Research Hypothesis on LSD-Induced Rainbow Effect on White Surfaces

[Collin55]

Hey everyone,

I’d like to share an interesting observation I made during my last LSD experience, and I’m curious if anyone here has had a similar experience or can offer an explanation. During the trip, I noticed that white surfaces—such as smartphone screens, walls, or other white objects—exhibited a subtle rainbow shimmer or glow.

It wasn’t as if the white light split into a full rainbow, but rather it seemed like the individual wavelengths of the white light became more perceptible, creating an additional rainbow-like sheen. The effect was constant and didn’t fade throughout the experience.

I’m wondering if this might have something to do with how LSD alters the brain’s processing of light. We know that white light is composed of all visible wavelengths, and LSD might affect the brain’s ability to perceive these wavelengths as a unified “white.” Instead, the wavelengths might become more distinct, making them appear as separate colors, which could explain the rainbow effect.

My theory is that LSD could be altering the visual system in a way that allows the individual wavelengths of white light to be perceived more distinctly, almost like an enhancement or layer over the white surface, without changing the white color itself.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? What do you think could be the reason for this “rainbow shimmer” effect on white surfaces? Or is there any scientific explanation for how LSD could affect visual perception in this way?

I added a picture to simulate how this rainbow effect kinda looks like when you look at your Smartphone screen

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this!

Best regards

 

[locky]

I've had the same observations and conclusions as you while on LSD, my conclusion was the same as if I'm able to perceive individual colors wavelenght separatly at the same time as normal perception of them, so yes, looking at a white object, i'll perceived the white colors but overlay with yellow, reb, blue aura over it, my conclusion was also that my brain was able to distinguish each wavelenght instead of just showing me the mixed effect of perceiving only white, same would apply when looking at a green object for example, I'll perceive also a yelloe and blue aura on top of it, the two colors that make the object green

 

[Egzoset]

I’d like to share an interesting observation I made during my last LSD experience, and I’m curious if anyone here has had a similar experience or can offer an explanation.

Well i'm forced to notice this is focussed on perception, while i can't forget about having dilated pupils - which ChatGPT may have neglected too although i must also admit having no easy access to Google's translator, dealing with a text in picture...

 

[newusername1]

I think it has to do with how we construct geometric shapes from the visual data from our eyes. Many of those weird deepdream images look very much like LSD visuals, colorshift effects included. I don't know exactly why these AI processed images look like that, but i think it has to do with shapes, rather than colors. Probably something like how shades and shadowy areas tell us something about shapes.
But i'm just guessing.

 

[quantumtantra]

Maybe it's related with the opening of third eye and the perception of other energy in the visual spectra and beyond


Ref

The Third Eye corresponds to the Forehead Chakra and is located at the center of the forehead. The word The Third Eye in Kabbalah means 'Wisdom’. The Forehead Chakra has 144 petals and 12 divisions and each division has 12 petals and consists of violet, blue, red, orange, yellow and green pranas. The Third Eye is the center of wisdom or lower intuition and is the center of the lower Buddhic or cosmic consciousness. In the activation of the Third Eye, lies the gateway to the spiritual world. The opening of the third eye will lead to knowing the truth without the support of logic or reason.

Physiological Functions

Energizing the Third Eye causes the whole body to be flooded with Prana. Malfunctioning of the Third Eye can adversely affect the nervous system. The activation of the Forehead Chakra helps in controlling and energizing the pineal gland and the nervous system.

Higher intuition of Kether and lower intuition of Third Eye are both associated with the faculty of direct inner perception without form.

• Higher intuition of Kether is direct inner perception without form. It is direct knowing without inner visions. Higher intuition of Kether is therefore pure knowing.
• Lower intuition of Third Eye is direct inner perception with form. Opening of the Third Eye leads to direct knowing with clairvoyance. It is the centre of higher clairvoyance and is the ability to know the truth without using the Third Eye. The real Third Eye is on the Forehead Chakra and not on the Ajna Chakra.

In esoteric Buddhism, the Forehead Chakra is known as the 'Lower Budhichitta' and the Crown Chakra or Sahasrara Chakra is known as the 'Higher Budhichitta' or simply 'Budhichitta'.

Third Eye and the Opening of the Third Eye

Let us first understand what wisdom is. It is the knowing through 'Direct Inner Perception' accompanied by inner vision. Third Eye is the centre of wisdom and is the Third Eye. With the opening of the Third Eye, the person will be able to perceive the true nature of things.

The 'Inner Eye' has great power and knows. One can understand the nature of things without applying logic or reason. King Solomon was blessed with the power to understand and discern the quality of the heart of the person without using logic or reason. He would use his Third Eye to understand whether the person was guilty of some wrongdoing or not.

"With the use of Third Eye or the Third Eye, one can understand the nature of an object just by direct inner seeing, without having to study, without having to use logic or reason. "

-Master Choa Kok Sui

 

[drpotato]

this might not be the answer you are looking for but, when one takes a hallucinogen, one tends to experience hallucinations
Also, its cross linking your pattern recognition functions or overstimulating them, so, its kind of like how a stick in the corner of your eye can transform into a snake for the purposes of warning you and making you jump up or at least get spooked and stop for a moment. your brain is really good at not letting you notice the fact it renders reality in passes that are prioritized within your field of vision, which is probably also why people experience, short vision? where something far away looks close because you are processing reality otherwise normally but you are tripping so hard that you are not really processing as much periphery anymore.

Anyway, LSD and similar psychedelics induces a sort of noise, and then color/pattern recognition gets carried away and induces a full visual expecting a large amount of that surface to be that color, its false positive triggering a pre-render so you dont realize your brain is literally a TI-99/4 with an RTX9080Ti that isnt allowed to do math with numbers, only colors and shapes. usually something tangible actually sets it off, otherwise you would find reality rather difficult to navigate once you start getting hallucinations fractalizing off other hallucinations