Erase/Rewind: The Powerful Brain Reboot That Psychedelics Provide, Now Backed Up By Science

The renewed scientific fascination with psychedelic substances continues to peel back layers of how these compounds transform consciousness—and potentially, mental health. One of the latest and most provocative contributions to this field comes from Dr. Adam Levin, a psychiatrist and postdoctoral scholar at The Ohio State University’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education. His new theory, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, suggests that the secret behind psychedelics' power to expand empathy, creativity, and insight may lie in their unique ability to invert the brain’s typical hemispheric hierarchy temporarily.

Most people are familiar with the idea of the brain’s two hemispheres having different “personalities.” The left hemisphere is often associated with logic, language, and sequential thinking, while the right hemisphere is linked to spatial awareness, emotional depth, and holistic perception. Traditionally, during normal waking consciousness, the left hemisphere tends to dominate, directing attention narrowly and favoring focused, linear problem-solving. Evolutionarily, this makes sense: it’s the kind of cognition that aids in tasks such as tracking prey, navigating immediate challenges, or parsing complex language.

Levin’s HEALS model - short for Hemispheric Annealing and Lateralization Under Psychedelics - proposes that psychedelic substances interrupt this habitual asymmetry. Rather than merely “loosening control” from the brain’s higher executive centers, as older models have suggested, Levin argues that psychedelics may shift dominance toward the right hemisphere. In this state, the brain’s broader, integrative, and emotionally attuned processes can emerge more fully, creating a rare dialogue between the two sides of the mind.

This idea reframes the psychedelic experience as more than just a chemical fireworks show or a trip into the subconscious. According to Levin’s analysis of brain imaging data and case studies, psychedelics appear to boost activity specifically in the right frontal cortex, regions associated with big-picture awareness, emotional processing, and social cognition. Importantly, this shift is not chaotic; it seems to promote what researchers call psychological flexibility - a key factor in recovery from depression, trauma, and addiction.

Clinical reports and firsthand accounts from psychedelic therapy sessions consistently describe feelings of deep connection, timelessness, self-transcendence, and clarity of purpose. These are not just abstract metaphors - they mirror the cognitive and emotional terrain typically governed by the right hemisphere. The HEALS model suggests that psychedelics may “unmask” this way of processing reality, which is often buried under the structured, analytical dominance of the left hemisphere.

Levin’s background in psychiatry gave him a front-row seat to the kinds of mental fragmentation that can arise when one hemisphere becomes overly dominant. For example, damage to the right hemisphere often leads to extreme tunnel vision and a diminished sense of one’s surroundings. In contrast, patients who lose left-hemisphere functions still retain a surprising degree of holistic awareness. This clinical contrast gave Levin a new lens through which to view psychedelic transformations - not as mystical or magical, but as grounded in neurocognitive dynamics.

Under psychedelics, the brain doesn’t simply become more active; it becomes differently active. Functional imaging studies reveal a shift in glucose metabolism, essentially how the brain fuels itself, that tilts to the right. This indicates a profound change not just in where activity occurs, but in how the brain approaches attention, perception, and self-reflection.

Levin also draws connections between psychedelic-induced states and the effects of long-term meditation, another practice known to enhance right-hemisphere function. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to increase cortical thickness and connectivity in right-sided brain regions, and interestingly, a single guided psychedelic session can sometimes jumpstart similar effects. For Levin, this suggests a synergistic opportunity: using psychedelics not just as standalone interventions, but as catalysts for more durable mental shifts, especially when integrated with practices like mindfulness.

In essence, the HEALS model positions the psychedelic experience as a neurological rebalancing act. Rather than merely dismantling the ego or unlocking the unconscious, these substances may be allowing the underutilized right hemisphere to take the lead, bringing emotional intelligence, spatial awareness, and a more unified sense of self into the foreground.

To further validate the HEALS model and broaden our understanding of how psychedelics reshape the brain, cutting-edge neuroimaging data is offering powerful support. In a landmark study led by Gul Dölen and her team, researchers tracked how the brain reorganizes itself in real time before, during, and long after a single high dose of psilocybin, an active compound found in psychedelic mushrooms.

What they found was striking: psilocybin caused an acute and massive disruption in functional connectivity (FC) across both cortical and subcortical brain regions. This wasn’t a subtle tweak in brain communication—it was a neurological earthquake. Compared to methylphenidate (commonly known as Ritalin), psilocybin produced more than three times the degree of FC change. These changes weren’t random; they reflected a deep desynchronization across the brain’s spatial scales, from individual brain areas to entire networks.

One of the most important observations was that psilocybin essentially blurred the boundaries between distinct brain networks. By weakening internal correlations within a network and reducing the usual anticorrelations between networks, the drug temporarily dissolved the mental compartments that keep cognition tightly organized. This “loosening” of the brain’s standard structure seems to be a key component of what many users describe as ego dissolution or the loss of a rigid sense of self.

The epicenter of these changes was the default mode network (DMN - a system involved in self-referential thinking, autobiographical memory, and the construction of our sense of time and space. Under the influence of psilocybin, the default mode network (DMN) exhibited pronounced disruption, particularly in its connectivity with the anterior hippocampus. This hippocampal-DMN link is believed to support the brain’s integration of memory and identity. In other words, when this connection weakens, the boundaries of time and ego begin to blur.

Crucially, the effects of psilocybin were not limited to the acute phase. The disconnection between the anterior hippocampus and the DMN persisted for weeks after the drug had cleared the system. This enduring change may be a key neurobiological mechanism underlying the long-term psychological benefits reported in clinical trials - improvements in mood, reduced rumination, enhanced emotional processing, and increased openness to life’s experiences.

In a particularly telling twist, performing a basic perceptual task during the psychedelic state significantly diminished these brainwide FC changes. This implies that simply grounding attention in structured activity may "pull" the brain back toward its default configuration. It also raises intriguing therapeutic possibilities about how guided experiences might optimize the psychedelic effect.

Tying this back to Adam Levin’s HEALS model, these findings provide a compelling neural correlate for what may be happening when the right hemisphere takes the lead. The disintegration of traditional network hierarchies - including those dominated by the left brain - and the sustained reshaping of key connections, particularly those linking memory and selfhood, paint a picture of a brain being recalibrated toward plasticity, openness, and integration.

Both Levin’s model and Dölen’s study converge on a central insight: psychedelics don’t merely add noise to the brain - they carefully dismantle rigid systems of control, allowing for new patterns to emerge. Whether through hemispheric rebalancing or network desynchronization, the result is the same: a mind less bound by habit, more attuned to depth, and potentially more capable of lasting transformation.

In the end, psychedelics may not just expand the mind - they may reboot the entire operating system.