ReviewTherapeutic advances in psychopharmacology2020
Psychedelics and virtual reality: parallels and applications.
Review in Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cyberdelics: Virtual reality hallucinations modulate cognitive-affective processes.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Psychedelic interventions for major depressive disorder in the elderly: Exploring novel therapies, promise and potential.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Addressing blinding in classic psychedelic studies with innovative active placebos.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Initial Recommendations for Virtual Reality in Mental Health Care from the American Medical Extended Reality Association.Journal of medical extended reality · 2025Article
- Psilocybin: From Psychiatric Pariah to Perceived Panacea.The American journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- What should constitute a control condition in psychedelic drug trials?Nature. Mental health · 2024Article
- Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: where is the psychotherapy research?Psychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Experiences and perceptions of palliative care patients receiving virtual reality therapy: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Areas of Research Focus and Trends in the Research on the Application of VR in Rehabilitation Medicine.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Psychedelic replications in virtual reality and their potential as a therapeutic instrument: an open-label feasibility study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- A predictive coding approach to psychedelic virtual-induced hallucinations and creative cognition in aging.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2023Article
- Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Cyberdelics in context: On the prospects and challenges of mind-manifesting technologies.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Corrigendum: Implementation of Therapeutic Virtual Reality Into Psychiatric Care: Clinicians' and Service Managers' Perspectives.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- Predicting Reactions to Psychedelic Drugs: A Systematic Review of States and Traits Related to Acute Drug Effects.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2021Review
- Implementation of Therapeutic Virtual Reality Into Psychiatric Care: Clinicians' and Service Managers' Perspectives.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Psychedelic Therapy's Transdiagnostic Effects: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- Virtual Reality and Psychedelics for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disease: A Systematic Literature Review.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Psychedelic drugs and virtual reality (VR) each have the capacity to disrupt the rigidity and limitations of typical conscious experience. This article delineates the parallels among psychedelic and VR states as well as their potential synergistic applications in clinical and recreational settings. Findings indicate that, individually, psychedelics and VR are used in analogous ways to alter sensory experience and evoke awe. They are also both used in tandem with traditional therapies to treat a variety of mood disorders; their shared capacity to transiently alter perspective and disrupt rigid patterns of mental experience may underly their analogous and transdiagnostic therapeutic uses. In terms of their combined applications, a number of recreational users currently utilize psychedelics and VR together to enhance their experience. We propose that VR may be a useful tool for preparing hallucinogen-naïve participants in clinical trials for the sensory distortions experienced in psychedelic states. Given the critical role of "setting" in psychedelic treatment outcomes, we also detail how VR could be used to optimize the environment in psychedelic sessions. Finally, we provide considerations for future studies and detail how advancements in psychedelic and VR research can inform one another. Collectively, this article outlines a number of connections between psychedelics and VR, and, more broadly, is representative of growing scientific interest into the interactions among technology, psychopharmacology, and mental health.
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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.