What causes visuals?

[Haulin]

I realize that many psychedelics act on the 5H2A serotonin receptors (or at least I think thats what it is), but what is it that brings about morphing geometric patterns, and fractals, and breathing walls and such? What is it that is going on in the brain? I've wondered this for a while. I've heard people claim that they think that its always there and psychedelics allow us to see it..but that sounds like BS to me.

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

Certain serotonin receptors are responsible for some part of every sense. The drugs dramatically change this and cause profound visions, sense of smell changes, and sensitized touch, balance... etc.

 

[Dr Rxpert]

I had visuals on that ole fake crap insence they sell at the cig store, it was scary and my heart raced, sorry for getting off topic here.

 

[Mr Blonde]

We don't exactly know what is going on. Serotonin is related to mood and the senses, and somehow the psychedelics profoundly alter our perceptions by agonizing the serotonin receptors.

If you've ever watched that video on YouTube that has you stare at the screen then look away and experience LSD like visual distortion, then you'll know that psychedelics aren't the only things that can alter our perceptions in this way.

 

[Bridesbiscuit]

I realize that many psychedelics act on the 5H2A serotonin receptors (or at least I think thats what it is), but what is it that brings about morphing geometric patterns, and fractals, and breathing walls and such? What is it that is going on in the brain? I've wondered this for a while. I've heard people claim that they think that its always there and psychedelics allow us to see it..but that sounds like BS to me.

Weird thing popped into my head when you mentioned that. If you're not familiar with Daniel Tammet, Google him. He's the math genius with Asperger’s syndrome that claims to visualize numbers seeing them as shapes and colors, (he repeated back Pi over 22,000 digits after 3.14. I believe he "sees" this in his mind however so it's not a direct comparative to a drug induced visual, but I wonder if there might be some common underlying biochemical process going on in the brain.

If a high functioning savant brain can tap into these pathways that manifest as visual cues to the universe, who's to say psychedelics can't open minute windows into this same process as well.

Then again chemically altered sensory perception makes for a better argument ;-)

 

[Haulin]

We don't exactly know what is going on. Serotonin is related to mood and the senses, and somehow the psychedelics profoundly alter our perceptions by agonizing the serotonin receptors.

If you've ever watched that video on YouTube that has you stare at the screen then look away and experience LSD like visual distortion, then you'll know that psychedelics aren't the only things that can alter our perceptions in this way.

Alright. My research had pretty much indicated just that; that no one knew how it happened exactly, or how the visual cortex (may be wrong term) even works.

As far as the youtube video, I think that works just by burning an image into your vision. Kind of like sunspots I suppose.