Who Are You After Psychedelics? A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of the Magnitude of Long-Term Effects of Serotonergic Psychedelics on Cognition/Creativity, Emotional Processing and Personality

This systematic review & meta-analysis (2024; s=10; n=304) synthesized data from contemporary studies, including both randomized and non-randomized controlled trials, to evaluate lasting effects of serotonergic psychedelics on cognition, creativity, emotional processing, and personality. Overall, no statistically significant effects were observed for most outcome measures; however, a meta-analysis of emotional recognition outcomes revealed faster reaction times in the active treatment groups for disgust and sadness.

Abstract of Who Are You After Psychedelics? A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of the Magnitude of Long-Term Effects of Serotonergic Psychedelics on Cognition/Creativity, Emotional Processing and Personality

“This systematic review and a meta-analysis synthesised the results from contemporary, randomized and non-randomized controlled studies to assess lasting (one week minimum) changes on cognition/creativity, emotional processing and personality from serotonergic psychedelics. PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo were searched in July 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using Rob 2.0 and ROBINS-I. Ten studies met the eligibility criteria which involved 304 participants. No statistically significant effects were found for the majority outcome measures across the three constructs. A meta-analysis of emotional recognition outcomes found an overall significant effect for faster reaction times in the active treatment groups for disgust (SMD=-0.63, 95% CI=[-1.01 to -0.25], I2= 65%) and sadness (SMD=-0.45, 95% CI=[-0.85 to -0.06], I2= 60%). Future research should include larger samples, better control conditions, standardized doses and longer follow-up periods to confirm these preliminary findings.”

Authors: Ivana Solaja, Kate Haldane, Natasha Mason, Brandon Weiss, Xiaomin Xu, Mei Xu, Stevan Nikolin, Tharusha Jayasena, Michael Millard, Jonathan Brett, Adam Bayes, Colleen K. Loo & Donel M. Martin

Summary of Who Are You After Psychedelics? A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis of the Magnitude of Long-Term Effects of Serotonergic Psychedelics on Cognition/Creativity, Emotional Processing and Personality