The intimacy of psychedelics, language, and consciousness.

This interview explores the intimate relationship between language and consciousness, drawing insights from aphasia phenomenology, psychedelic experiences, and neuroscientific theories. Jeremy I. Skipper, a cognitive neuroscientist, argues that language is not merely a tool for reporting conscious experiences but plays a generative role in shaping and sustaining consciousness itself. He critiques localizationist models of language processing, emphasizing the context-dependence and dynamic recruitment of brain regions. Parallels are drawn between the experiences of aphasic patients, who report a loss of self-narrative and increased connectedness, and the phenomenology of psychedelic states, which often involve a dissolution of linguistic categories and a sense of ineffability. Skipper outlines potential neural mechanisms linking language disruption to psychedelic experiences and discusses the UNITy Project, aimed in part at studying post-acute meaning-making processes and predicting changes in language and well-being after psychedelic sessions.