Twice a month, our friends from Blossom will update you on the latest in psychedelic research. Enjoy an in-depth look at major studies and updates on recent psychedelic publications.
Lasting positive changes in mindfulness after a psilocybin experience
Scrolling the latest feeds on Instagram and TikTok and losing an hour doing so, who hasn’t experienced it? We all go through life partly on autopilot. This might be beneficial when brushing teeth or tying shoelaces, but it also means we’re missing the plot as life scrolls by.
The opposite of mindlessness is mindfulness: being aware of the present moment, acknowledging (but not getting lost in) and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Mindfulness is one of the outcomes of meditation and something most of us hope to have more off.
Besides being present, mindfulness is also associated with more openness to new experiences, a positive outlook on life, and less neuroticism. In other words, those who are more mindful also have greater psychological health. Modern forms of behavioural therapy, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), incorporate mindfulness into their practice.
New research into the effects of psychedelics, specifically psilocybin, argues that mindfulness is increased after one or two high doses. The psychedelic experience shares many aspects with being mindful, but do the effects last beyond the acute experience?
A more complete mystical experience predicts more mindfulness three months later
Researchers from Copenhagen University have put this hypothesis to the test. Earlier work found that mindfulness increased in those who had a psychedelic experience. But all previous studies were done either with a very small group of participants or experienced meditators.
In the current study, 42 participants received a high dose of psilocybin and psychological support. The study was done with healthy participants, and no specific therapy was given. Both mindfulness, before and three months after, and mystical experiences, directly after, were measured.
On average, participants reported being 8% more mindful three months after the completion of the study. This change, on a trait that usually doesn’t change throughout life, is similar to that found in people who followed an eight-week mindfulness course. In other words, the sustained change from a psychedelic experience is comparable to over 20 hours of mindfulness practice.
So far, the study has confirmed earlier results in a larger sample. New in this study is that the intensity of the mystical experience (measured with the Mystical Experience Questionnaire) also significantly correlated with mindfulness three months later. Those who had a more intense acute experience were also the people who reported the most significant change in mindfulness.
Though limited by the open-label design, meaning all participants knew they received psilocybin, the study highlights another mechanism through which psychedelics can have lasting positive effects. For these participants, one high-dose psilocybin session boosted their mindfulness by 8%.
More psychedelic research news…
Shared brain connectivity among those in an ayahuasca ceremony
Each brain has a specific fingerprint of connections. This fingerprint is called the functional connectome. An fMRI study investigated how this changed when experienced ayahuasca users participated in a Santo Daime church ceremony.
Though each person’s fingerprint remained separated from the rest, a shared image formed. Switching analogies, it means that each person kept their unique hairstyle, but all were now wearing the same t-shirt.
Findings from two survey studies on psychedelic use and health outcomes
Two analyses of population survey data examined the correlation between psychedelic use and health outcomes. The first study looked at Americans who use MDMA and reported them having a more favorable body mass, fewer heart conditions, cancer, hypertension, or diabetes.
The second study looked closely at the favorable connection between MDMA and psilocybin, and lower psychological distress and suicidality. It finds that for white participants, there was a strong effect. However, for minorities, the benefits of MDMA and psilocybin use were much smaller, showing no relationship for Back, Indigenous, and Multiracial participants.
A ‘flatter’ brain landscape under the influence of LSD
If you imagine a signal traveling across the brain as moving between different peaks, then the higher the hills, the less likely a signal is to go to from one area to the next. Under the influence of LSD, the peaks are lowered (e.g. moving from Switzerland to The Netherlands), and you can say that the brain is more flexible.
The current fMRI study (that also used other brain measures) reports on this change and argues that a brain under the influence of LSD is less controlled top-down and that more bottom-up processing can take place.