This study (n=68) found that having a mystical experience during psychedelic use is correlated with quicker completion times on a measure of creativity (completion time of Duncker’s Candle Problem). The number of mystical experiences was not correlated with completion time.

Abstract

“Developing methods for improving creativity is of broad interest. Classic psychedelics may enhance creativity; however, the underlying mechanisms of action are unknown. This study was designed to assess whether a relationship exists between naturalistic classic psychedelic use and heightened creative problem-solving ability and if so, whether this is mediated by lifetime mystical experience. Participants (N = 68) completed a survey battery assessing lifetime mystical experience and circumstances surrounding the most memorable experience. They were then administered a functional fixedness task in which faster completion times indicate greater creative problem-solving ability. Participants reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience (n = 11) exhibited significantly faster times on the functional fixedness task (Cohen’s d = –.87; large effect) and significantly greater lifetime mystical experience (Cohen’s d = .93; large effect) than participants not reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience. However, lifetime mystical experience was unrelated to completion times on the functional fixedness task (standardized β = –.06), and was therefore not a significant mediator. Classic psychedelic use may increase creativity independent of its effects on mystical experience. Maximizing the likelihood of mystical experience may need not be a goal of psychedelic interventions designed to boost creativity.“

Authors: Noah W. Sweat, Larry W. Bates & Peter S. Hendricks

Notes

It’s interesting to see how the Duncker’s candle problem relates to other measures of creativity. At a glance it seems to be an aspect of divergent creativity (thinking outside the box).

Lifetime mystical experience (how many experiences one had in total) didn’t correlate with the completion time. It’s counter to what was expected, but with a small sample (n=11) of people who even had mystical experiences (so 16% of the sample), it might not be unexpected.

Summary

A study was conducted to assess the relationship between naturalistic classic psychedelic use and heightened creative problem-solving ability. Participants reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience exhibited significantly faster times on a functional fixedness task than participants not reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience.

ARTICLE HISTORY

Psilocybin enhances creativity.

Given the importance of creativity to the range of human pursuits, several methods for enhancing creativity have been pursued, including cognitive, behavioral, and pharmacologic approaches. Although findings are equivocal, some results have shown promise, including that ayahuasca enhances divergent thinking while decreasing convergent thinking.

Classic psychedelics can induce altered states of self-awareness, pseudo-hallucinations, and mystical-type experiences characterized by feelings of awe, salience, ineffability, timelessness, and oceanic boundlessness/absolute unitary being. These effects may be useful in augmenting creativity.

Researchers are currently investigating how classic psychedelics may boost creativity through controlled classic psychedelic use. These studies indicate that classic psychedelics may alleviate end-of-life distress, decrease alcohol misuse, promote tobacco smoking cessation, relieve treatment-resistant major depression, and trigger durable positive changes to personality and affect among healthy volunteers.

Recent media attention has been paid to the purported link between classic psychedelics and creativity, though there is currently no modern peer-reviewed research regarding microdosing or a putative modality for enhancing creative problem solving via classic psychedelic administration.

Scientists who design psychedelic-based creativity interventions would benefit from understanding how or why such interventions work.

In this study, researchers tested whether naturalistic classic psychedelic use was associated with greater mystical experience, which was then associated with greater creative problem-solving ability.

Participants

Participants were recruited from a regional university in the southeastern U.S. and the local community via flyers and social media.

Procedure

Participants completed a battery of questionnaires and a functional fixedness task, and were given a participation slip for possible extra credit.

Hood mysticism scale (M Scale)

The M scale is a 32-item self-report survey that is used to measure primary mystical experience. It has been used to measure intensity of mystical experiences after administration of classic psychedelics.

Open-ended response

Participants were asked to describe the most memorable mystical experience they had, including the location and if any religious or spiritual practices immediately preceded or coincided with the experience.

Duncker’s candle problem

Duncker’s Candle Problem is a prototypical measure of functional fixedness. It consists of attaching a candle to a wall by dumping tacks out of their box and placing the candle inside a box and nailing the box to the wall with tacks.

Data analysis

The independent variable was self-reported classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience. The indirect effect of classic psychedelic use on target selection latency was tested using a bootstrap approach.

Results

Of 84 participants, 14 failed to complete the functional fixedness task and two provided invalid data, yielding a final N of 68. Eleven participants reported mystical experiences concurrent with classic psychedelic use.

Participants reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience displayed faster target selection latency and greater lifetime mystical experience than those not reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience. However, lifetime mystical experience was unrelated to reaction times on the functional fixedness task.

Discussion

The current study found that naturalistic classic psychedelic use was associated with heightened creative problem-solving ability, but that lifetime mystical experience was not a mediator of this effect. This suggests that some other mechanism may be responsible for the effects of classic psychedelic use on creativity.

While current pharmacological modalities for enhanced cognition rely on acute drug effects and steady-state plasma concentrations, classic psychedelics may require neither. Religious practices known to sometimes induce mystical experiences may also have desirable effects on creative problem-solving ability.

Classic psychedelics have been shown to increase blood flow in the orbitofrontal and prefrontal cortices of the brain combined with decreased blood flow in the superior parietal areas, which may contribute to the observed beneficial effects on creative problem solving.

The current study did not assess classic psychedelic use patterns, but extant data suggest that administration is relatively infrequent except in an extreme minority of cases. Given that changes in personality measures and therapeutic outcomes have proven quite durable, it would stand to reason that enhancements in creative problem-solving ability would be long-lasting.

Classic psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may involve mystical experience as well as enhancement of creative problem-solving ability. However, the relative contribution of enhancements in creativity may prove important to maximize the efficacy of psychedelic-facilitated treatments.

This study’s limitations include its correlational nature, lack of randomized controlled trials, use of functional fixedness as a proxy for creativity, and use of a lifetime mystical experience as opposed to a single mystical experience elicited by a psychedelic drug.

Future research should use larger samples, more diverse demographic groups, randomized clinical trial methodology, follow-ups at various intervals after drug administration, and administer multiple functional fixedness tasks and other measurements of creative problem-solving ability.