ReviewPsychopharmacology2021
The acute effects of classic psychedelics on memory in humans.
Review in Psychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cognitive functioning associated with acute and subacute effects of classic psychedelics and MDMA - a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluating the evidence for repressed memory recovery in psychedelic contexts.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following psychedelic use: a naturalistic survey study.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Rebuttal to "Questioning the recovery of dissociated traumatic memories under psilocybin".Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Difficulties following naturalistic psychedelic use and associations with adverse childhood experiences.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Article
- Managing Psychological Challenges in the Subacute ("Afterglow") Window of Psychedelic Drug Effects.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Review
- Traumatic Psychedelic Experiences.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Review
- Psychedelics and autobiographical memory - six open questions.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Acute effects of psilocybin on the dynamics of gaze fixations during visual aesthetic perception.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Therapeutic emergence of dissociated traumatic memories during psilocybin treatment for anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Ayahuasca enhances the formation of hippocampal-dependent episodic memory without impacting false memory susceptibility in experienced ayahuasca users: An observational study.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2025Observational
- The Hallucinogen Rating Scale: Updated Factor Structure in a Large, Multistudy Sample.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Neurobiological substrates of altered states of consciousness induced by high ventilation breathwork accompanied by music.PloS one · 2025Article
- The ethical use of therapeutic touch in psychedelic-assisted therapy: a qualitative study of researcher perspectives and experiences.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Brain Networks, Neurotransmitters and Psychedelics: Towards a Neurochemistry of Self-Awareness.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2024Review
- Psychiatric risks for worsened mental health after psychedelic use.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- The Psychedelic Future of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Review
- Psychedelics and disorders of consciousness: the current landscape and the path forward.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2024Article
- Amygdala response to emotional faces following acute administration of psilocybin in healthy individuals.Neuroscience applied · 2024Article
- Can psychedelics enhance group psychotherapy? A discussion on the therapeutic factors.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
rationaleMemory plays a central role in the psychedelic experience. The spontaneous recall and immersive reliving of autobiographical memories has frequently been noted by researchers and clinicians as a salient phenomenon in the profile of subjective effects of classic psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca. The ability for psychedelics to provoke vivid memories has been considered important to their clinical efficacy.
objectiveThis review aims to examine and aggregate the findings from experimental, observational, and qualitative studies on the acute modulation of memory by classic psychedelics in humans.
methodA literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsycInfo as well as manual review of references from eligible studies. Publications reporting quantitative and/or qualitative findings were included; animal studies and case reports were excluded.
resultsClassic psychedelics produce dose-dependently increasing impairments in memory task performance, such that low doses produce no impairment and higher doses produce increasing levels of impairment. This pattern has been observed in tasks assessing spatial and verbal working memory, semantic memory, and non-autobiographical episodic memory. Such impairments may be less pronounced among experienced psychedelic users. Classic psychedelics also increase the vividness of autobiographical memories and frequently stimulate the recall and/or re-experiencing of autobiographical memories, often memories that are affectively intense (positively or negatively valenced) and that had been avoided and/or forgotten prior to the experience.
conclusionsClassic psychedelics dose-dependently impair memory task performance but may enhance autobiographical memory. These findings are relevant to the understanding of psychological mechanisms of action of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.