Characterization and prediction of acute and sustained response to psychedelic psilocybin in a mindfulness group retreat

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.

From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner

“…Given the strict regulations in places governing clinical investigations with psychedelics, research is often conducted in medically monitored hospital environments, although care has been taken to incorporate nature imagery into psilocybin therapy rooms. A recent study examining the effects of mindfulness meditation on the psilocybin experience was conducted in the less clinical setting of an alpine meditation retreat centre, where the practice of mindfulness meditation was found to enhance psilocybin's positive effects while appearing to counteract potential dysphoric or anxiety reactions, with the pristine retreat setting likely contributing to this finding [155]. The current result of natural settings affecting psychedelic-induced nature-relatedness changes, together with the known benefits of increased nature relatedness and exposure to the individual and potentially, society, suggests that providing monitored psychedelic sessions in more natural settings may hold a unique potential and supports the principle of incorporating nature into the psychedelic-therapeutic centres of the future.…”

2019: A year of expansion in psychedelic research, industry, and deregulation

“…Additionally, there was a call to consider individual differences, such as age-related concerns in psychedelic treatment (Aday et al., 2020), and the first experiment to evaluate microdosing in a strictly older adult population was published online in late 2019 (Family et al., 2020). Finally, 2019 was an important year for psychedelic research because a number of impactful findings were published on the drugs’ effects on depression (Davis et al., 2019), substance misuse (Garcia-Romeu et al., 2019), mindfulness (Smigielski et al., 2019), life satisfaction (Uthaug et al., 2019), nature relatedness (Kettner et al., 2019), spiritual experiences (Griffiths et al., 2019), and neural processing (Pallavicini et al., 2019).…”

P300‐mediated modulations in self–other processing under psychedelic psilocybin are related to connectedness and changed meaning: A window into the self–other overlap

“…Specifically and critically, under the pharmacological stimulation, the probability of attributing the “self” voice to the “self” source dropped significantly more than the probability of recognizing the “other” voice as “other.” This finding confirms the hypothesis being tested and guiding the present work, which posits an alteration in self‐referential processing caused by the drug. Reports of psilocybin‐induced aberrant self‐experience, lessened ego‐centricity, or even states of “selflessness,” particularly under higher doses can be found in recent research literature (Smigielski, Kometer, et al, 2019; Smigielski, Scheidegger, Kometer, & Vollenweider, 2019). Impaired self‐monitoring for speech production and recognition suggests affected mechanisms of cognitive control and motor‐to‐sensory transformations (Nozari & Novick, 2017), but it may also reflect a unique profile of psychedelic compounds altering self‐related processes.…”