Measurement of handwriting area to pressure ratios during psilocybin-induced hallucinations

A Cartography of the Ecstatic and Meditative States

“…Indeed, man is to a large extent free to interpret his subcortical activity in a variety of ways at levels of arousal associated with daily routine. That this freedom is implicit in the functional independence of the limbic and neocortical systems is dramatically demonstrated by the fact that the electrical discharges resulting from hippocampal seizures are confined to the limbic system (40) We can find no relation between the extent of psilocybin-induced perceptual and behavioral (or cortical) change and a drug-induced increase in pupillary diameter (41), which is a drug dose-dependent parameter of autonomic activity (20,42).…”

“…Another finding revealed that the preferred level of (the constancy of) brightness increases under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs (26), but only in "variable" subjects (20,27)--that is, those subjects whose large standard deviations on a variety of perceptual and behavioral tasks indicate a large and varied interpretive repertoire. However, in "stable" subjects, who are characterized by small standard deviations and, thus, by smaller and more predictable interpretive repertoires, the level of preferred brightness decreases when they are under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.…”

“…Two of the three wise men dream with eyes closed, while the third, with eyes open, hallucinates the angel who carries all three away from the "real" world into a mental dimension. We can describe verifiable perceptions, therefore, by assigning to them low sensory-to-motor (S/M) ratios (20), while non-verifiable hallucinations and dreams can be characterized by increasing S/M ratios as one moves along the perceptionhallucination or perception-hallucination continuum toward ecstasy or samadhi, the two most hallucinatory states (21) (Fig. 1, left and right, respectively).…”

“…If high S/M ratios do, indeed, reflect hallucinatory experiences, as my definition of hallucinations would imply, it would be important to quantify S/M ratio as a measure of hallucinatory intensity. In fact, a quantitative meaning has been given to the S/M ratio by measuring the components of a psychomotor performance, specifically, handwriting area and handwriting pressure (20), in volunteers during a psilocybin induced wakingdream state. The techniques for measuring handwriting area (S) (in square centimeters), as well as for obtaining handwriting pressure (M) (in 10 4 dynes averaged over time), with an indicator that operates on a pressure-voltage-tofrequency basis, have been described elsewhere (20).…”

“…In fact, a quantitative meaning has been given to the S/M ratio by measuring the components of a psychomotor performance, specifically, handwriting area and handwriting pressure (20), in volunteers during a psilocybin induced wakingdream state. The techniques for measuring handwriting area (S) (in square centimeters), as well as for obtaining handwriting pressure (M) (in 10 4 dynes averaged over time), with an indicator that operates on a pressure-voltage-tofrequency basis, have been described elsewhere (20). Using these two parameters prior to (T1) and at the peak,(T2) of a psilocybin-induced experience [160 to 250 micrograms of psilocybin per kilogram of body weight], we found in a sample of 47 college-age volunteers a 31 percent (T1 -T2) increase in mean S/M ratio.…”