Recent data on the impact of the psychedelic experience:

human laboratory studies

Section Overview

We will review findings on the impact of psychedelics on people’s lives as documented in

– Controlled lab studies with healthy participants

– Controlled studies with patients

We will discuss MDMA and neuromechanisms in a separate section

Healthy Participant Studies

Griffiths and colleagues (@ Johns Hopkins) pioneer:– Standard instruments from other fields (e.g.,

Hood scale)– Carefully prepared participants & setting

But does this mystical experience only happen to prepared drug-naïve spiritually inclined people in their lab?

– No

So far impossible to predict who will become very anxious, but dose escalation is better than starting with high dose

Seemingly lasting positive effects, reminiscent of early research on LSD and creativity

(Griffiths, Richards, McCann, Jesse 2006)

How Personally Meaningful was it?

Single Most

Among Top Five

Among Top Ten

Once Every 5 Years

Once a Year

Once a Month

Once a Week

Everyday Experience

PsilocybinMethylphenidate

(Griffiths, Richards, Johnson, McCann, Jesse 2008)

Impact was still undiminished one year later

(Johnson, Richards, Griffiths 2008)

Concern: Are effects due to hard-to-copy experimental conditions?

(Johnson, MacLean, Reissig, Prisinzano, Griffiths 2011)

Mystical-type experiences after Salvinorin A in people NOT chosen for their religious/spiritual

practice

Percent of Maximum

0 20 40 60 80 100

Percept. & Cog. Changes

Dread of Ego DissolutionOceanic Boundlessness

Extrovertive MysticismInterpretive Mysticism

Introvertive Mysticism

Hood Mysticism Scales

ASC Scales

Placebo

Psilocybin (Griffiths et al., 2006)

MDA (Baggott et al., 2010)

Psilocybin (Hasler et al., 2004)

We also see mystical phenomena studying MDA in a hospital

(Griffiths, Johnson, Richards, Richards, McCann, Jesse 2011)

Despite careful preparation, anxiety is often present(30 mg/70 kg Psilocybin)

(Johnson, Sewell, Griffiths 2011)

Shroom Hangover?

(Griffiths, Johnson, Richards, Richards, McCann, Jesse 2011)

Increasing up to a high dose was better tolerated

than starting with a high dose

Well-Being / Life Satisfaction Persisting Positive Mood

(MacLean, Johnson, Griffiths 2011)

Some participants reported increases in personality dimension “Openness” -- changes correlated with ratings of mystical experience

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

(McCrae and Costa 1985)

Openness to Experience

Intellectual, creative, artistic, imaginative, curious, original

Conscientious Organized, systematic, thorough, hardworking, neat, dependable

Extraversion Extroverted, talkative, assertive, gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing

Agreeableness Sympathetic, cooperative, warm, tactful, considerate, trustful

Neuroticism Unenvious, relaxed, calm, stable, confident, effective

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

(McCrae and Costa 1985)

Openness to Experience

Intellectual, creative, artistic, imaginative, curious, original

Conscientious Organized, systematic, thorough, hardworking, neat, dependable

Extraversion Extroverted, talkative, assertive, gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing

Agreeableness Sympathetic, cooperative, warm, tactful, considerate, trustful

Neuroticism Unenvious, relaxed, calm, stable, confident, effective

The Big Five vs. Myers-Briggs

(McCrae and Costa 1985)

Openness to Experience

Sensing-intuition scale (on the ‘N’ side)

Conscientious Judging-Perceiving scale (‘J’ side)

Extraversion Extraversion-Introversion scale (‘E’ side)

Agreeableness Thinking-Feeling scale (‘F’ side)

Neuroticism Not measured by MBTI

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

(McCrae and Costa 1985)

Openness to Experience

Intellectual, creative, artistic, imaginative, curious, original

Conscientious Organized, systematic, thorough, hardworking, neat, dependable

Extraversion Extroverted, talkative, assertive, gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing

Agreeableness Sympathetic, cooperative, warm, tactful, considerate, trustful

Neuroticism Unenvious, relaxed, calm, stable, confident, effective

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

(McCrae and Costa 1985)

Openness to Experience

Intellectual, creative, artistic, imaginative, curious, original

Conscientious Organized, systematic, thorough, hardworking, neat, dependable

Extraversion Extroverted, talkative, assertive, gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing

Agreeableness Sympathetic, cooperative, warm, tactful, considerate, trustful

Neuroticism Unenvious, relaxed, calm, stable, confident, effective

Similar result from early LSD creativity study

McGlothlin, Cohen, McClothlin. “Long lasting effects of LSD on normals”. Arch Gen Psychiat. 1967;17:521-532.

Openness usually doesn't increase much once you're in your 20s

Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A metaanalysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 3–27.

Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A metaanalysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 3–27.

Other aspects of personality improve

ConscientiousnessAgreeableness

Openness to experienceNeuroticism (Scored in reverse)

Patient Studies

Grob and colleagues (2011) conduct a pilot study of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety in terminal cancer patients

– Results suggestive, but not conclusive

Moreno and colleagues (2006) conduct a pilot study of psilocybin for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

– Results even less conclusive

Terminal cancer patients have reduced anxiety after participation in psilocybin study

But lack of a real placebo comparison makes it impossible to say this was due to the psilocybin session

(Grob, Danforth, Chopra, Hagerty, McKay, Halberstadt, Greer, 2011)

Psilocybin-OCD pilot study even less conclusive

No placebo & main OCD measurements only made til 24 hours after sessions

(Moreno, Wiegand, Taitano, Delgado 2006)

Obs

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OC

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Issues and Caveats

Can’t predict – who will be benefit, who won’t– who will have anxiety, who won’t

Mechanisms of lasting change unknown / unstudied– Vollenweider and Kometer (2010) hypothesize

a role for brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in sustained antidepressant-like effects of psychedelics

Recent pilot studies in patients show safety but can’t (yet?) prove benefits (newer studies are ongoing, including psilocybin for cancer anxiety, smoking cessation)