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      Visual acuity enhancement

      Visual acuity enhancement is a heightening of the clearness and clarity of vision. This results in the visual details of the external environment becoming sharpened, to the point where the edges of objects are perceived as extremely focused, clear, and defined. The experience of acuity enhancement can be likened to bringing a camera or projector lens that was slightly blurry into focus. At its highest level, a person may experience an enhancement in their ability to observe and comprehend their entire visual field and peripheral vision simultaneously. This is in contrast to the default sober state, where a person is only able to perceive the small area of central vision in detail. [1]

      Visual acuity enhancement is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as colour enhancement and increased pareidolia. [2] [3] It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of certain stimulants, nootropics, and dissociatives, such as MDMA, piracetam, aniracetam, or 3-MeO-PCP.

      Analysis

      It is thought that a fundamental feature of information-processing dysfunction in both hallucinogen-induced states and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders is the inability of these people to screen out, inhibit, filter, or gate irrelevant stimuli and to attend selectively to more important features of the environment. [4] [5] [6]

      The CSTC model of the brain posits that the thalamus plays a key role in controlling or gating external sensory information to the conscious faculties, and is thereby fundamentally involved in the regulation of a person's awareness and attention. [7] [8] [9] [10] The interruption of psychedelics to these neural pathways that inhibit the sensory gating systems [11] [12] may result in an enhanced availability of sensory information which is normally filtered out by these systems. This process is likely also involved in the various visual, tactile, and auditory enhancements that commonly occur when under the influence of a psychedelic experience.

      References

      1. The Encyclopedia of Blindness, pg 253 | https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l7UN5asLD0cC&pg=PA253
      2. Papoutsis, I., Nikolaou, P., Stefanidou, M., Spiliopoulou, C., & Athanaselis, S. (2015). 25B-NBOMe and its precursor 2C-B: modern trends and hidden dangers. Forensic Toxicology, 33(1), 4. | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-014-0242-9
      3. Bersani, F. S., Corazza, O., Albano, G., Valeriani, G., Santacroce, R., Bolzan Mariotti Posocco, F., ... & Schifano, F. (2014). 25C-NBOMe: preliminary data on pharmacology, psychoactive effects, and toxicity of a new potent and dangerous hallucinogenic drug. BioMed Research International, 2014. | https://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/734749
      4. Karper, L. P.; Freeman, G. K.; Grillon, C.; Morgan, C. A.; Charney, D. S.; Krystal, J. H. Preliminary evidence of an association between sensorimotor gating and distractibility in psychosis. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 8:60–66; 1996. | https://doi.org/10.1176/jnp.8.1.60
      5. McGhie, A.; Chapman, J. Disorders of attention and perception in early schizophrenia. Br. J. Med. Psychol. 34:103–116; 1961. | https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1961.tb00936.x
      6. Vollenweider, F. X. Advances and pathophysiological models of hallucinogen drug actions in humans: A preamble to schizophrenia research. Pharmacopsychiatry 31:92–103; 1998. | https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-979353
      7. Goddard, A. W.; Charney, D. S. Toward an integrated neurobiology of panic disorder. J. Clin. Psychiatry 58(suppl. 2):4–11; 1997. | https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-03330-001
      8. Steriade, M.; Descheˆnes, M. Cellular thalamic mechanisms. In: Bentivoglio, M.; Spreafico, R., eds. Intrathalamic and brainstem-thalamic networks involved in resting and alert state. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1988:37–62. | https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10017402609/en/
      9. Steriade, M.; McCormick, D. A.; Sejnowski, T. J. Thalamocortical oscillations in the sleeping and aroused brain. Science 262:697–685; 1993. | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8235588
      10. Vollenweider, F. X., & Geyer, M. A. (2001). A systems model of altered consciousness: integrating natural and drug-induced psychoses. Brain research bulletin, 56(5), 497-8. | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-9230(01)00646-3
      11. Vollenweider F. (1998). Recent advances and concepts in the search for biological correlates of hallucinogen-induced altered states of consciousness. Heffter Rev. Psychedel. Res. 1, 21–32. | https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10019112167/
      12. Vollenweider F., Geyer M. (2001). A systems model of altered consciousness: integrating natural and drug psychoses. Brain Res. Bull. 56, 495–507. | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-9230(01)00646-3

      Tags

      amplification
      enhancement
      psychedelic
      sensory
      visual

      Contributors

      The following people contributed to the content of this article:

      JosieKayleeGrahamNatalie
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