Observational studyPsychopharmacology2021
A placebo-controlled study of the effects of ayahuasca, set and setting on mental health of participants in ayahuasca group retreats.
Observational study in Psychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 5 of them syntheses 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
52 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of LSD, DMT and psilocybin on cognitive and psychological functions: A systematic review of the literature.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Predictors of therapeutic response to psychedelic-assisted therapy: A systematic review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Pooled it
- The Use of Psychedelics in the Treatment of Adult ADHD: A Systematic and Mechanistic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of classical psychedelics on implicit and explicit emotional empathy and cognitive empathy: a meta-analysis of MET task.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating anxiety, depression, and existential distress in people with life-threatening diseases.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Enhancing mindfulness and compassion through an ayahuasca-inspired formulation containing N,N-DMT and harmine: A randomized controlled trial in healthy subjects.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- Safety and Efficacy of the NMDA-2b-Selective Negative Allosteric Modulator BI 1569912: A Phase Ib Randomized Trial in Major Depressive Disorder.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Trial
- Psychedelic Therapies for Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder and Chronic Pain: A Review of Putative Mechanisms of Action.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2026Review
- Ayahuasca enhances functional connectivity in the third visual pathway and mirror neuron networks: a crossover, multiple-dose functional MRI study.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Article
- Investigating Safety Concerns and Harm Reduction in Entheogenic Churches: The Case for Community-Based Participatory Research.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Article
- Ritual to relief: ethical frontiers in repurposing psychoactive substances.CNS spectrums · 2025Review
- Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Potential Benefits and Challenges in Mental Health Treatment.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Review
- Prediction of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and thought disturbance symptoms following psychedelic use.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- A prospective ecological momentary assessment study of an ayahuasca retreat: exploring the salutary impact of acute psychedelic experiences on subacute affect and mindfulness skills in daily life.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- A new insight into ayahuasca's adverse effects: Reanalysis and perspectives on its mediating role in mental health from the Global Ayahuasca Survey (GAS).PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Meditation, psychedelics, and brain connectivity: A randomized controlled resting-state fMRI study ofImaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Effects of Psychedelics in Older Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2024Observational
- A Critical View on New and Future Antidepressants.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Altered States and Social Bonds: Effects of MDMA and Serotonergic Psychedelics on Social Behavior as a Mechanism Underlying Substance-Assisted Therapy.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2024Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ayahuasca is a plant concoction containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and certain β-carboline alkaloids from South America. Previous research in naturalistic settings has suggested that ingestion of ayahuasca can improve mental health and well-being; however, these studies were not placebo controlled and did not control for the possibility of expectation bias. This naturalistic observational study was designed to assess whether mental health changes were produced by ayahuasca or by set and setting. Assessments were made pre- and post-ayahuasca sessions in 30 experienced participants of ayahuasca retreats hosted in the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. Participants consumed ayahuasca (N = 14) or placebo (N = 16). Analysis revealed a main effect of time on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Compared to baseline, symptoms reduced in both groups after the ceremony, independent of treatment. There was a main treatment × time interaction on implicit emotional empathy, indicating that ayahuasca increased emotional empathy to negative stimuli. The current findings suggest that improvements in mental health of participants of ayahuasca ceremonies can be driven by non-pharmacological factors that constitute a placebo response but also by pharmacological factors that are related to the use of ayahuasca. These findings stress the importance of placebo-controlled designs in psychedelic research and the need to further explore the contribution of non-pharmacological factors to the psychedelic experience.
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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.