Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36937731›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2023

Psychedelic replications in virtual reality and their potential as a therapeutic instrument: an open-label feasibility study.

Karl Kristjan Kaup, Madis Vasser, Kadi Tulver, Mari Munk, Juhan Pikamäe, Jaan Aru

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldFull text read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. The mechanistic divide in psychedelic neuroscience: An unbridgeable gap?Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024
    Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Karl Kristjan KaupInstitute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Madis VasserInstitute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Kadi TulverInstitute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Mari MunkPsychiatry Clinic of North Estonia Medical Centre, Tallinn, Estonia.
Juhan PikamäeInstitute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Jaan AruInstitute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
University of Tartu · EENorth Estonia Medical Centre · EE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Recent research has shown promising results for the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. One popular view claims that these benefits are mediated by the subjective experiences induced by these substances. Based on this, we designed a virtual reality experience, Psyrreal, that mimics the phenomenological components of psychedelic experiences. Aims: We aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of Psyrreal and psychedelic VR experiences in treating depressive symptoms as well as explore the effect of Psyrreal on subjective factors which have been suggested to mediate the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. Methods: In this open-label feasibility study, thirteen participants with mild-to-moderate depression underwent a 2-day therapeutic intervention implementing Psyrreal. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2) at the start of the intervention and 2 weeks after. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews after Psyrreal was also conducted as an additional assessment of the method. Results: A 2-day intervention implementing Psyrreal led to significant decreases in depressive symptoms at the 2-week follow-up ( Conclusion: This work proposes a novel method using virtual reality to augment the treatment of psychological disorders as well as to precisely investigate the mediating subjective factors of the therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances. Our preliminary results suggest that VR experiences combined with psychological support show potential in treating depressive symptoms and further research into similar methods is warranted.

Indexed as

altered states of consciousness (ASC)depressiondepressive disorderpsychedelicstherapeutic mechanisms of psychedelicstherapyvirtual realityVR-augmented therapy

Identifiers

PMID36937731
PMCPMC10022432
OpenAlexW4322744805

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Registered trials

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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.