Have you ever taken a psychedelic substance such as magic mushrooms, magic truffles, ayahuasca, mescaline cacti, or LSA seeds? If so, we probably don’t need to explain to you the extremely unique effects the active ingredients in these products have on the way you perceive the world. Figuratively, in the sense of emotional changes, but also literally, given the many visual hallucinations that occur.
Dutch-Smart wouldn’t be Dutch-Smart if we didn’t examine these kinds of substances in the most diverse ways possible. And that is exactly what we’re going to do in this article. Because what actually happens when a blind person takes these substances? What do they “see”—if you can even speak in those terms? Well, something quite extraordinary. The same question was posed by researchers who recently published a study in Consciousness and Cognition.
The test subject
The researchers’ goal was simple: to find out what happens in the brain of a man born blind who takes LSD. They studied one person who was born prematurely in 1948 and became permanently blind due to oxygen deprivation at birth. His love of music led him to become a professional pianist, singer, and entertainer for several years. He had regularly taken LSD and other drugs, such as marijuana and magic mushrooms, before speaking with researchers about his experiences.
At first, the man reported that he had never experienced visual hallucinations from using LSD, but he did say that using psychedelic drugs enhanced his experience of sound, touch, and smell. “Every time I took LSD, I experienced something new and spectacular. Clearly through the senses available to me! I’ve never perceived visual images. I can’t see or imagine what light or dark might look like. With LSD and cannabis, however, I’ve experienced so much through my hearing, touch, and emotions that it was enough to take.”
Synesthesia
It turns out that psychedelic substances can cause synesthesia-like experiences in people born without sight. Synesthesia occurs when a person experiences an overlap in their senses. For example, a person with synesthesia might taste colors or see sounds. It’s not uncommon for psychedelic users to report similar experiences—but this study is the first of its kind to examine what happens when sight isn’t involved.
“During my psychedelic experiences, whenever I listened to music, I felt immersed in the most beautiful waterfall ever. The waterfall episode was the closest I’ve ever come to experiencing something like synesthesia. The music of Bach’s Third Brandenburg Concerto triggered the waterfall effect,” the man said. “The sounds of songs I would normally listen to became three-dimensional, deep, and slowed down. It seemed as though the music was beginning to fall apart and unravel.”
“My dreams have always been very vivid in the past, but when I was under the influence of LSD, I noticed that I occasionally dreamed in prose... I couldn’t always sleep, but when I did, my dreams were very detailed, sometimes even in a very verbose Shakespearean language, and they often lasted longer than my normal dreams.” The man also said that the drug altered his tactile sensations and perception of time—fairly common experiences for LSD users.
