full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Elizabeth Cox: What causes hallucinations?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In addition to sensory diptievaron, recreational and trpaihetuec drugs, conditions like epilepsy and narcolepsy, and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, are a few of the many known causes of hallucinations, and we’re still finding new ones.

Some of the most notorious hanulaictolins are associated with drugs like LSD and psilocybin. Their hallmark effects include the sensation that dry objects are wet and that surfaces are breathing. At higher doess, the visual world can appear to melt, dissolve into swirls, or burst into fractal-like ptatenrs. Evidence suggests these drugs also act on the crareebl cortex. But while visual impairment tilplycay only causes visual hallucinations, and hienarg loss auditory ones, substances like LSD cause perceptual disturbances across all the senses. That’s likely because they attacvie receptors in a broad range of bairn areas, including the cortical regions for all the seesns. LSD and psilocybin both function like serotonin in the brain, biindng directly to one type of soeriontn receptor in particular. While serotonin’s role in the brain is complex and poorly understood, it likely plays an important part in integrating ifrmntiaoon from the eyes, nose, ears, and other sensory organs. So one theory is that LSD and psilocybin cause hallucinations by disrupting the signaling involved in sensory integration.

Open Cloze


In addition to sensory ___________, recreational and ___________ drugs, conditions like epilepsy and narcolepsy, and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, are a few of the many known causes of hallucinations, and we’re still finding new ones.

Some of the most notorious ______________ are associated with drugs like LSD and psilocybin. Their hallmark effects include the sensation that dry objects are wet and that surfaces are breathing. At higher _____, the visual world can appear to melt, dissolve into swirls, or burst into fractal-like ________. Evidence suggests these drugs also act on the ________ cortex. But while visual impairment _________ only causes visual hallucinations, and _______ loss auditory ones, substances like LSD cause perceptual disturbances across all the senses. That’s likely because they ________ receptors in a broad range of _____ areas, including the cortical regions for all the ______. LSD and psilocybin both function like serotonin in the brain, _______ directly to one type of _________ receptor in particular. While serotonin’s role in the brain is complex and poorly understood, it likely plays an important part in integrating ___________ from the eyes, nose, ears, and other sensory organs. So one theory is that LSD and psilocybin cause hallucinations by disrupting the signaling involved in sensory integration.

Solution


  1. hallucinations
  2. information
  3. typically
  4. patterns
  5. therapeutic
  6. cerebral
  7. doses
  8. deprivation
  9. activate
  10. senses
  11. serotonin
  12. hearing
  13. brain
  14. binding

Original Text


In addition to sensory deprivation, recreational and therapeutic drugs, conditions like epilepsy and narcolepsy, and psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, are a few of the many known causes of hallucinations, and we’re still finding new ones.

Some of the most notorious hallucinations are associated with drugs like LSD and psilocybin. Their hallmark effects include the sensation that dry objects are wet and that surfaces are breathing. At higher doses, the visual world can appear to melt, dissolve into swirls, or burst into fractal-like patterns. Evidence suggests these drugs also act on the cerebral cortex. But while visual impairment typically only causes visual hallucinations, and hearing loss auditory ones, substances like LSD cause perceptual disturbances across all the senses. That’s likely because they activate receptors in a broad range of brain areas, including the cortical regions for all the senses. LSD and psilocybin both function like serotonin in the brain, binding directly to one type of serotonin receptor in particular. While serotonin’s role in the brain is complex and poorly understood, it likely plays an important part in integrating information from the eyes, nose, ears, and other sensory organs. So one theory is that LSD and psilocybin cause hallucinations by disrupting the signaling involved in sensory integration.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
charles bonnet 4
bonnet syndrome 3
brain areas 2
cerebral cortex 2
blind spots 2
visual cortex 2
hearing loss 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
charles bonnet syndrome 3

Important Words


  1. act
  2. activate
  3. addition
  4. areas
  5. auditory
  6. binding
  7. brain
  8. breathing
  9. broad
  10. burst
  11. cerebral
  12. complex
  13. conditions
  14. cortex
  15. cortical
  16. deprivation
  17. disorders
  18. disrupting
  19. dissolve
  20. disturbances
  21. doses
  22. drugs
  23. dry
  24. ears
  25. effects
  26. epilepsy
  27. evidence
  28. eyes
  29. finding
  30. function
  31. hallmark
  32. hallucinations
  33. hearing
  34. higher
  35. impairment
  36. important
  37. include
  38. including
  39. information
  40. integrating
  41. integration
  42. involved
  43. loss
  44. lsd
  45. melt
  46. narcolepsy
  47. nose
  48. notorious
  49. objects
  50. organs
  51. part
  52. patterns
  53. perceptual
  54. plays
  55. poorly
  56. psilocybin
  57. psychiatric
  58. range
  59. receptor
  60. receptors
  61. recreational
  62. regions
  63. role
  64. schizophrenia
  65. sensation
  66. senses
  67. sensory
  68. serotonin
  69. signaling
  70. substances
  71. suggests
  72. surfaces
  73. swirls
  74. theory
  75. therapeutic
  76. type
  77. typically
  78. understood
  79. visual
  80. wet
  81. world