ArticleScientific reports2021
Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Adverse events in clinical treatments with serotonergic psychedelics and MDMA: A mixed-methods systematic review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of psilocybin on personality, psychiatric symptoms, and values: Exploring mediating effects of the acute psychedelic experience.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- Psychological and physiological effects of extended DMT.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- Intact neurophysiological markers of death denial in long-term ayahuasca users.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The intersection between psychedelics and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: Reevaluating risk and therapeutic potential.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Psychedelic researchers' own experiences of psychedelic substances, their link to opinions of psychedelics, and reflections on positionality.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Article
- Learning from boundlessness: epistemic shifts towards a holistic worldview following psychedelic experiences.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Computational spirits: a neuroscientific account of psychedelic entity encounters.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Ontologically Challenging Psychedelic Experiences: Considerations for Managing Associated Distress.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Review
- Phenomenology of Psychedelic Experiences and Psychedelic-Associated Distressing Effects: Quantifying Subjective Experiences.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2026Review
- Practitioner perspectives on extended difficulties and optimal support strategies following psychedelic experiences: a qualitative analysis.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- The Relationship Between Psychedelic Use and Positive Adult Development in Emerging Adulthood: An Integrative Review.Brain and behavior · 2025Review
- Embracing change: impermanence acceptance mediates differences in death processing between long-term ayahuasca users and non-users.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Potential Benefits and Challenges in Mental Health Treatment.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Review
- Quantitative and qualitative influences of spiritual connection and natural imagery on perception of art in clinical psychedelic dosing settings.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Deconstructing Psychedelic Phenomenology: A Thematic Analysis of Discrete Phases of the Psychedelic Experience.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Catholic Perspective.The Linacre quarterly · 2025Article
- Prediction of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and thought disturbance symptoms following psychedelic use.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Participants' Experience of Psychedelic Integration Groups and Processes: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Can the use of psychedelic drugs induce lasting changes in metaphysical beliefs? While it is popularly believed that they can, this question has never been formally tested. Here we exploited a large sample derived from prospective online surveying to determine whether and how beliefs concerning the nature of reality, consciousness, and free-will, change after psychedelic use. Results revealed significant shifts away from 'physicalist' or 'materialist' views, and towards panpsychism and fatalism, post use. With the exception of fatalism, these changes endured for at least 6 months, and were positively correlated with the extent of past psychedelic-use and improved mental-health outcomes. Path modelling suggested that the belief-shifts were moderated by impressionability at baseline and mediated by perceived emotional synchrony with others during the psychedelic experience. The observed belief-shifts post-psychedelic-use were consolidated by data from an independent controlled clinical trial. Together, these findings imply that psychedelic-use may causally influence metaphysical beliefs-shifting them away from 'hard materialism'. We discuss whether these apparent effects are contextually independent.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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 Socratic graph.