I became a neuroscientist to help us understand how humans gain deeper insight and observation into themselves, life, and being during altered states of consciousness. I never expected to write a post about a microdose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). When I graduated with a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2019, I completed my thesis on synaptic plasticity in preclinical models of cocaine and methamphetamine addiction. I was eager to pursue work on humans. I arrived at the University of Chicago with the ambition of studying altered-state experiences, beginning with those induced by cannabis and its principal psychoactive constituent, THC. “Cannabis?” I remember hearing this on my first day in the Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory. “We have another study I’d like you to work on involving microdoses of LSD and another involving [methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine] MDMA; then maybe you can look into THC.” I was exactly where I needed to be. In integrated information theory, a hotly debated theory of consciousness, the more complex a model of consciousness, the higher the “level of consciousness.” In practice, neural complexity …