Current: Baseline Modular State — Strict separation between Self (DMN) and Task-Positive Networks.
Intra-DMN Coherence
0.92
High internal synchrony
Global Brain Entropy
1.14 bit
Shannon signal diversity
DMN-Visual Functional Coupling
-0.48
Anti-correlated (Segregated)
Alpha Band (8-12Hz) Power
100%
Normal cortical gating
Node & Pathway Inspector
Posterior Cingulate (PCC / Precuneus)DMN Hub
Primary anchor of the autobiography, self-location, and narrative continuity.
5-HT₂A Density: Very High
Current Firing: Desynchronized
mPFC Correlation: 0.94
Global Reach: Constrained
Neurobiological Cascade
1. Rigid Waking State: In normal consciousness, the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC) and medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) maintain tightly synchronized low-entropy oscillations. The DMN acts as an orchestral conductor, suppressing unconstrained cross-modal dialogue.
The Default Mode Network (mPFC, PCC, precuneus, inferior parietal lobule) constructs the sense of an individual self with a past and future. During ego death, 5-HT₂A agonist signaling on deep cortical layer V pyramidal cells destabilizes alpha rhythm pacemakers, causing the DMN to disintegrate into decoupled sub-units.
2. Global Hyper-Connectivity & Entropy
As modular boundaries dissolve, brain networks that never communicate under normal waking consciousness form transient, high-bandwidth functional connections. Visual cortices couple directly with auditory and limbic circuits, generating vivid synesthesia and unitive experience.
3. REBUS (Relaxed Beliefs Under Psychedelics)
Formulated by Carhart-Harris & Friston (2019), the REBUS model posits that the brain operates on hierarchical predictive coding. Ego death represents the collapse of high-level top-down "priors" (the ego construct), liberating raw bottom-up sensory streams to flood conscious awareness.