from simple manipulations.
When assessing health, it is of interest to reflect upon the most fundamental adaptive dynamic shift that we experience in every circadian cycle.
How well can one make the change from the waking state to the sleeping state?
And, how well can one make the change from the sleeping state to the waking state?
How easy is it to fall asleep and how easy is it to wake up?
This common yet often challenging process is the key example of the dual plastic/elastic personality of our human brain.
THE BRIDGES IN-BETWEEN STATES
The concept of an “intermediate state” or “in-between state” has been deeply explored in Vajrayana Buddhism, or Tibetan Buddhism.
Vajrayana Buddhism is a blending of Mahayana Buddhism and Hindu Yogic Tantra traditions.
This blending was seeded in India and matured in the Himalayan Tibetan culture.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, the “intermediate state” is called a “bardo.”
Any sincere study of the topic yields the understanding that the principle of a transitional or intermediate state saturates all aspects of life.
In the West, the most well-known application of the “bardo/intermediate” state is that which occurs at the death of the physical body.
The misnamed text, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, was made known early in the 20th century by way of a poorly translated English-language version by Evan-Wentz.
The “bardo” aspect of experience is at the core of all Complex Adaptive Systems, including our human brain.
The forward “plastic” shift of adaptation regularly pairs with the return “elastic” shift in the pulsing of rhythmic change.
Consider the mundane yet mysterious oscillation of breath—inhale and exhale—and the intermediate bridge between the two.
Imagine the graph of a simple sine wave:
The curve up → the slide down → the curve down → the slide up
The cycle repeats and repeats.
This rhythmic movement provides a simple illustration of the continual transitions between states that characterize adaptive systems.
The forward “plastic” shift of adaptation regularly pairs with the return “elastic” shift in the pulsing of rhythmic change.
Plastic and Elastic as a Continuous Dynamic
The plastic and elastic characteristics described in this paper are therefore not presented as isolated processes.
They operate as complementary aspects of a continuing adaptive cycle.
The plastic process allows the brain to move toward something new—to change, adapt and establish new patterns.
The elastic process provides the capacity to return, recover or shift back toward a previous state when that movement is required.
Between these two movements are transitional states—the bridges through which the system moves from one condition to another.
These intermediate states are important because adaptive change does not always occur as an abrupt jump from one fixed state to another.
Instead, the brain continually moves through changing configurations as it responds to internal and external demands.
The examples of waking and sleeping, inhalation and exhalation, and movement between established and emerging patterns all illustrate this broader principle of rhythmic adaptive change.
The Importance of Not Getting “Stuck”
The central concern running through the plastic-elastic framework is not simply the ability to change.
It is also the ability to move out of a state when that state has served its purpose.
Plasticity allows a new pattern to form.
Elasticity helps prevent that pattern from becoming permanently fixed when circumstances require another change.
This creates a dynamic relationship between establishing a state and being able to transition away from it.
In this framework, adaptive health depends not only upon the capacity to change, but upon the capacity to move fluidly between different functions and states.
The brain therefore needs both the capacity to be shaped and the capacity to recover its flexibility.
The problem is not simply being in one state. The problem is getting stuck when it is time to move.
Closing Perspective
The plastic-elastic model presents the human brain as a dynamic adaptive system capable of continually changing its patterns of activity and organization.
Short-term synaptic shifts, long-term structural modifications, habits, circadian transitions and unusual states of consciousness can all be considered within this broad continuum of adaptive change.
The brain is therefore described not simply as plastic, but as simultaneously plastic and elastic.
Its capacity to move forward into new configurations must be paired with the capacity to return, recover and transition when circumstances require it.
This ongoing movement is presented as one of the fundamental characteristics of a healthy adaptive brain.
Source: Garnet > Lucid Studios, “Plastic-Elastic: Why our Brain is Psychedelic - V2,” August 24, 2023; August 26, 2023.