The “High” Mind: Towards a Unified Theoretical Account of Insight Problem-Solving, Predictive Processing & Relevance Realization Through Oneirogenic Psychedelics

Albeit not well-understood, the notion that psychedelic experiences are conducive to instances of insight problem-solving has been a well-known phenomenon among cognitive scientists for decades. Recent research has demonstrated areas of intersection between the psychedelic and dreaming states with proposals arguing that a shared neural basis may be what leads to insight experiences. Both states involve virtual experiences that are rife with constant sensory changes, leading to updates in predictive coding and enhanced cognitive flexibility. However, research considering the potential implications of this finding for converging theories on relevance realization and predictive processing have been limited. Emerging studies in the neuroscientific and computer scientific literature have revealed that the dream state might be an evolutionary adaptation to assist the brain’s generalization in the context of the predictive processing framework. Indeed, these ideas may be integrated with the overarching account of relevance realization given that it is a framework that underpins all cognitive processes and has strong causal interactions with the predictive processing theory. This paper examines the extent to which psychedelics may serve as a modulator and as a possible facilitator of the predictive processing and relevance realization frameworks, using current theories on 4E cognition, the effect of psychedelics on insight, and the connections between dreaming and predictive processing as apparatuses for exploring this view. It proposes that psychedelic research has the profound potential to elucidate much of the enigma surrounding relevance realization and by extension, cognition itself. Further work on the use of psychedelics as an investigative tool in cognitive scientific research is warranted.