Cognitive Interruptions for Psychedelic Therapy: A Study

Introduction

The use of psychedelic therapy for treating various mental health disorders is gaining popularity. Researchers are exploring the therapeutic outcomes of psychedelic therapy by investigating the “experience efficacy” of certain experiences. In this study, researchers tested whether intentional cognitive interruptions could manipulate the psychedelic experience and examine its association with reduced long-term mental health changes.

Methodology

The study included 20 healthy volunteers who underwent two intravenous administrations of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) or placebo while being scanned with combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography. During one scan, participants were asked to verbally rate the subjective intensity of drug effects every minute, while the other scan did not involve any ratings. The subjective ratings of the experience were measured using the 11 Dimensions Altered States of Consciousness (11D-ASC) questionnaire after drug effects subsided. The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) was measured one day before and two weeks after DMT.

Results

The results showed that the total mean ASC score was higher for the scan without ratings. Factors previously identified as moderators of clinical efficacy had higher scores in the scan without ratings. The reductions in depressive symptom ratings after DMT were larger for the scan without ratings. These findings suggest that intentionally interrupting the psychedelic experience by increasing cognitive load can lower the subjective intensity of drug effects and examine its association with reduced long-term mental health changes.

Conclusion

The study concludes that intentional cognitive interruptions, such as giving subjective ratings, can be used to study experience efficacy. However, the conclusions are limited by a small sample size, mild interruption, and secondary analysis of data not intended to test this hypothesis. Future studies should use more cognitively demanding procedures to examine safety and efficacy of psychedelic therapy.

Related Topics

• Psychedelic therapy
• N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• Altered states of consciousness
• Depression
• Mental health disorders
• Therapeutic outcomes

Keywords

• Psychedelic therapy
• N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• Altered states of consciousness
• Depression
• Mental health disorders
• Cognitive interruptions

Originally Post From https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2821159

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