Understanding The Relationship Between Psychedelics, Language and Speech

Language is one of humanity’s most remarkable tools, shaping how we think, connect, and create meaning in the world. But what happens when the brain’s usual verbal patterns encounter the non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelics?

“Language under LSD might provide a window into the psychedelic mind, and automated language quantifications should be better explored as valuable tools to yield more unconstrained insights into psychedelic perception and cognition.”

— David Nutt, DM, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci, DLaws

This article dives into the relationship between psychedelics, language, and speech.

Current Limits in Understanding Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness Through Speech and Language

Researchers often rely on language production and retrospective content to look at psychedelic effects and understand the experiences. Getting this data involves recording what subjects say and how they say things, such as vocabulary, semantics, structure, fluency, and clarity during and after the experience. Researchers often use questionnaires, qualitative analyses of transcripts, and interviews. However, the interaction between psychedelics and language is not well understood. 

A 2022 article reviewed the acute effects of psychedelics on speech organization regardless of the meaning of what was said and analyzed how to characterize the semantic content of subjective effects. 

The paper suggested that Natural Language Processing (NLP), a set of computational tools that characterizes language production, can partially predict therapeutic outcomes for individual experiences. It found similarities between the psychedelic experience and symptoms of certain psychiatric disorders and explored the neurochemical profiles and mechanisms of action of various psychedelic substances. 

The article argues that incorporating brief interviews before, during, and after the acute effects of psychedelics significantly broadens the scope of potential scientific insights. The author published key questions and issues that researchers need to resolve in order to strengthen and advance this approach.

Dosage Estimation

• Can drug dosage be accurately estimated from reports during acute effects or retrospective reports post-baseline?
• Which approach provides more comprehensive information about the experience?

Individual vs. Report Content

• Can researchers separate report content from the reporter’s individual traits?
• How do traits like language, culture, social status, age, and gender influence the expression of drug-induced experiences?

Natural Language vs. Questionnaires

• How does the predictive accuracy of natural language reports compare to structured questionnaires in psychedelic treatment outcomes?
• What unique information do natural language reports provide that structured assessments may overlook?

Semantic Similarity and Drug Effects

• How does the semantic similarity between drug reports relate to different metrics of drug effects on the brain?
• At what level of description is semantic content best represented?

Temporal Resolution

• How well do retrospective narratives convey the temporal sequence of subjective experiences?
• How is temporally ordered information distorted in natural language reports?

NLP Robustness:

• How robust is NLP analysis across different languages used in subjective reports?

The author concluded that many feel a strong urge to connect with others and discuss what happened and how it felt after experiencing the acute effects of a psychedelic substance. With that in mind, the review shows that researchers can use this yearning to communicate and share to scientifically investigate and understand psychedelic experiences more thoroughly.

“While the merits of natural language processing over more traditional methods to inquire about subjective experiences remain to be demonstrated, we nevertheless encourage researchers to acquire natural language samples in their experiments and to address some of the open questions that will ultimately determine the usefulness of this approach.”

Psychedelics and Stuttering

Developmental Stuttering (DS), also known as Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder, is a speech disorder characterized by disruptions in the normal flow of speech, including repetitions, prolongations, and blocks. If the condition continues into adulthood, experts refer to it as Persistent Stuttering. 

Stuttering can have a significant impact on the quality of life of a person as it can lead to anxiety, depression, feelings of shame, and social withdrawal. Current treatment options such as speech therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy work for some but can have limited effectiveness for others. 

Psychedelics may have a therapeutic role in stuttering. Here are some psychological and neurological mechanisms that may explain the potential benefits of psychedelics for stuttering:

Reducing Social Anxiety

Psychedelics, particularly psilocybin and LSD, can reduce social anxiety by enhancing feelings of connectedness and reducing fear-based responses. By altering activity in the amygdala, which plays a central role in processing fear and emotional responses, psychedelics may help individuals approach social situations with greater confidence and less anxiety. This reduction in social anxiety can lessen the pressure and self-consciousness often associated with stuttering.

Alleviating Depression Symptoms

Many individuals who stutter also experience co-occurring depression. Psychedelics like psilocybin have shown promise in alleviating depressive symptoms by promoting neuroplasticity, modulating amygdala activity, and increasing serotonin receptor activity. This enhancement of neuroplasticity can lead to improved mood regulation and reduced negative thought patterns, potentially easing the emotional burden linked to stuttering.

Modulating the Default Mode Network (DMN)

The DMN, a network involved in self-referential thinking and internal dialogue, is often hyperactive in conditions like anxiety and depression. Psychedelics temporarily reduce DMN activity, allowing individuals to disengage from overactive self-monitoring and negative self-evaluation. For people who stutter, this could translate into a more fluid and less self-conscious speech experience by reducing the anticipation of stuttering and the fear of how others perceive them.

Influencing Emotional Responses in the Amygdala

Psychedelics decrease amygdala reactivity, which can help individuals respond to emotional triggers with less fear and tension. Since emotional stress often exacerbates stuttering, this modulation could enable smoother speech by reducing the emotional intensity of speaking situations.

Enhancing Neuroplasticity

By promoting neuroplasticity, psychedelics may encourage the brain to reshape pathways related to speech fluency and emotional regulation. This effect could help individuals develop healthier speech patterns and coping mechanisms for stuttering-related stress.

Self-Reported Effects

A 2023 study looked at self-reported effects of classic psychedelics among stutterers. The researchers qualitatively analyzed the online content published on Reddit public forums. The data came from self-identified stutterers who reported taking psychedelics.  

They considered a total of 114 posts and organized the content into behavioral, emotional, cognitive, belief-based, and social effects. Results showed that 

• Almost 75% of participants reported overall positive effects. 
• Nearly 60% of participants indicated positive behavioral changes such as decreased stuttering and increased speech control 
• 40% reported positive emotional effects 
• 15% reported positive cognitive effects
• 12% reported positive effects on beliefs
• 7% indicated positive social effects 
• Approximately 10% of participants reported adverse behavioral effects such as increased stuttering and decreased speech control

The article shared what an individual posted about how psilocybin positively impacted their stuttering:

“[Psilocybin is a] key factor in what not only has increased my fluency as a speaker, but just overall who I am as a person the lens that I see life through… helped me in my journey allowing me to love and appreciate my struggles … including my stutter … I began to see that my value as a person has nothing to do with the way I talk, but who I really was deep down.”

The authors concluded that their study shows a promising role for psychedelics among stutterers.

“[Since our study showed that the] vast majority of individuals reported positive experiences of psychedelics on their stuttering and psychological well-being, we believe that a future clinical trial investigating the efficacy of psychedelics as a complement to traditional therapies in this population is warranted.”

Learn More About Psychedelics and Mental Health Conditions

• Find Out About Psychedelic Therapy for Anxiety
• Read About the Results of the First Clinical Trial: Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults Successfully Treated with MDMA Therapy
• Explore Psychedelic Therapy for Depression
• Discover How We May Treat OCD With Psilocybin
• Get the Truth About Microdosing and Anxiety

LSD and Their Effects on Speech and Language

Studies have shown that LSD  impacts verbal behavior, speech, and language.

A 1965 study collected 100-word samples of spontaneous speech from 10 participants with alcohol use disorder under four conditions: before the drug (baseline), 100 μg of LSD, 200 μg of LSD, and post-drug. Next, 100 non-drug raters filled in every fifth missing word from these speech samples, which the researchers presented to them in random order. 

The results showed that LSD reduced both the volubility (the number of words spoken) and communicative value of speech (ratio of total to correct guesses). The study suggested an inverse relationship between predictability (how easily listeners can anticipate missing words) and volubility under the influence of LSD.

Researchers found disorganized speech features when taking LSD. A 2022 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study looked at the acute and sub-acute effects of LSD on language. The study included 24 healthy subjects who either received a placebo or 50 μg of LSD. 

The researchers collected data on language production, such as experience reporting and storytelling, and components, such as structure (analyzed using computing speech topology), semantics (analyzed using semantic distances), and vocabulary (analyzed using word categories).

Compared to the placebo group, the LSD group had the following results:

• Decreased verbosity, lexicon, global and local connectivity 
• Decreased semantic distances between neighboring words and overall 
• Changed vocabulary related to grammar, persons, time, space, and biological processes

The researchers suggest that cognitive impairments may explain the effects of LSD on structure and semantics, and vocabulary changes may be due to subjective perceptions. The article concluded: 

“[L]anguage under LSD might provide a window into the psychedelic mind, and automated language quantifications should be better explored as valuable tools to yield more unconstrained insights into psychedelic perception and cognition.”

Explore the Potential Therapeutic Effect of LSD

• Understand the Differences Between LSD and MDMA
• Read Psychedelic Support’s Top 10 Articles About LSD
• Discover LSD’s Role in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
• Find Out How LSD Compares To Psilocybin
• Which Psychedelic Therapy Is Right For You? LSD or Ayahuasca?

The UNITy Project: The Understanding Neuroplasticity Induced by Tryptamines (UNITy) Project

The Department of Psychology and Language Science at the University College London is running the UNITy Project. The UNITy Project is looking at how the brain changes under psychedelics, particularly language processing, mood, behavior, cognition, and well-being. They are currently recruiting participants for the following studies:

• Rewiring Maladaptive Reward Learning in Heavy Drinkers Using DMT
• The Digital Intervention for Psychedelic Preparedness (DIPP) study
• Unlocking the Mind: Exploring the Transformative Powers of Psychedelics with UNITy and eMoodie Labs Smartphone App
• LSD: Precision Neuroimaging of Neural Responses
• AI-Bot Journaling: Language Analysis in Mental Health

Jeremy I. Skipper, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor who is leading the UNITy Project team, shared his thoughts in an interview about the intimacy of psychedelics, language, and consciousness. He spoke about how he first conceptualized the relationship between language in the context of studying psychedelics:

“When I first decided that I wanted to use my expertise in the neurobiology of language to study consciousness using psychedelics….[the literature was] centered around the default mode network. I just noted, and it was not a systematic review, that anywhere in the inferior frontal gyrus, or superior temporal gyrus, maybe posterior middle temporal gyrus, some key language cores were active. I reasoned that when we use psychedelics, we change language functioning and maybe knock out some of the auditory functioning, maybe because the visuals are actually so compelling and you spend a lot of your energy shifting the flow of blood flow to the visual system.”

Why Language Use Actually Decreases During Psychedelic Experiences

Skipper shares his thoughts on how the methods of older psychedelic studies don’t precisely demonstrate what is going on in our language functioning and suggests that psychedelics actually reduce language use during psychedelic experiences:

“I think, under natural psychedelic use, people probably use less language. In studies in the 50s and 60s, they were expressly trying to understand what happens to language functioning. If you force people to use it, sometimes they talk more but their language often has more errors. It’s more bizarre and unique. There are longer distance associations between words that are used, but for the most part, part of the psychedelic experience is losing language, if anything. I’m interested in what happens to language functioning during and after psychedelic use.”

Skipper hypothesizes about how, during a psychedelic experience, what we see takes over, and there is less focus on what we say.

“One hypothesis could be [that] vision steals the show. At the start of a DMT trip, everything in the visual experience is geometric and crazy, and there’s almost no room for language there….Using different drugs may be a way to actually start carving out the role of language in these experiences…The primary hypothesis would be that the balance of forward-to-feedback connectivity is radically changing in specific regions or sets of regions such that language is being knocked out…My gut feeling is that something weird is happening in the language system, maybe because of the impact on 5-HT2a receptors whose distribution is not uniform and more or actually distributed throughout language core regions like the posterior inferior frontal, superior, and middle temporal gyri.”

Language’s Limits and Potential in Psychedelic Experiences

Therefore, language is a powerful tool that helps us think, connect, and make sense of the world. For centuries, people have used psychedelics in religious ceremonies, personal healing, and creative work. Many describe experiences that go beyond what words can explain. Some find themselves talking non-stop with new insights, while others struggle to find the right words, feeling that their experiences are too big or complex to describe. 

The research suggests that psychedelics affect the parts of the brain involved in communication, changing how we understand and use language. However, many questions are left unanswered.

How do these substances push the boundaries of what we can say? Do they help us discover new ways to express ourselves, or do they show us that some things are beyond words? We’re excited to find out as we continue our psychedelic journey.

References

Amarel, M., & Cheek, F. E. (1965). Some Effects of LSD-25 on Verbal Communication. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 70(6), 453–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022773.

Cleveland Clinic staff. (2024, May 1). Stuttering. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14162-stuttering.

Gold, N. D., Goldway, N., Gerlach-Houck, H., & Jackson, E. S. (2023). Self-Reported Effects of Classic Psychedelics on Stuttering. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.18.537312.

Pasculli, G., Busan, P., Jackson, E. S., Alm, P. A., De Gregorio, D., Maguire, G. A., Goodwin, G. M., Gobbi, G., Erritzoe, D., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2024).Psychedelics in Developmental Stuttering to Modulate Brain Functioning: A New Therapeutic Perspective? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1402549.

Sanz, C., Pallavicini, C., Carrillo, F., Zamberlan, F., Sigman, M., Mota, N., Copelli, M., Ribeiro, S., Nutt, D., Carhart-Harris, R., & Tagliazucchi, E. (2021). The Entropic Tongue: Disorganization of Natural Language Under LSD. Consciousness and Cognition, 87, 103070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2020.103070.

Skipper, J. I., Fejer, G., Koroma, M., & Roseman, L. (2024). The Intimacy of Psychedelics, Language, and Consciousness. An Interview with Jeremy I. Skipper by Leor Roseman. ALIUS Bulletin, 6. https://hdl.handle.net/2268/318735.

Tagliazucchi, E. (2022). Language as a Window into the Altered State of Consciousness Elicited by Psychedelic Drugs. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.812227.

Wießner, I., Falchi, M., Daldegan-Bueno, D., Palhano-Fontes, F., Olivieri, R., Feilding, A., Araujo, D. B., Ribeiro, S., Mota, N. B., & Tófoli, L. F. (2023). LSD and Language: Decreased Structural Connectivity, Increased Semantic Similarity, Changed Vocabulary in Healthy Individuals. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 68, 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.12.013.