Evan Lewis-Healey
@evanlhealey.bsky.social
Neuroscientist working on the neurophenomenology of psychedelics, breathwork & meditation | PhD at University of Cambridge
Pinned
Evan Lewis-Healey, PhD, The psychedelic effects of breathwork on the mind and the brain
YouTube video by ESI Frankfurt
www.youtube.com
Check out my talk from ESI-SyNC on the psychedelic effects of breathwork 🧠🍄👇
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
A landmark mechanistic study on the visual computational changes under psilocybin. I did my masters internship in Tomas's lab so it's wonderful to see such elegant computational psychedelic neuroscience. Congrats to Marco and co. 🧠🎉🍄
Our new paper is out in Nature Communications! nature.com/articles/s41...
We combined psychophysics, 7T fMRI, and computational modeling of vision with placebo, 5mg, and 10mg psilocybin, in the same group of participants, to clarify the computational mechanisms of psychedelics. 🧵
We combined psychophysics, 7T fMRI, and computational modeling of vision with placebo, 5mg, and 10mg psilocybin, in the same group of participants, to clarify the computational mechanisms of psychedelics. 🧵
November 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM
A landmark mechanistic study on the visual computational changes under psilocybin. I did my masters internship in Tomas's lab so it's wonderful to see such elegant computational psychedelic neuroscience. Congrats to Marco and co. 🧠🎉🍄
Check out my talk from ESI-SyNC on the psychedelic effects of breathwork 🧠🍄👇
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
Evan Lewis-Healey, PhD, The psychedelic effects of breathwork on the mind and the brain
YouTube video by ESI Frankfurt
www.youtube.com
September 30, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Check out my talk from ESI-SyNC on the psychedelic effects of breathwork 🧠🍄👇
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
ESI-SyNC was fantastic, so do check the rest of the talks out too! 🙏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOeV...
Check out this cool new study from the lab -- exploring the neural signatures of pure awareness experiences during Transcendental Meditation 🧠
Thrilled to share our new study: “Distilling the neurophenomenological signatures of pure awareness during Transcendental Meditation”, combining subjective reports with large-scale screening of neural features to investigate pure awareness. Thread below! 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
September 30, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Check out this cool new study from the lab -- exploring the neural signatures of pure awareness experiences during Transcendental Meditation 🧠
It was a pleasure to present our findings at the Ernst Strungmann Institute in Frankfurt last week - on the psychedelic effects that breathwork can induce 🧠
A genuine joy to speak amongst heavyweights in the field of the neuroscience of altered states of consciousness!
A genuine joy to speak amongst heavyweights in the field of the neuroscience of altered states of consciousness!
September 19, 2025 at 2:35 PM
It was a pleasure to present our findings at the Ernst Strungmann Institute in Frankfurt last week - on the psychedelic effects that breathwork can induce 🧠
A genuine joy to speak amongst heavyweights in the field of the neuroscience of altered states of consciousness!
A genuine joy to speak amongst heavyweights in the field of the neuroscience of altered states of consciousness!
Always a huge amount of work and thought that goes into these papers -- I'm excited to see what ecologically valid paradigms Micah and co. will develop next in the face of these surprising null results!
Are interoception and mental health linked? Many assume so, with interoception even described as a psychiatric “p-factor.” But in our latest preprint, we were surprised to find little evidence for such a connection. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵 Thread with our reflections on the matter 👇
Interoceptive Ability is Unrelated to Mental Health Symptoms: Evidence From a Large Scale Multi-Domain Psychophysical Investigation
Interoception-the sensing and perception of the internal viscera-is widely cast as a transdiagnostic mechanism linking brain-body interaction to mental illness. Prevailing models propose that altered ...
www.medrxiv.org
August 28, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Always a huge amount of work and thought that goes into these papers -- I'm excited to see what ecologically valid paradigms Micah and co. will develop next in the face of these surprising null results!
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
I think until we start measuring interoception in the wild, close in time to symptoms, we are likely to keep finding this null association. We increasingly think of interoception more as a dynamic, psychophysiological state that is highly subject to contextual manipulation, rather than as a trait.
August 27, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I think until we start measuring interoception in the wild, close in time to symptoms, we are likely to keep finding this null association. We increasingly think of interoception more as a dynamic, psychophysiological state that is highly subject to contextual manipulation, rather than as a trait.
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
New preprint! 🧠
Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10).
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10).
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Ongoing thoughts at rest reflect functional brain organization and behavior
Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC)-brain connectivity observed when people rest with no external tasks-predicts individual differences in behavior. Yet, rest is not idle; it involves streams...
www.biorxiv.org
August 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
New preprint! 🧠
Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10).
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Our mind wanders at rest. By periodically probing ongoing thoughts during resting-state fMRI, we show these thoughts are reflected in brain network dynamics and contribute to pervasive links between functional brain architecture and everyday behavior (1/10).
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
In partnership with metapsy.org we built an interactive dashboard for exploring the data. Users can:
• Filter studies by characteristics
• Test different analysis parameters
• Test moderators
• Download figures and reports
Dashboard: metapsy.org/sypres/psilo...
• Filter studies by characteristics
• Test different analysis parameters
• Test moderators
• Download figures and reports
Dashboard: metapsy.org/sypres/psilo...
August 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
In partnership with metapsy.org we built an interactive dashboard for exploring the data. Users can:
• Filter studies by characteristics
• Test different analysis parameters
• Test moderators
• Download figures and reports
Dashboard: metapsy.org/sypres/psilo...
• Filter studies by characteristics
• Test different analysis parameters
• Test moderators
• Download figures and reports
Dashboard: metapsy.org/sypres/psilo...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
🍄 Our new living systematic review and meta-analysis on psilocybin for depression is out. Here's what we found and the open science infrastructure we built to support it 🧪🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
🍄 Our new living systematic review and meta-analysis on psilocybin for depression is out. Here's what we found and the open science infrastructure we built to support it 🧪🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
I have the pleasure of speaking at ESI-SyNC this year about the neurophenomenology of breathwork and DMT 🧠✨
Do come if you can!
Do come if you can!
What shifts in our brain when our consciousness shifts? On Sept 8-9, we will explore this question at ESI-SyNC 2025 - with exciting talks, posters and discussions on the neural dynamics of altered consciousness, from psychedelics to breathwork, near-death experiences and meditation.
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(1/2)
August 4, 2025 at 8:09 AM
I have the pleasure of speaking at ESI-SyNC this year about the neurophenomenology of breathwork and DMT 🧠✨
Do come if you can!
Do come if you can!
Unfortunately I can't make it, but there in academic spirit at @assc28.bsky.social.
If you're there, do check out our poster on the dose-dependent neurophenomenology of the psychedelic DMT 👇
@trisbek.bsky.social will be there to answer any q's 🧠
P165 Tuesday @12:30-13:30
If you're there, do check out our poster on the dose-dependent neurophenomenology of the psychedelic DMT 👇
@trisbek.bsky.social will be there to answer any q's 🧠
P165 Tuesday @12:30-13:30
July 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Unfortunately I can't make it, but there in academic spirit at @assc28.bsky.social.
If you're there, do check out our poster on the dose-dependent neurophenomenology of the psychedelic DMT 👇
@trisbek.bsky.social will be there to answer any q's 🧠
P165 Tuesday @12:30-13:30
If you're there, do check out our poster on the dose-dependent neurophenomenology of the psychedelic DMT 👇
@trisbek.bsky.social will be there to answer any q's 🧠
P165 Tuesday @12:30-13:30
Yesterday I submitted my PhD thesis! 🥂
I'm now awaiting on the viva (17th June) to finalise everything, but am looking for job opportunities following this. If you could share this post far and wide, I'd really appreciate it.
Below is a (very) brief about me.
I'm now awaiting on the viva (17th June) to finalise everything, but am looking for job opportunities following this. If you could share this post far and wide, I'd really appreciate it.
Below is a (very) brief about me.
May 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Yesterday I submitted my PhD thesis! 🥂
I'm now awaiting on the viva (17th June) to finalise everything, but am looking for job opportunities following this. If you could share this post far and wide, I'd really appreciate it.
Below is a (very) brief about me.
I'm now awaiting on the viva (17th June) to finalise everything, but am looking for job opportunities following this. If you could share this post far and wide, I'd really appreciate it.
Below is a (very) brief about me.
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
Our latest paper on DMT phenomenology, led by Pascal Michael, exploring the mis/matches with near-death experiences, showing that while 95% on DMT had at least one NDE feature, many classic NDE features were absent & only a very few had NDE-like trips in any way.
doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...
doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...
doi.org
May 19, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Our latest paper on DMT phenomenology, led by Pascal Michael, exploring the mis/matches with near-death experiences, showing that while 95% on DMT had at least one NDE feature, many classic NDE features were absent & only a very few had NDE-like trips in any way.
doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...
doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
I was invited to join as Editorial Board Member of a new @elsevierconnect.bsky.social journal
Here's why I #declined an uncompensated role in #AcademicPublishing 🧵🧪🧠📈
Here's why I #declined an uncompensated role in #AcademicPublishing 🧵🧪🧠📈
May 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I was invited to join as Editorial Board Member of a new @elsevierconnect.bsky.social journal
Here's why I #declined an uncompensated role in #AcademicPublishing 🧵🧪🧠📈
Here's why I #declined an uncompensated role in #AcademicPublishing 🧵🧪🧠📈
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
After 3 years in the making, our Registered Report is out in @nathumbehav.nature.com!
We analyse nationally representative UK data from 3,340 adolescents (aged 11–19) to examine how social media use differs between those with and without mental health conditions. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We analyse nationally representative UK data from 3,340 adolescents (aged 11–19) to examine how social media use differs between those with and without mental health conditions. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Social media use in adolescents with and without mental health conditions - Nature Human Behaviour
Using a nationally representative UK sample of adolescents with clinical-level mental health symptoms, this Registered Report examined differences in social media use. The results suggest that adolesc...
www.nature.com
May 6, 2025 at 7:35 AM
After 3 years in the making, our Registered Report is out in @nathumbehav.nature.com!
We analyse nationally representative UK data from 3,340 adolescents (aged 11–19) to examine how social media use differs between those with and without mental health conditions. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We analyse nationally representative UK data from 3,340 adolescents (aged 11–19) to examine how social media use differs between those with and without mental health conditions. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
How I freed my mind: A quest for meaning and expansion.
Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, on a journey taking in religion and psychedelics.
www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, on a journey taking in religion and psychedelics.
www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
How I freed my mind: A quest for meaning and expansion | BPS
Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, on a journey taking in religion and psychedelics.
www.bps.org.uk
April 30, 2025 at 7:48 AM
How I freed my mind: A quest for meaning and expansion.
Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, on a journey taking in religion and psychedelics.
www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Michiel van Elk, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, on a journey taking in religion and psychedelics.
www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
Our new paper - the first peer-reviewed brain and phenomenological examination of 5-MeO-DMT is out in Neuro of Consciousness.
TLDR: We tested whether ‘the mount Everest’ of psychedelics could induce a complete state of consciousness deconstruction while preserving awareness. 1/n
#neuroskyence
TLDR: We tested whether ‘the mount Everest’ of psychedelics could induce a complete state of consciousness deconstruction while preserving awareness. 1/n
#neuroskyence
April 23, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Our new paper - the first peer-reviewed brain and phenomenological examination of 5-MeO-DMT is out in Neuro of Consciousness.
TLDR: We tested whether ‘the mount Everest’ of psychedelics could induce a complete state of consciousness deconstruction while preserving awareness. 1/n
#neuroskyence
TLDR: We tested whether ‘the mount Everest’ of psychedelics could induce a complete state of consciousness deconstruction while preserving awareness. 1/n
#neuroskyence
Reposting for later but multi-lab studies are certainly the way forward
A much-needed joint effort from five labs to see which behavioral effects of psilocybin in mice are reliable, and which may be spurious 🐁🍄
@theborislab.bsky.social @mazenkheirbek.bsky.social @indigenerd.bsky.social Vikaas Sohal and Stephan Lammel 👏
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@theborislab.bsky.social @mazenkheirbek.bsky.social @indigenerd.bsky.social Vikaas Sohal and Stephan Lammel 👏
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A multi-institutional investigation of psilocybin's effects on mouse behavior
Studies reporting novel therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs are rapidly emerging. However, the reproducibility and reliability of these findings could remain uncertain for years. Here, we impleme...
www.biorxiv.org
April 9, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposting for later but multi-lab studies are certainly the way forward
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
After blowing the whistle on a psychedelic clergy study over 18 months ago, I recently received this letter from
Johns Hopkins' Office of Human Subjects Research finding multiple counts of "serious non-compliance" with federal human subject protections.
www.psychedeliccandor.org/p/breaking-j...
Johns Hopkins' Office of Human Subjects Research finding multiple counts of "serious non-compliance" with federal human subject protections.
www.psychedeliccandor.org/p/breaking-j...
Breaking: Johns Hopkins Psychedelic Clergy Study Found to Have Multiple Counts of "Serious Non-Compliance" with Federal Human Subject Protections
Unauthorized donor involvement and unauthorized study team members "significantly compromised" human research protection program, per JHU, citing other concerns for participants' rights and welfare.
www.psychedeliccandor.org
March 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
After blowing the whistle on a psychedelic clergy study over 18 months ago, I recently received this letter from
Johns Hopkins' Office of Human Subjects Research finding multiple counts of "serious non-compliance" with federal human subject protections.
www.psychedeliccandor.org/p/breaking-j...
Johns Hopkins' Office of Human Subjects Research finding multiple counts of "serious non-compliance" with federal human subject protections.
www.psychedeliccandor.org/p/breaking-j...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
The 2025 Neuroscience of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
The 2025 Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
mpe-project.info/the-mpe-proj...
The 2025 Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
mpe-project.info/the-mpe-proj...
The MPE Project – MPE Project
mpe-project.info
March 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The 2025 Neuroscience of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
The 2025 Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
mpe-project.info/the-mpe-proj...
The 2025 Computational Phenomenology of Pure Awareness Prize has been announced.
mpe-project.info/the-mpe-proj...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
Olaf Blanke and I are pleased to announce the opening of a funded PhD position in cognitive and contemplative neuroscience at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center entitled "Neurophenomenological Study of Non-Dual Mindfulness Meditation and Its Impact on Self and Agency" Thanks for sharing this ad!
February 25, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Olaf Blanke and I are pleased to announce the opening of a funded PhD position in cognitive and contemplative neuroscience at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center entitled "Neurophenomenological Study of Non-Dual Mindfulness Meditation and Its Impact on Self and Agency" Thanks for sharing this ad!
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, alters perception and induces hallucinations. In this preprint, we show through visual illusions, fMRI and modeling that psilocybin affects contextual computations, a potentially general mechanism of psychedelics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Psilocybin alters visual contextual computations
Psilocybin alters perception and brain dynamics. Contextual computations are ubiquitous in the brain. Here, we investigate the effects of psilocybin using psychophysics, ultra-high field functional MR...
www.biorxiv.org
February 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, alters perception and induces hallucinations. In this preprint, we show through visual illusions, fMRI and modeling that psilocybin affects contextual computations, a potentially general mechanism of psychedelics.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I recently talked for @aliusresearch.org about our neurophenomenological study of the psychedelic DMT.
Check it out below if you're interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and psychedelics!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFk...
Check it out below if you're interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and psychedelics!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFk...
February 10, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I recently talked for @aliusresearch.org about our neurophenomenological study of the psychedelic DMT.
Check it out below if you're interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and psychedelics!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFk...
Check it out below if you're interested in the neuroscience of consciousness and psychedelics!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFk...
Reposted by Evan Lewis-Healey
Psychedelic-mediated Reversal of General Anesthesia and Restoration of Brain Dynamics in Rat
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
January 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Psychedelic-mediated Reversal of General Anesthesia and Restoration of Brain Dynamics in Rat
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Check out our preprint on the neural and experience dynamics induced by the psychedelic DMT on @researchhubf.bsky.social
#DeSci #OpenScience
tinyurl.com/2mrspzrc
#DeSci #OpenScience
tinyurl.com/2mrspzrc
Time-resolved neural and experience dynamics of medium and high-dose DMT
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a potent and fast-acting psychedelic drug that induces a radical reorganisation of the contents of consciousness, comprising the dissolution of time and space and perce...
tinyurl.com
January 30, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Check out our preprint on the neural and experience dynamics induced by the psychedelic DMT on @researchhubf.bsky.social
#DeSci #OpenScience
tinyurl.com/2mrspzrc
#DeSci #OpenScience
tinyurl.com/2mrspzrc