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Home/Research/Ayahuasca/Creativity

Ayahuasca for Creativity

8 papers and 0 clinical trials exploring ayahuasca as a treatment for creativity.

Compoundclassic psychedelic

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is a botanical decoction combining DMT with MAO-inhibiting harmala alkaloids, producing intense psychedelic effects lasting 3-6 hours. Clinical trials show rapid, large antidepressant effects from a single dose, with a favourable safety profile in controlled settings.

Full Ayahuasca profile
Indication300 million adults struggling with creative blocks globally.

Creativity

Psychedelics have emerged as potential enhancers of creativity, influencing both divergent and convergent thinking processes. Current research indicates their capacity to disrupt cognitive rigidity and promote innovative thought patterns, warranting further exploration into their therapeutic and recreational applications.

Full Creativity profile

Academic Research

8 papers
Paywallindividual

Ayahuasca-inspired DMT/harmine formulation alters creative thinking dynamics during artistic creation

In a double‑blind, placebo‑controlled within‑subject study using an ecologically valid painting task, an ayahuasca‑inspired DMT/harmine formulation impaired convergent thinking (particularly in participants with higher baseline reasoning) and showed trend‑level reductions in divergent fluency and elaboration. At the process level both DMT/HAR and harmine reduced incubation‑related transitions, while DMT/HAR uniquely decreased transitions from incubation to illumination, indicating psychedelics alter the dynamic pathways to creative insight and that subjective altered meaning and insightfulness selectively predict divergent but not convergent outcomes.

Published
August 16, 2025
Journal
Journal of Psychopharmacology
Authors
Suay, D., Aicher, H. D., Singer, B., Mueller, M. J., Jelusic, A., Calzaferri, L., Springfeld, P., Dornbierer, D. A., Scheidegger, M.
Paywallindividual

Altered State of Consciousness and Mental Imagery as a Function of N, N-dimethyltryptamine Concentration in Ritualistic Ayahuasca Users

In ritualistic Santo Daime users, ayahuasca produced pronounced alterations in consciousness—especially oceanic boundlessness, visual restructuralization and ego dissolution—that correlated with peak serum DMT concentrations. Standard measures of mental imagery were largely unchanged (though perspective shifts and cognitive flexibility correlated with DMT), and peak alkaloid levels did not track dose, suggesting DMT primarily drives the acute phenomenology while long‑term use may attenuate imagery effects.

Published
September 1, 2023
Journal
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Authors
Ramaekers, J. G., Mallaroni, P., Kloft, L., Reckweg, J., Toennes, S. W., van Oorsouw, K., Mason, N. L.
Paywallindividual

Persisting effects of ayahuasca on empathy, creative thinking, decentering, personality, and well-being

In a naturalistic study of ayahuasca ceremony attendees, a single ingestion was associated with increases in cognitive and implicit emotional empathy, life satisfaction and decentering, and reduced trait neuroticism persisting up to one week, while divergent creative fluency decreased. These short-term changes suggest potential therapeutic relevance for stress-related psychopathology and warrant controlled clinical trials.

Published
October 1, 2021
Journal
Frontiers in Pharmacology
Authors
Kiraga, M. K., Mason, N. L., Uthaug, M. V., van Oorsouw, K., Toennes, S. W., Ramaekers, J. G., Kuypers, K. P. C.
Open Accessindividual

A Qualitative Study of Intention and Impact of Ayahuasca Use by Westerners

This qualitative study interviewed 41 Western participants about their intentions for, and sustained impacts of, facilitated group ayahuasca experiences. Participants reported a wide range of enduring benefits—including improvements in mental health, substance use, health behaviours, relationships, sense of self, creativity, somatic and physical symptoms, nature connectedness and spirituality—while two participants reported problematic experiences likely related to set and setting; the authors discuss implications for research and practice within a humanistic framework.

Published
April 21, 2021
Journal
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Authors
Bathje, G. J., Fenton, J., Pillersdorf, D., Hill, L. C.
Open Accessindividual

Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on affect and cognitive thinking style and their association with ego dissolution

This longitudinal study (n=57) investigated the effects of ayahuasca and found improved convergent thinking/creativity, decreased ratings of depression and stress up to four weeks later. These changes were significantly correlated with the level of ego dissolution experienced during the acute trip/ceremony.

Published
August 13, 2018
Journal
Psychopharmacology
Authors
Uthaug, M. V., Van Oorsouw, &. K., Kuypers, &. K. P. C., Van Boxtel, &. M., Broers, N. J., Mason, N. L., Toennes, S. W., Riba, J., Ramaekers, J. G.
Open Accessindividual

Psychological variables implied in the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca: A contextual approach

This retrospective survey study (n=122) compared non-ayahuasca users with ayahuasca users in Decentering, Values, and Public control of the experience of self, and found that although participants who had taken ayahuasca on more than 15 occasions scored higher on Decentering than all other participants, there was no direct correlation between the number of ayahuasca sessions and any of the psychological variables.

Published
June 1, 2018
Journal
Psychiatry Research
Authors
Franquesa, A., Sainz-Cort, A., Gandy, S., Soler, J., Bouso, J. C.

Clinical Trials

0 trials

No clinical trials have been tagged with both Ayahuasca and Creativity yet.

Trials are continuously being added as new studies are registered.

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Search all Ayahuasca papers Search all Creativity trials Full Ayahuasca profile Full Creativity profile