Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat
In a double-blind trial giving psilocybin or placebo to meditators during a 5-day mindfulness retreat, psilocybin deepened meditation and produced positively experienced self-dissolution without increased anxiety, with openness, optimism and emotional reappraisal predicting the acute response. Greater acute self-dissolution under psilocybin predicted larger improvements in mindfulness and psychosocial functioning at four months, suggesting meditation enhances psilocybin’s positive effects and that emotion/attention regulation and transient selflessness modulate longer-term outcomes.
Authors
- Milan Scheidegger
- Franz Vollenweider
- Matthias Kometer
Published
Abstract
Meditation and psychedelics have played key roles in humankind’s search for self-transcendence and personal change. However, neither their possible synergistic effects, nor related state and trait predictors have been experimentally studied. To elucidate these issues, we administered double-blind the model psychedelic drug psilocybin (315 μg/kg PO) or placebo to meditators (n = 39) during a 5-day mindfulness group retreat. Psilocybin increased meditation depth and incidence of positively experienced self-dissolution along the perception-hallucination continuum, without concomitant anxiety. Openness, optimism, and emotional reappraisal were predictors of the acute response. Compared with placebo, psilocybin enhanced post-intervention mindfulness and produced larger positive changes in psychosocial functioning at a 4-month follow-up, which were corroborated by external ratings, and associated with magnitude of acute self-dissolution experience. Meditation seems to enhance psilocybin’s positive effects while counteracting possible dysphoric responses. These findings highlight the interactions between non-pharmacological and pharmacological factors, and the role of emotion/attention regulation in shaping the experiential quality of psychedelic states, as well as the experience of selflessness as a modulator of behavior and attitudes. A better comprehension of mechanisms underlying most beneficial psychedelic experiences may guide therapeutic interventions across numerous mental conditions in the form of psychedelic-assisted applications.
Research Summary of 'Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat'
Introduction
Earlier research suggests both classic psychedelics (notably psilocybin) and meditation can occasion profound self-transcendent states that may yield lasting psychological benefits, and that the phenomenology of psychedelic-induced self-dissolution overlaps with rare deep meditative states. However, the factors that shape whether a psychedelic experience is positive or distressing—the so-called set (traits, expectations, mood) and setting (environment, social context)—and how meditation and psychedelics interact have not been tested prospectively in a controlled design. Prior clinical work has linked intensity of mystical- or self-dissolution-type experiences to therapeutic outcomes, but direct comparisons between meditation- and psilocybin-induced experiences and the trait/state predictors of those responses remain under-explored. Smigielski and colleagues set out to quantify how mindfulness practice and a single dose of psilocybin interact in experienced meditators attending a structured 5-day retreat. The study aimed to (1) track state mindfulness and meditation depth across the retreat and test whether psilocybin modulated these measures, (2) compare acute alterations of consciousness and mystical-type experiences between psilocybin and placebo using validated scales (5D-ASC, M-scale), (3) model dispositional and state predictors of acute self-dissolution, and (4) assess whether acute phenomenology predicted enduring changes in attitudes and behaviour at a 4-month follow-up. The authors hypothesised that mindfulness training would deepen psychedelic effects while buffering distress, and that combined psilocybin-plus-meditation would produce larger sustained changes than meditation alone.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
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- APA Citation
Smigielski, L., Kometer, M., Scheidegger, M., Krähenmann, R., Huber, T., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2019). Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50612-3
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