Researchers pooled data from over 500 fMRI scans of 267 participants under LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT and ayahuasca. They found these drugs boost cross-talk between sensory and abstract-thinking regions, reducing the gap between perception and thought, and refuted broad claims of default mode network disintegration.

• A pooled analysis of 500+ fMRI scans from 267 people on LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, and ayahuasca found a consistent signature: increased cross-talk between sensory brain regions and higher-order areas for abstract thought and self-reflection.
• This contradicts earlier claims that psychedelics broadly "disintegrate" the default mode network—that effect didn't hold up once all studies used the same analytical methods.
• The findings give researchers reliable neural benchmarks that could help design new psychedelic-like drugs (150 already in development) that keep therapeutic benefits without causing hallucinations.