Trial reportPsychopharmacology2015
Psilocybin-induced spiritual experiences and insightfulness are associated with synchronization of neuronal oscillations.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of psilocybin on cognitive function: A systematic review.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Pooled it
- Default Mode Network Modulation by Psychedelics: A Systematic Review.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Divergent effects of ketamine and psilocybin on EEG power spectral density in a mismatch negativity paradigm.Psychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study.Translational psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Low doses of LSD reduce broadband oscillatory power and modulate event-related potentials in healthy adults.Psychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Spontaneous and deliberate creative cognition during and after psilocybin exposure.Translational psychiatry · 2021Trial
- P300-mediated modulations in self-other processing under psychedelic psilocybin are related to connectedness and changed meaning: A window into the self-other overlap.Human brain mapping · 2020Trial
- Effective connectivity changes in LSD-induced altered states of consciousness in humans.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Trial
- LSD-induced entropic brain activity predicts subsequent personality change.Human brain mapping · 2016Trial
- The alpha rhythm: from physiology to behavior.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Pilot study of psilocybin in patients with post-treatment lyme disease.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Electrophysiological effects of psilocybin co-administered with midazolam.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neurochemical and Neurophysiological Effects of Intravenous Administration ofThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Psychedelic Modulation of Excitation/Inhibition Balance: A Dual-Phase Neurodevelopmental Model.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2026Review
- Short- and long-term modulation of rat prefrontal cortical activity following single doses of psilocybin.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Intravenous psilocybin induces dose-dependent changes in functional network organization in rat cortex.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- A Computational Account of the Development and Evolution of Psychotic Symptoms.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- An investigation of acute physiological and psychological moderators of psychedelic-induced personality change among healthy volunteers.Neuroscience applied · 2025Article
- High hopes? Precision psychedelic addiction medicine.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleDuring the last years, considerable progress has been made toward understanding the neuronal basis of consciousness by using sophisticated behavioral tasks, brain-imaging techniques, and various psychoactive drugs. Nevertheless, the neuronal mechanisms underlying some of the most intriguing states of consciousness, including spiritual experiences, remain unknown.
objectivesTo elucidate state of consciousness-related neuronal mechanisms, human subjects were given psilocybin, a naturally occurring serotonergic agonist and hallucinogen that has been used for centuries to induce spiritual experiences in religious and medical rituals.
methodsIn this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 50 healthy human volunteers received a moderate dose of psilocybin, while high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were taken during eyes-open and eyes-closed resting states. The current source density and the lagged phase synchronization of neuronal oscillations across distributed brain regions were computed and correlated with psilocybin-induced altered states of consciousness.
resultsPsilocybin decreased the current source density of neuronal oscillations at 1.5-20 Hz within a neural network comprising the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices and the parahippocampal regions. Most intriguingly, the intensity levels of psilocybin-induced spiritual experience and insightfulness correlated with the lagged phase synchronization of delta oscillations (1.5-4 Hz) between the retrosplenial cortex, the parahippocampus, and the lateral orbitofrontal area.
conclusionsThese results provide systematic evidence for the direct association of a specific spatiotemporal neuronal mechanism with spiritual experiences and enhanced insight into life and existence. The identified mechanism may constitute a pathway for modulating mental health, as spiritual experiences can promote sustained well-being and psychological resilience.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.