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The Big & Dandy 'Memory and Psychedelics' Thread

PepperSocks said:
Hey OP check this crazyness out: http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/search.php?do=process&query=memory&titleonly=1&forumchoice[]=48

I might be smelling a Big & Dandy 'Memory and Psychedelics' thread on it's way.
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wow. now I feel all special. This is a cool topic for a big and dandy threat though I feel because of the interesting relationship between the action of psychedelics, the psychedelic experience and memory both during and removed from the trip.

On another note MDMA does seem to slow my short and medium term memory for up to a month after doing it. I haven't in over a year now. It feels like a memory is there, and I know where to look for it so to speak but there is like a connection error. Sorta like when you get one of these but in your brain...


proxy-server-refused-connection.png


I wonder what the relationship is between the seratonin system and momory is...
 
I'm holding back on B&Ding for now because it can mean so many things. Memory while on it; long term memory after use, short term memory after use. Better, worse, during, after. There's so many sub genres that I'm going to hold back for the time being.
 
ok. I was asking about during normal life. Like how has use of psychedelics affected memory in everyday life and more specifically short and long term memory and time it takes to recall those memories. I see what you mean though. So much relating to memory and it all relates so closesly to other aspects of itself...
 
Choronzon333: those symbolic details are usually the easiest to remember. What is difficult is integrating the experiential memory of altered states; if you have an emotional realisation during a trip, for example, it can take effort to properly integrate this discovery into sober life. While it's certainly not impossible (if it were, psychoanalysis would quite be a fruitless endeavor), it is far easier to integrate experiences while in the mental state they occurred in. To integrate, say, a strong LSD trip, one can remember the set, setting, music played, any specific events that transpired, etc., but if that offers a complete account of the trip then it was a pretty dull trip. To integrate the experiences one has in altered states such as tripping requires one of two things: a long, difficult internal process, or a simple reduction to already established symbolic terms. Psychedelics usually make it clear that the experience cannot be reduced to symbolic terms, which is why, in my view, they make such an effective tool for analysis, whether personal or (some day) professional. Material uncovered during a trip is notoriously difficult to repress, but it's equally easy to ignore the event after the fact for those who do not make a conscious effort to integrate their experiences.
 
solistus said:
Choronzon333: those symbolic details are usually the easiest to remember. What is difficult is integrating the experiential memory of altered states; if you have an emotional realisation during a trip, for example, it can take effort to properly integrate this discovery into sober life. While it's certainly not impossible (if it were, psychoanalysis would quite be a fruitless endeavor), it is far easier to integrate experiences while in the mental state they occurred in. To integrate, say, a strong LSD trip, one can remember the set, setting, music played, any specific events that transpired, etc., but if that offers a complete account of the trip then it was a pretty dull trip. To integrate the experiences one has in altered states such as tripping requires one of two things: a long, difficult internal process, or a simple reduction to already established symbolic terms. Psychedelics usually make it clear that the experience cannot be reduced to symbolic terms, which is why, in my view, they make such an effective tool for analysis, whether personal or (some day) professional. Material uncovered during a trip is notoriously difficult to repress, but it's equally easy to ignore the event after the fact for those who do not make a conscious effort to integrate their experiences.
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ok I hear you there. I remember alot about the feelings of the trip too but I will agree, a strong trip can be tough to integrate and that particular one had me thinking alot about that for a good couple of months.
 
It's tough to say whether psychedelics have improved or degraded my short-term memory because I am, like many, a polydrug user. Being also a regular cannabis user, it becomes very hard to disentangle the effect of pot versus psychedelics versus alcohol, etc.
Overall though, my short term memory is somewhat degraded from pot but I have noticed that when I stop for a while, it tends to rebound.
 
Al_S_Dee said:
It's tough to say whether psychedelics have improved or degraded my short-term memory because I am, like many, a polydrug user. Being also a regular cannabis user, it becomes very hard to disentangle the effect of pot versus psychedelics versus alcohol, etc.
Overall though, my short term memory is somewhat degraded from pot but I have noticed that when I stop for a while, it tends to rebound.
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very very true. I feel like alcohol has the worst effects on my memory and emotional well being of any drug ever.... And they advertise about it on tv. Not saying I don't enjoy my occasional binge drinking night but still. Its pretty fucked up because most people would think ppl on this forum are lunatics "abusing" seriously incredibly dangerous evil drugs when in reality frequent use of many of them can't even come close to comparing to the dangers of alcohol. While frequent lsd use can be psychologically harmful under whatever circumstances, it wont hurt your brain and body but alcohol is guaranteed to fuck your brain and liver!
 
Some thoughts:

LSD + cannabis = fucking complete absence of short-term memory. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. I've noticed that it makes for an interesting experience however - the mind seems adapt to the deteriorated short-term memory by introducing visual mnemonics with thoughts and ideas. Coming to a logical conclusion becomes a very colorful experience.

I write computer programs as a means of extra income, and I remember distinctly, on cannabis and LSD, making a deduction about the implementation of a feature of a program by picking apart the patterns present in the mind's eye.


Also, for better or for worse, DMT flashes evaporate quickly from memory, leaving only one or two moments to remember when sobriety returns. I've thought that this might be of benefit, in that the DMT experience does not lose its novelty with repeated use as a result of its elusive qualities.
 
I find it very interesting how I can look back on a trip, and by examining the different events that happened in each one and how I reacted to them, I can deduce so much about the details of my life at that time. Because the trips themselves are so memorable, I remember so much more about the subtle but significant ways things have changed since then. If anything, I feel my use of psychedelics has enhanced my memory in a few ways.

Interesting stuff.
 
solistus said:
Psychedelics usually make it clear that the experience cannot be reduced to symbolic terms, which is why, in my view, they make such an effective tool for analysis, whether personal or (some day) professional. Material uncovered during a trip is notoriously difficult to repress, but it's equally easy to ignore the event after the fact for those who do not make a conscious effort to integrate their experiences.
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This is very interesting, worth thinking about.
 
I don't think you can just say "my memory isn't that good" and relate it to psychedelics. ANYONE with a little work and learning a few techniques can have an incredible memory within a few months.

So if you think it's bad and you can be bothered doing any work to make it better - then you can improve it to better than it's ever been in your life.
 
Neither my short term or long term memory are great, but psychedelic experiences have birthed some of my fondest and most vivid memories.
 
TheAppleCore said:
Also, for better or for worse, DMT flashes evaporate quickly from memory, leaving only one or two moments to remember when sobriety returns.
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Same with (smoked) salvia. Speaking of salvia, it did have another effect on my memory. For the first time in my life, I was scared to try to remember something when I went back to the setting of my salvia trip the day after and tried to remember more about it. Gradually, as time went by, I vaguely remembered brief fragments of the experience, although certainly not all of it.
 
Tripping (usually on LSD, 2c-e, psilocin or DMT) seems to have helped both my short and long-term memory. My photographic memory is absolutely amazing-- I remember what colors things were, exactly where they were located and when I or someone else loses something, I'll have a photograph in my head of the object left wherever. I also have a lot of random memories popping up from my childhood that I hadn't thought of for years before I started using psychedelics. My brain just feels so much sharper. I can study like never before and memorize things a lot more quickly. I can even concentrate better.
 
my experience is somewhat variable. MDxx tend to cause a bit of trouble in the short term, however for me it doesn't seem to last very long, but I don't use those compounds all that frequently. With more "traditional" psych's, sometimes i seem to remember almost everything that happened during a trip, at least partially due to the fact that lots of mundane things seem like quite the production while tripping, other times, my memory of a trip will be a bit spotty... this may be partially due to use of other substances, or just familiarity with the headspace. Like has been said before though, i use too many other substances to comment objectively.

Interesting side note, cocaine & caffeine have been show to increase dendritic plasticity, improving things like learning & recall. The effects seem to be longer lived with cocaine than caffeine. However, these two drugs have a fair amount of negative consequences for their use as well. I suppose it's possible that some psychedelics may have peripheral effects that facilitate learning & memory, but i've not read anything definitive on the subject as of yet. 2c-d seems to have some potential there, but its been years since i've had the chance to experiment with that compound. May try & use 2c-e in a similar manner to see if I have any positive results. Should be interesting.
 
I was going to comment on this topic but i forgot what i was going to say!
 
I haven't noticed much difference during sober waking reality, but then again I've been using psychedelics for a long time. I don't think so during the experience either. I definitely feel more motivated to talk about certain subjects or remember certain things, and that experience is subjectively more vivid, but I doubt it's more accurate.

I recently read an interesting study looking at experienced meditators that kind of gets at this idea.

In a study by Khalsa and colleagues, two groups of meditators (Tibetan Buddhist and Kundalini) were compared to a group of nonmeditators on their ability to detect their own heartbeat. (The meditators and nonmeditators were matched for age and body mass index.) Although the investigators predicted that the experienced meditators would outperform the nonmeditators, no such evidence was found. Compared to the nonmeditators, however, the experienced meditators consistently rated the difficulty of the heartbeat detection task as easier and their interoceptive performance as superior. These results suggest that the practice of focusing one’s attention to internal body sensations (a core feature of meditation) does not enhance the ability to sense the heartbeat at rest, but it alters the subjective experience of it.
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As far as memory impairment, Halpern used the Rand Mental Health Inventory, which includes measures of short-term memory, to analyze long-term peyote use in a religious contexts and found no difference compared to controls. The users did have overall better emotional well-belling, though socially religious people tend to be happier in general. I seem to remember a study of ayahuasqueros that found memory improvement, but I don't think it was the most rigorous study or that it's been replicated.
 
I can reach a very specific state of mind, on lsd or mushrooms... maybe mescaline ive only tried it once, where my memory recall and location/ person memory is impeccable, its like I have the option to simply travel time as a witness and see and think what was happening at that time.

most of the time though my memory is average/dull. due to chronic chronic smokeing... if I stop i can think faster thats for sure
 
I know some of my trip gets lost...
But I haven't done it enough to know what the long term effects are.
I do know that some people have....what I can only describe as "flash backs" but I don't know if that is related to memory or a complication
 
When I was using Pot and alcohol habitually as well as psychedelics, I felt an overall drop off in cognitive fucntioning from short and long term memory as well as word retrieval (I stuttered alot and would forget what I was talking about mid sentence)

This past year I have barely used pot and alcohol and certainly not binged on either of them. I have continued to use psychedelics and have noticed improvement in long term memory and my speech has become much more fluent. I feel there is still a drop off in short term memory, some substances being worse than others and it's usually the worst for a short period after use. That being said, I have never had a great short term memory and I am willing to make the trade off as I feel my long term memory continues to improve with use and I enjoy the different coginitive avenues I explore through psychedelics.

I would also like to add that since I have been using strictly psychedelics I feel overall healthier and motivated.
 
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