Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40095090›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2025

Psychedelics and autobiographical memory - six open questions.

Samuli Kangaslampi, Morten Lietz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychopharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Samuli Kangaslampi *Faculty of Social Sciences / Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland. samuli.kangaslampi@tuni.fi.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0480-9806
Morten Lietz *University Center for Psychiatric Research, University of Fribourg, Villars-sur-Glâne, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0629-3698

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleSince the earliest LSD research, psychedelics have been claimed to enhance autobiographical memory. Revisiting and processing autobiographical memories has further been suggested to be a major component of the therapeutic action of psychedelics. However, modern psychedelic research has largely neglected autobiographical elements of psychedelic experiences, and many vital questions remain unanswered.

objectivesWe present and discuss six open questions related to psychedelics and autobiographical memory: (1) Do psychedelics enhance autobiographical recall? (2) Is recall and processing of significant autobiographical (e.g., traumatic) memories a common part of psychedelic experiences? (3) Do psychedelics promote the development of false or inaccurate memories? (4) How do autobiographical memories change if they are recalled and reconsolidated under the effects of psychedelics? (5) What are memories of psychedelic experiences like? (6) Are autobiographical experiences under psychedelics of particular importance for their therapeutic effects?

resultsWe present the background and current limited state of evidence for each question and provide suggestions on how future studies could best address them.

conclusionsBesides advancing basic research, answering these pressing questions is highly relevant for the possible therapeutic use of psychedelics, both in terms of developing and optimizing new interventions and for avoiding iatrogenic harms. Ideally, future psychedelic-assisted interventions could harness the possible synergies between the effects of psychedelics and existing memory-based therapies.

Indexed as

HallucinogensMemory, EpisodicMental RecallHumansHallucinogensAutobiographical memoryLSDPsilocybinPsychedelics

Identifiers

PMID40095090
PMCPMC12449383

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.