Out of the box: A psychedelic model to study the creative mind

Introduction

Creativity is framed as a multi-component construct composed of flexible divergent thinking—generating alternative solutions—and rigid convergent thinking—finding the single best solution. Kuypers outlines that divergent thinking better predicts creative behaviour in daily life and that reduced cognitive flexibility is characteristic of several psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety and PTSD. Anecdotal, historical and preliminary experimental evidence is cited suggesting that classic psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin and ayahuasca can enhance flexible, divergent thinking in neurotypical individuals, and initial clinical studies report therapeutic benefits in patient samples that can persist for weeks. The paper asks how psychedelics produce this shift toward greater cognitive flexibility and proposes that understanding the underlying neurobiology will clarify both therapeutic mechanisms and broader applications where flexible thinking is needed. To address this gap, Kuypers proposes an integrative model that links large-scale brain networks, neurotransmitter systems and personal factors (for example mood, openness and empathy) and proposes experimental pharmacological imaging studies in healthy volunteers to test the model's predictions.