Depressive DisordersPTSDAnxiety DisordersSubstance Use Disorders (SUD)Healthy VolunteersMicrodosingCreativityInterpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness

Psychedelic Cognition-The Unreached Frontier of Psychedelic Science

This paper (2022) reviews the current state of research regarding the effect psychedelics have on different aspects of cognition. The gaps regarding the acute effects psychedelics have on cognition are discussed as well as the findings related to how psychedelics impact memory, attention, reasoning, social cognition, and creativity.

Authors

  • Balaet, M.

Published

Frontiers in Neuroscience
meta Study

Abstract

Psychedelic compounds hold the promise of changing the face of neuroscience and psychiatry as we know it. There have been numerous proposals to use them to treat a range of neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD; and trials to date have delivered positive results in favour of the novel therapeutics. Further to the medical use, the wider healthy population is gaining interest in these compounds. We see a surge in personal use of psychedelic drugs for reasons not limited to spiritual enhancement, improved productivity, aiding the management of non-pathological anxiety and depression, and recreational interests. Notably, microdosing-the practice of taking subacute doses of psychedelic compounds-is on the rise. Our knowledge about the effects of psychedelic compounds, however, especially in naturalistic settings, is still fairly limited. In particular, one of the largest gaps concerns the acute effects on cognition caused by psychedelics. Studies carried out to date are riddled with limitations such as having disparate paradigms, small sample sizes, and insufficient breadth of testing on both unhealthy and healthy volunteers. Moreover, the studies are majoritarily limited to laboratory settings and do not assess the effects at multiple dosages within the same paradigm nor at various points throughout the psychedelic experience. This review aims to summarize the studies to date in relation to how psychedelics acutely affect different domains of cognition. In the pursuit of illuminating the current limitations and offering long-term, forward-thinking solutions, this review compares and contrasts findings related to how psychedelics impact memory, attention, reasoning, social cognition, and creativity.

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Research Summary of 'Psychedelic Cognition-The Unreached Frontier of Psychedelic Science'

Introduction

Ȃl opens by placing the current resurgence of interest in classic psychedelics within clinical, research, and public domains, noting promising therapeutic signals for disorders such as depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and others. The introduction highlights a rapid increase in both clinical research and recreational use, including a particular rise in microdosing for perceived cognitive and wellbeing benefits, and points out that much of the early regulatory history curtailed research for decades. The author emphasises that, despite therapeutic enthusiasm and initial positive outcomes, one of the largest evidence gaps concerns the acute effects of psychedelics on discrete cognitive domains, particularly outside tightly controlled laboratory or therapeutic contexts. This review therefore aims to summarise human studies that have assessed acute cognitive effects of classic psychedelics across several domains — memory, attention, reasoning, social cognition, creativity and language — identify inconsistent findings, delineate limitations in the existing literature, and offer guidance for future research. To compile the material, the author conducted a manual literature search between April 2020 and August 2021 using PubMed and Google Scholar with search terms covering cognition and specific psychedelic compounds; all human studies using cognitive tasks to assess psychedelic effects were included and a summary of findings is reported in a supplementary table.

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