Psychedelic Cognition-The Unreached Frontier of Psychedelic Science.

Maria Bălăeţ

doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.832375

Abstract

Psychedelic compounds hold the promise of changing the face of neuroscience and psychiatry as we know it. There have been numerous proposals to use them to treat a range of neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD; and trials to date have delivered positive results in favor of the novel therapeutics. Further to the medical use, the wider healthy population is gaining interest in these compounds. We see a surge in personal use of psychedelic drugs for reasons not limited to spiritual enhancement, improved productivity, aiding the management of non-pathological anxiety and depression, and recreational interests. Notably, microdosing—the practice of taking subacute doses of psychedelic compounds—is on the rise. Our knowledge about the effects of psychedelic compounds, however, especially in naturalistic settings, is still fairly limited. In particular, one of the largest gaps concerns the acute effects on cognition caused by psychedelics. Studies carried out to date are riddled with limitations such as having disparate paradigms, small sample sizes, and insufficient breadth of testing on both unhealthy and healthy volunteers. Moreover, the studies are majoritarily limited to laboratory settings and do not assess the effects at multiple dosages within the same paradigm nor at various points throughout the psychedelic experience. This review aims to summarize the studies to date in relation to how psychedelics acutely affect different domains of cognition. In the pursuit of illuminating the current limitations and offering long-term, forward-thinking solutions, this review compares and contrasts findings related to how psychedelics impact memory, attention, reasoning, social cognition, and creativity.

Highlights

Psychedelic drugs are making a strong come-back in the research, clinical, and public spheres
This review aims to summarize existing research in the psychedelics field assessing the acute effects of psychedelics on human cognition, identify incongruent results, point out the limitations of studies to date, and provide guidance toward improving the current body of knowledge
Whilst the effects of psychedelics on cognition have been studied in vivo in animals such as mice (Zhang et al, 2017), rats (Macúchová et al, 2017), rabbits (Romano et al, 2010), and monkeys (Frederick et al, 1997), this review focuses on human studies only to maintain an ecologically valid perspective

Summary

Introduction

Psychedelic drugs are making a strong come-back in the research, clinical, and public spheres. Bershad et al (2019) found no acute LSD microdose effects on working memory on the dual N-back task twenty healthy volunteers.

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Results

Conclusion