Connectome-Specific Harmonic Waves on LSD (2017) | Hacker News Reader

Connectome-Specific Harmonic Waves on LSD (2017)

qualiacomputing.com

53 pointsblast4 comments

Again, this is trash, already known that LSD produces increased crosstalk between functional subunits in the brain. As seen on fMRI. Therefore the different structure under this kind of analysis. So the causation is inverted - you see these harmonic correlations as a result of brain activity not as a mode of action. Wrong direction of cause and effect.

Harmonic analysis brings nothing new to the table. What are the "simple" terms useful for? Why would criticality be the means through which psychedelics work rather than artifact of your analysis method applied to brain with increased inter functional unit connectivity?

Because it it's just "presence of psychedelics" or "seizure" we have tools for these already.

You cannot jump from being a descriptive measure to constructive without a proof. Most importantly, is the measure reversible, as in inducing same measurement (with different means) results in similar state? In which other states said correlations exist or not? How can we induce them?

In comparison, standard method is supported by evidence of "God helmet" inducing signals in specific place in the brain and results of direct electric stimulation. These do not induce any kind of oscillation behaviour nor inter unit crosstalk like psychedelics, yet they have many similar features.

You're probably right. But you're being pretty negative. It's a theory that's worth thinking about. Some smart people with PhDs are thinking along these lines, lends it a modicum of credibility.

Yes, sure, smart people with PhDs thought lobotomy was good at the time.

This is not a correct argument. You have to show validity of your measure before posing it as a mechanism at least.

We do already suspect that psychedelics work by increasing connectivity (in some way) between units - people with PhDs as well. While this presupposes an even more basic albeit also complex "resonant" mechanism - with no evidence other than its own measurement - it is tautological.

Harmonic analysis will always show you resonances and frequencies, because that's what it is composed off. What if temporal relations matter? Magnitudes?

It's the same as with sound, look at frequency spectrum without time and conclude that's all that matters. We have already figured out much more about hearing and sound processing, which is complicated and adaptive since. Likewise vision, including partial decodings. How does harmonic version help there?

Neurons are complex enough, spiking, chemical and structure driven that this approach is bound to be a dead end. It's simplistic, not simple.

It is akin to telling quantum physicists to just use old Born-Wiener process interpretation.

You may be correct. While I often like to try advanced methods in my neuroimaging work, there is always a risk that the method ends up telling you the same thing that traditional analytical approaches do.

Yet, "trash" is a harsh word, especially given that your further comments are not always clear (or supported).

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