Neuropsychedelia: The Revival of Hallucinogen Research since the Decade of the Brain

by Nicolas Langlitz

Neuropsychedelia examines the revival of psychedelic science since the "Decade of the Brain." After the breakdown of this previously prospering area of psychopharmacology, and in the wake of clashes between counterculture and establishment in the late 1960s, a new generation of hallucinogen researchers used the hype around the neurosciences in the 1990s to bring psychedelics back into the mainstream of science and society. This book is based on anthropological fieldwork and philosophical reflections on life and work in two laboratories that have played key roles in this a human lab in Switzerland and an animal lab in California. It sheds light on the central transnational axis of the resurgence connecting American psychedelic culture with the home country of LSD. In the borderland of science and religion, Neuropsychedelia explores the tensions between the use of hallucinogens to model psychoses and to evoke spiritual experiences in laboratory settings. Its protagonists, including the anthropologist himself, struggle to find a place for the mystical under conditions of late-modern materialism.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Drugs, Neuroscience, Spirituality

334 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Muriel (The Purple Bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

More accurate rating: 7.5/10.

I picked this book up expecting another non-fiction tome about the research being done into the therapeutic applications of psychedelic plants, fungi, compounds, etc... and was a little miffed, initially, when I realised that's not, in fact, what this book is about.

Instead of a pop-STEM book, Neuropsychedelia is an ethnographic study of the research currently being done with psychedelic substances in the 'West' – or rather parts of it, as this book focuses on research labs in the United States and Switzerland. But, whilst it is written as an ethnographic account, this book is about a lot more than that: it's about the way we carry out scientific research, and the ways we gather knowledge. It's about the way we dichotomise objectivity and subjectivity within science and society, and how this impacts our accumulation of knowledge about, and subsequent understanding of the natural world, our own species, the human body, and the human mind. And it's about how the field of psychedelic science (and medicine, though to a lesser extent) can help us rethink, and perhaps, reframe, all of those things. It is, indeed, quite ambitious in its scope.

And I was very pleasantly surprised by the depth and nuance with which this complex tapestry of topics was handled by the author. I found this book, and the discussions it contained, absolutely fascinating, especially since it drew on material from several different areas of the humanities. Like I said, it is written as an ethnographic account, but the author pulls from history, anthropology, sociology, critical theory, and philosophy to articulate his multi-faceted analysis. I loved that.

And I loved how stimulated my intellect felt... but it's also true I did, ultimately, feel a little frustrated by the fact the book didn't delve more deeply into the therapeutic potentials of psychedelic substances. I also think the book's thesis could've benefited from additional input from the fields of feminist analysis (androcentrism in the life and human sciences remains a problem after all), and the field of pharmacogenetics – the latter's complete omission, when discussing the still-puzzlingly differing outcomes of psychedelic experiences felt especially glaring to me. Additionally, the book's concluding chapter felt a little unfocused and weak to me, and left me wanting.

Still, putting aside these minor negatives, I would definitely recommend this book to readers interested in psychedelic science as a field, and thinking about the complex, multi-faceted relationship between science, knowledge and society.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicolas Langlitz's, "Neuropsychedelia: The Revival of Hallucinogen Research Since the Decade of the Brain", is a spectacular work. It blazes through the ground that book's such as, "Acid Dreams", and others do and focuses in on research with hallucinogen's being conducted in California and Switzerland. Rather than a history book, a travelogue, or a purely neuroscience view of psychedelic research and its history, Langlitz's weaves in and out of anthropology, literature, psychopharmacology, and other disciplines to paint a picture of promising, albeit underfunded and choked in legal red tape, but still far from getting started with the possibilities one could imagine with the continued and highly financed research being done in more than a few countries in a world where drugs were legal.

The only gripe I have with this book: the author could've made most of his points without invoking Foucault the handful of times he's invoked. But we all have our unsavoury influences, I suppose.

Nevertheless, there's a lot more to say, but it's best for the reader to be surprised and enjoy herself.

[John Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

i usually only read journalism on psychedelic research so seeing a rigorous account by a trained anthropologist — whose last book was on the variable-length lacanian psychoanalytic session — was a welcome change.

langlitz’s devotion to “field-work” in philosophy and anthropology comes across in the ambitious questions on the trajectory and value of neuropharmacology, as well as the limits of mystical and rational understanding, he attempts to answer through various interviews and residences.

something that’ll stick with me is the idea of the “neurochemical self” whose star has been rising since the turn of the previous century. juxtaposing the mystical and rational views of the human soul, langlitz points out the awkward middle-ground (perhaps sublimed middle-ground) that the decade of the brain has brought into the public eye.

the neurochemical subject finds objectivity in human constructs (sorry for my temper, i must have had a malfunctioning frontal lobe), and it can feel like a cosmic joke. there is no pointed self in the neurochemical understanding, only physical phenomena and emergent behavior, something that harkens to a mystical tradition. however, in stark contrast to mystical tradition, the neurochemical self is founded on an “objective” and material vision of the universe. psychedelics seem to reliably flip these assumptions onto themselves. maybe the future is mystical materialism, maybe people will start laughing too hard before that happens.

“Funny, I’d forgotten that what comes to you when you take a psychedelic is not always a revelation of something new and startling; you’re more liable to find yourself reminded of simple things you know and forgot you knew — seeing them freshly — old, basic truths that long ago became clichés, so you stopped paying attention them.” (Shulgin)

if there’s anything that studying philosophy is good for, it’s for putting attention on platitudes through perpetual, insistent questioning.

he spent like a whole chapter on rats so minus 1 star

[Trace Reddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, thoughtful, well-informed and objective but also very personally invested scholarship. I started this a long time ago, then ended up having to take a long break from it to deal with other projects. Glad to have had the space and time to finish it, and I'll be using this in classes this coming spring. It is academic, but I think it is also deserving of a general, popular audience interested in the revival of psychedelic research and the varied implications such research has for a wide number of fields and areas of work and knowledge.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy book, but a good book on the history of MDMA research.

[Paul Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and a story well told.

[Andre Kfouri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got bored and it took to long to read but very interesting

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe if I were smarter I would have liked it better.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book.

Know that feeling when you suddenly see an intricate 3d landscape in place of what used to be a familiar one-dimensional issue? That's the high I'm chasing with my reading, but it can take years between the times I get my fix proper. This year has been a lucky one.

I can't immediately think of another book that matches this one in the density of insight. I had to pause almost after every page to entertain the new perspectives just attained. And often to shake off the bittersweet frustration from being unable to talk back to the characters ("informants" in proper lingo) or the author.

I only have one minor complaint to counterbalance my exaltation with this book. The sophistication of the language at times reaches absurdly high levels that seem to serve no other purpose than tagging the turf of the Uberintellectuals gang. As a non-academic this made me feel like a thief - simultaneously excited with the prospect of quick enrichment and scared of being caught where I shouldn't be.

Anyhow, this is a must read for anyone interested in going beyond their partisan perspective and starting to gain some actual understanding of humanity's relationship with mind-altering drugs.

[Hossein Fattahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME! Thanks Nick!