PEOPLE on the hippy drug LSD find a ‘higher’ state of consciousness, a study led by the University of Sussex has found.

Neuroscientists observed evidence from healthy volunteers who were given one of three drugs known to induce a psychedelic state: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD.

They saw sustained increase in neural signal diversity – a measure of the complexity of brain activity - of people under the influence of the psychedelic drugs, compared with when they were in a normal waking state.

The team say that more research is needed using more sophisticated and varied models to confirm the results but they are “cautiously excited”.

Professor Anil Seth, Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex, said: “This finding shows that the brain-on-psychedelics behaves very differently from normal. During the psychedelic state, the electrical activity of the brain is less predictable and less ‘integrated’ than during normal conscious wakefulness – as measured by ‘global signal diversity’.

This does not mean that the psychedelic state is a ‘better’ or more desirable state of consciousness, the researchers stress.The findings could help inform discussions gathering momentum about the carefully-controlled medical use of such drugs, for example in treating severe depression.