This review article (2018) summarizes the effects of psychedelics on the serotonergic system and the subsequent (therapeutic) personality changes.
Abstract of Serotonergic psychedelics and personality
“Serotonergic psychedelics act as agonists at cortical 5-HT2A receptors and seem to induce personality changes. We conducted a systematic review of studies assessing the effects of these drugs on personality. Papers published from 1985–2016 were included from PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO databases. Three hundred and sixty-nine studies were identified, and 18 were included. Specific personality traits, such as Absorption and Self-Transcendence, seem to influence the effects of psychedelics, and psychedelic drug users and nonusers appear to differ in some personality traits. Psychedelics administered in controlled settings may induce personality changes, such as increased Openness and Self-Transcendence. Increases in global brain entropy induced by acute psychedelic administration predicted changes in Openness, and Self-Transcendence was negatively correlated with cortical thinning of the posterior cingulate cortex in long-term religious ayahuasca users. Acute and long-term use of psychedelics is associated with personality changes that appear to be modulated by 5-HT2A receptors. These changes seem to induce therapeutic effects that should be further explored in randomized controlled studies.”
Authors: José Carlos Bouso, Rafael G. dos Santos, Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles & Jaime E. C. Hallak.
Summary of Serotonergic psychedelics and personality
José Carlos Bouso, Rafael G. dos Santos, Miguel ngel Alcázar-Córcoles, Jaime E. C. Hallak and colleagues investigated the effects of psychedelics on personality, and found that 5-HT2A receptors are expressed in fronto-temporo-parieto-occipital areas.
Serotonergic psychedelics act as agonists at cortical 5-HT2A receptors and seem to induce personality changes. Psychedelic users and nonusers appear to differ in some personality traits, and these changes seem to induce therapeutic effects. Hallucinogens, psychedelics, personality, serotonin, 5-HT2A receptor are drugs that have always been surrounded by some kind of mythic attributions related with personal and psychological change.
Research reported that acute administration of these drugs induced changes on personality measures, although it was less clear if those changes were maintained on time. Psychedelic drugs have been classically attributed to their potential to induce personality change that could enhance therapeutic outcomes. The discrepancy between the eventual changes on personality that could be a consequence of repeated recreational use of psychedelics and the potential cause of drug use was also a theme of discussion since the 1960’s.
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Serotonergic psychedelics and personality: A systematic review of contemporary research
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.02.004
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Cite this paper (APA)
Bouso, J. C., Dos Santos, R. G., Alcázar-Córcoles, M. Á., & Hallak, J. E. (2018). Serotonergic psychedelics and personality: A systematic review of contemporary research. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 87, 118-132.